A.G. Gancarski
On Thursday night, Tim McGraw played Jacksonville. Virtually everyone but this writer seemingly was there. Among those attending: three of the biggest power players in #jaxpol.
Jax Chamber President Daniel Davis, Council President Greg Anderson, and, wearing a 10-gallon hat that his childhood idol Dusty Rhodes would have endorsed, Mayor Lenny Curry.
Davis has spoken often in public, as recently as Thursday at Citibank, of the transformational effect Curry will bring to the city of Jacksonville.
Was the Chamber that comfortable with Alvin Brown?
Or to put it another way, if McGraw had shown up a year ago, would there be a similar picture with Brown, Davis, and Council President Clay Yarborough?
Not likely.
This united front bodes well for smooth operations in Jacksonville for the foreseeable future.
Curry and Anderson are both pragmatists, whose priorities align with those of the business community.
As well, it should be stated that Anderson, though a Republican like Yarborough, is a world away from Yarborough’s social conservative posturing on issues like Parvez Ahmed and paintings in the Museum of Contemporary Art.
It will be worth watching Jacksonville politics in the next year, as locals attempt to take advantage of what tailwinds might be left behind the national economy, and drive investment in downtown and capital improvement elsewhere.
Clearly, the groundwork for cooperation has been laid down already.
As was shown during the previous administration, its value cannot be understated.
