A.G. Gancarski
Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry scored a win yesterday when Gov. Ron DeSantis approved Duval County’s vacation rental plan.
For Curry, a second-term Republican, the move was sought for a long time, since it became clear the COVID-19 curve would flatten, as it has in the last few weeks.
The Mayor noted that vacation rentals must adhere to safety guidelines, and would help “stabilize the economy” as it recovers from the coronacrash.
Weeks back, a city Twitter account had trumpeted, prematurely, the reopening of the sector starting May 4.
That day came and went without action, to the chagrin of some administration members.
It took until May 20 for Duval to get approved, in the second wave of counties that submitted plans for reopening the sector after DeSantis gave the green light.
“If you tell me you’re going to rent them out to people from New York City, I’m probably not going to approve that, OK?” DeSantis said in Jacksonville last week. “If you’re saying that, you know, you’re going to rent it out to people in other parts of Florida or something that would be manageable or if there’re ways in there that clearly you have an eye to safety, then I’m fine.”
Vacation rentals were part of a larger theme, with money on Curry’s mind.
The Mayor presented a narrative of economic buoyancy, including providing stimulus payments to those whose livelihoods were wrecked by shutdowns. The city has distributed $40 million in $1,000 debit cards to people who make below $75,000 a year and lost 20% of their income due to coronavirus impacts.
However, despite the return of vacation rentals, caution is to be heeded, including the wearing of masks in public spaces.
“We cannot afford to quarantine indefinitely. It’s unsustainable,” Curry said, saying “we have to find a way to move forward.”
Part of that moving forward includes three new testing sites at CVS pharmacies, opening Friday. Another part includes camping at local parks, by reservation with the city.
Despite the call to move forward, an in-person Memorial Day observance won’t be possible this year, Curry said, with a “virtual” event planned Monday.
Youth sports, though “not currently allowed,” are something Curry says his team is “working with” the Governor, to get these activities going “soon.”
One comment
Frankie M.
May 21, 2020 at 1:21 pm
In times like these I turn to our “sane elders for advice….I’m talkin bout Vic y’all
Darren from Avon, IN
Judging by Thursday’s comment section, it seems I am not alone in believing you are providing harsh good-vs.-evil stances on allowing people the choice to go back to work. Beyond this whole thing being unconstitutional, you should also remember we are not all retired in a beach house. We have to eat. We have to provide. We have bills. Don’t forget your blue-collar roots, Vic.
Your view of retirement is distorted, to say the least. Retirement isn’t free. I have a mortgage and a car payment. I pay taxes and all of the kinds of bills that go with life in this country. Here’s the tough part: I am my employer — I pay myself — and when this virus dropped the stock market 40 percent, I lost 40 percent of the money I had saved to take me through the final years of my journey. Retirees are every bit at risk in this downturn as their children and grandchildren are. In many cases, our children are turning to us to help get them through these tough times — “Dad, I can’t pay the mortgage. Can you help us?” — and our savings decline even more. I, too, need this country to re-start. I need businesses and schools to re-open their doors. I completely appreciate and agree with our president’s desire to re-start, but I will not join the voice that says, “Let ’em die.” That’s where I draw the line. I will not lose my soul, my conscience, my self-respect to these times. In the lives vs. money debate, cast me on the side of life. I will not sentence my fellow man to death so I might prosper.
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