A.G. Gancarski
In terms of using public comment at Jacksonville City Council meetings, Tuesday night was a stirring example of the voice of the people (at least, a subset thereof) being marshaled in pursuit of a clear group of policy objectives.
Dozens of speakers during Public Comment urged the retention of member Joey McKinnon and chair Lisa King on the Planning Commission. Our widely shared piece documenting the drama in fairly complete detail is here.
During Public Comment, Council sat more or less impassive, with at least one commenter asking why they looked so serious.
Many Council members took advantage of the extended comment, of course, to slip into the green room, a fact not unnoticed by those who came to make their grievances known.
Those who read the Tuesday piece know, of course, that Councilman Reggie Brown wasn’t exactly feeling the love for the commenters, saying that it’s the “mayor’s purview” to do what he sees fit regarding the composition of independent boards and commissions, whether it’s “unprecedented” or not.
Meanwhile, another second term Councilwoman, Lori Boyer, advised this writer on Thursday to “look at the qualifications” that are actually needed to be on the Commission.
Recall that King and McKinnon backers constructed arguments that ranged from citing King’s impressive record of community service to McKinnon’s background as a geologist.
Said qualifications are to be found deep in the bylaws of the Commission, and for those seeking to make a qualitative case for the incumbents over the proposed appointees, these documents may be dispiriting.
“The Commission shall be comprised of nine members, and three alternates, appointed by the Mayor and confirmed by the Council. Six of the nine members shall be appointed from and reside in each of the designated City of Jacksonville Planning Districts. The three alternates and three members shall be appointed to represent Duval County at large. Failure to reside in these designated geographic districts shall automatically remove the person from membership,” read the bylaws.
And, regarding the matter of “unprecedented” removals, the bylaws actually allow for such, even if they have been historically rare-to-nonexistent.
“A member may be removed by the Mayor during the member’s term with the approval of City Council.”
That’s all it says. No reasons for removal even need to be listed.
There are very few Council members who, at this point, have not done multiple photo ops with Mayor Lenny Curry. At least two of the Democrats on Council have already voiced their willingness to let Curry call the shots on this one.
This presents a problem for the Planning Commission members who want to retain their spots.
Whether the vote to appoint replacements goes 17 to 2, 16 to 3, or 15 to 4, it’s looking very likely that these moves will be approved by a resounding majority.
The invocation of One City One Jacksonville, which seems to have been confused for the Alvin Brown campaign touting the mayor’s work with “Republicans, Democrats, and Independents,” may have been misguided by opponents of these moves.
One City One Jacksonville seems to be much less about including Democrats in the process than it has been about offering redress to those in Jacksonville who have suffered generational injustices, such as those who languish in Eureka Gardens, the at risk youth helped by Operation Save Our Sons, and others who have been shorted by city government since Consolidation and even before.
The cases of the Planning Commission members have not been appreciably helped by the drama related to the JEA Board either, which had at least one former renegade member who has partaken in a pattern of character assassination against Florida Times-Union reporter Nate Monroe, whose only transgression seems to have been reporting the telenovella that “Days of Our JEA Board Lives” has become.
Now, of course, the “Search for Tomorrow” is on.
It would have taken a nearly flawless political game to beat the mayor during the honeymoon period of his administration. For reasons outside the control of McKinnon and King, the game didn’t quite go so smoothly.
Meanwhile, Curry keeps it real.
“Playing to win is being willing to lose while going for the win,” he tweeted.
That was about the Monday Night Football game, where the Steelers ran the ball into the end zone while the time elapsed at the game’s end.
However, that seems to be more of a philosophy of life and politics, as those who observed his campaign saw, and those who are watching his administration launch are seeing now.
