Where Did Jacksonville Go Wrong?

We got it wrong in 2003.  We elected someone as mayor due to his name, and the belief that he would continue to improve the image of Jacksonville as the Bold New City of the South.  Not since the days of Jake Godbold were there such high expectations for our city.  To me, the differences between Jake Godbold and John Peyton are stark, and so are the results of their tenure.

Jake Godbold grew up poor, and worked his way up to the chief executive post for a relatively small, and unknown big town in northeast Florida.  He had a vision of the greatness that could be his city, and he believed in improving the lives of the ordinary citizens of Jacksonville.  Because of Jake Godbold, Jacksonville has some of the best health care operators in the country.  The Mayo Clinic and Shands Jacksonville were both targets of Mayor Godbolds plan to improve health care for our citizens.  Without them, where would we be as a city today?

Mayor Godbold was also instrumental in bringing the Jacksonville Jaguars to town, without his efforts back in the late 80s, they would not exist today. Because of Mayor Peyton, we may not have them for long.

Mayor Peyton, on the other hand, grew up very wealthy.  He is the son of Herb Peyton, the founder and principal owner of Gate Petroleum.  They have more than 200 Gate Gas and Convenience stores throughout the southeast.  Prior to becoming Mayor, John Peyton served on the board of the Jacksonville transit Authority.  Anyone who has ever seen the JTA’s masterpiece, The Skyway, should have had second thoughts about electing anyone from that board as our mayor.

The mayors race in 2003 was the most expensive in the history of Jacksonville.  I say, it was bought. Our loss.

Since then, what improvements, or innovations have we seen in Jacksonville?  Sure, we had the superbowl, and we have been mocked by the national media ever since.  We won’t get one again. 

We are number one in major metropolitan statistic though – our murder rate.  In 2008 Jacksonville had the highest murder rate per capita in the entire country. 

Ronald Reagan was More of a Socialist than Obama!

 From 1980 to 1988 the top tax rate was 50%!  How on earth did we survive?  Take a look at the rates during the Nixon/Ford years (69-76), or better yet the Eisenhower years (52-60)…  Notice what the rates were in the Republican years of 1921-1932, immediately preceding the great depression.  Looks like what the fat cat Republicans are wanting again. 

Prison Spending Outpaces All but Medicaid

March 3, 2009
By SOLOMON MOORE
 

One in every 31 adults, or 7.3 million Americans, is in prison, on parole or probation, at a cost to the states of $47 billion in 2008, according to a new study.

Correction spending is outpacing budget growth in education, transportation and public assistance, based on state and federal data.

Only Medicaid spending grew faster than state corrections spending, which quadrupled in the past two decades, according to the report today by the Pew Center on the States, the first breakdown of spending in confinement and supervision in the past seven years.

You Can’t Be Neutral All the Time…

I recently found a blog that has some great content, it’s called “Slow Leadership” and it contains articles on effective leadership, to include things such as ethics and morals in the office setting.

The following article is similar to one I wrote about the importance of honesty in the workplace, you can read it here. This one, on the subject of loyalty also contains a similar message.

In the end, you have a choice to make. You can accept everything your bosses tell you as fact, and be complicit in their wrong-doing, or you can make up your own mind based upon the facts that you learn on your own.

“The hottest places in hell are reserved for those, who in times of moral crisis, maintain their neutrality” – Dante

Enjoy the article…

The Lure of Fake Security

Posted on 02 March 2009

Why you need convictions even more in turbulent times

I don’t mean the kind that come as a result of appearing in a court of law; I mean the type that the Merriam-Webster dictionary defines as “. . . a strong persuasion or belief; the state of being convinced.” ‘Conviction’ and ‘convinced’ come from the same basic word and idea: that you hold to a position because you have examined the evidence and reached a firm conclusion.