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.
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