A.G. Gancarski
How vulnerable is Jacksonville City Councilwoman Katrina Brown?
Fourteen months out from the first election, Brown (who hasn’t yet filed for re-election) already has six people lined up to replace her.
Community activist Tameka Gaines Holly filed this month. A Leadership Jacksonville graduate with an aversion to taking strong positions on issues, she will attempt to win the seat, mostly via taking the high road against Brown.
Last week, former Soil and Water commissioner Albert Wilcox filed.
Wilcox, current Teacher of the Year at a local elementary school, cited Brown’s “problems” as creating a “void in leadership.”
[Among those problems: a city lawsuit against her family business, which is now on its way to resolution; and a recent beef with the local police union about racial profiling.]
Wilcox, a former Legislative Assistant for state Sen. Betty Holzendorf, also has interned for then-Councilman Terry Fields and former Rep. Corrine Brown.
Holly and Wilcox have competition. Diallo Sekou–Seabrooks, Michael Sell, Brandon Byers, and Joenetta Dixon are all in the race, almost ensuring this will be decided in May’s runoff.
Many of the candidates believe Brown won’t run again.
On Monday, we asked the councilwoman if she was going to run; Brown refused to comment, saying that she would only discuss a meeting on Jacksonville’s litter problem she is hosting later in the day.
Brown has issues other incumbents don’t. She has run afoul of the police union and has gotten tough coverage for a failed economic development deal from her family businesses.
Candidates are queuing up to run against her, and the longer she waits to launch, the harder a re-election bid may be.
