A.G. Gancarski
Saturday found At Large Group 1 Councilwoman the Rev. Kim Daniels on Facebook trumpeting a less-than-surprising endorsement in her runoff election. It’s from close ally Reggie Brown, who was just re-elected in District 10.
Campaign manager Bradford Hall was quoted as saying, “We are proud to have City Councilman Reggie Brown a part of the Kimberly Daniels’ Team. For the past four years, both council members have worked tirelessly to represent the people and they continue to stand for a vibrant quality of life.”
District 10 includes Cleveland Arms, where the “quality of life” is not so “vibrant”, with a recent police-involved shooting being the catalyst for almost a week of protests, where mold and black bats are among the unique amenities. As protesters flooded the block, Councilman Brown was nowhere to be found. Almost as if he didn’t live in the District and it was too out of the way to stop by on his way home.
The endorsement probably didn’t come as much of a surprise to Anna Brosche, Daniels’ Republican opponent, who so far has been quiet on the issue of a “vibrant quality of life.” What probably did come as a surprise: Daniels’ contention that she outperformed Brosche in the April 11 Tiger Bay forum.
Again, from Hall: “I was so proud of Councilwoman Daniels as she participated in the Tiger Bay At-Large Candidate Forum on yesterday afternoon. It was very clear during this forum that experience counts. She was much more informed about the issues than her opponent.”
Below, a sample of how experience counted:
Beyond the HRO pyrotechnics, another interesting discussion point involved Daniels being questioned for her recent opposition to Councilman Bill Gulliford. She described him as “always trying to squeeze everything he can out of the city of Jacksonville for the Beaches.” She then said she would vote for an amendment affecting Atlantic Beach “because Gulliford was against it.”
The questioner said that Daniels made a “very unwise comment against Bill Gulliford.” Her response was interesting.
“I said exactly what I meant. I will not take my words back,” she said. She said it was an issue because it’s “political season,” that Gulliford “always delays things and is sucking the life out of the city,” and there was something in there about “robbery and thievery” related to police and fire services as well that was below the threshold of coherence.
Another shining Daniels moment was when she applied an algebraic metaphor when answering a question about whether the city’s budget should be cut.
“Without a common denominator, we can’t solve the problem,” Daniels said. “Given variables, I can’t address specifically what should be cut.”
I contacted the Brosche campaign to get its take, either on Daniels’ performance or just some refresher tips on Algebra. The campaign issued this statement about Daniels:
We agree that experience matters. And Duval County taxpayers have experienced enough of Kimberly Daniels. She’s raised taxes, skipped key votes and been outspoken on favoring one side of town over another. There are distinct differences between Anna Brosche, who has two decades of financial management experience, and the incumbent, who has been absent most of her term. We are glad the voters will get to see those differences for themselves during Monday’s debate.
The At Large Group 1 and 5 debate will be held at the Main Library in Downtown Jacksonville Monday evening. Our own Kevin Meerschaert will be on hand covering the event.
