A.G. Gancarski
On Monday, Jacksonville Mayor Alvin Brown almost did something unprecedented for him — take a definite position on a hot-button issue, that being courthouse wedding ceremonies in the Duval County Courthouse.
Recall that a week ago, in the wake of same-sex marriages being legalized throughout the state of Florida, Duval County Clerk of Court Ronnie Fussell (along with other clerks through Northeast Florida and the rest of the state), unilaterally decided to cease the decades-old practice of courthouse weddings… a decision that brought him criticism and even calls to resign his position for not dispatching the duties of his office.
At an event related to dredging the St. Johns River, First Coast News journalist Anne Schindler managed to ask questions about this issue that is paramount on the mind of many locals, including those in Mayor Brown’s base.
Despite the best efforts of his handlers, Brown actually took a position.
Sort of.
Almost.
The transcript of Brown’s conversation with Schindler:
First Coast News: So this is a day to talk about the river, but I would be remiss if I didn’t ask you to weigh in on Ronnie Fussell’s decision to end courthouse weddings?
Brown: “I don’t know what his decision was. Give me a sense of what you’re referring to?”
First Coast News: “He decided to end all courthouse weddings in the wake of the legalization of gay marriage.”
Brown: “So, uh, I believe you should follow the law. You should follow the law. Law says people have the right to get married, then we should do that.”
A profile in courage? Not exactly. But the statement, incoherent as it was, represented some progress from his earlier position, stated to the Times-Union.
“I think that’s his discretion,” he said of Fussell earlier this month. “I think if anybody wants to get married and the law says you should be married, then you should get married. I don’t know about location.”
Schindler asked for clarification from the mayor’s office when putting together her piece; she received no comment. The same held true for this reporter yesterday when he contacted two high-ranking members of the mayor’s team for comment and clarification on what may or may not have been an evolution in position.
Brown’s unwillingness to lead on this issue seems related to his pledge to avoid partisan politics as mayor, even as some local journalists speculate that Brown simply may not support same-sex marriage himself because of his conservative Baptist beliefs, a position which, at this point, puts him in contrast with established law, public consensus, and his own party.
It is presumed that the mayor’s diffidence on marriage equality and other important issues to the LGBT community lost him support from local powerbrokers like Peter Rummell, who last year switched allegiances to Lenny Curry.
“He does not know how to manage. That’s clear,” Rummell said last spring. “He has no courage.… He’s wimped out. He’s deferred to City Council. It’s embarrassing the way he’s handled himself.”
