A.G. Gancarski
It’s no surprise that Jacksonville is a leading tourism and convention destination. From beaches to golfing to its numerous parks and rivers, Jacksonville has a lot to offer its 10 million tourists a year.
Along those lines, Jacksonville is a Top 50 destination for meetings, with 800 conventions the last three years hosting 500,000 room nights.
Yet that momentum is not perpetually guaranteed. Paul Astleford, the head of Visit Jacksonville, noted in conversation with FloridaPolitics.com Monday that a lack of Human Rights Ordinance (HRO) protections for the LGBT community, including those relating to public accommodations, could stall convention business momentum.
“That issue is becoming wildly important to the meeting world,” Astleford said ahead of a Visit Jacksonville presser with Mayor Lenny Curry, who believes an HRO expansion wouldn’t be “prudent.”
“It’s very clearly a key issue for all meeting professionals. If a community is not obviously open, it won’t even be considered for business shows and conventions,” Astleford added.
A new convention center, on the wish list for the current administration and its supporters even before the mayor was inaugurated last July, would only call attention to the issue, Astleford added.
“The more inclusive it is, the more positive attention Jacksonville will get,” Astleford added.
“It’s going to be important for Jacksonville.”
There has been pressure on governments with non-inclusive policies, Astleford said, noting that Houston’s Super Bowl was in question after its Houston Equal Rights Ordinance was repealed by referendum.
As well, since North Carolina passed HB 2, there have been boycotts by recording artists and discussion of relocating the NBA All Star Game from Charlotte, where a non-discrimination ordinance was passed before being repealed by the state government.
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Curry, during his prepared remarks at the presser, noted that when people visit Jacksonville, he “always want[s] them to walk away with a sense of warmth and charity.”
However, HRO expansion is not a prerequisite to that, according to Curry.
“I made a decision a few months ago,” Curry said, adding that he offered a “clear statement.”
Curry noted that GE just hosted its shareholder meeting in town last week, an example of “Jacksonville on the move.”
Curry asserted that he’s presented a “clear, rational, logical voice on the issue,” and has implemented policies to protect city employees.
When asked if there has been any adverse consequences of his departmental directive, Curry said that “things are going smoothly.”
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It’s far from certain that even if Council passed an HRO, a repeal referendum would not remove it. And it can be said that Jacksonville’s non-action on the issue has taken the city out of the headlines on the HRO. And it will be noted that most of the vociferous supporters of HRO expansion, ranging from members of the business community to activists, have held their fire since the matter was tabled by the City Council months back.
What is clear from Astleford’s comments is that even though Jacksonville is getting a pass in the short term, that cannot be construed as a permanent exemption from dealing with what many call a civil rights issue.
