URGE DUVAL MAYOR BROWN AND OTHERS THIS WEEK TO APPROVE ELECTION OFFICE MOVE TO IMESON FACILITY TO SAVE MILLIONS

     First the good news: Kudos to First Coast Tea Party members - your voices to Duval Councilpersons is helping in the approval process for the Supervisor of Elections to get the needed electronic poll books for all precincts. These poll books reduce fraud, save labor cost and can be paid for with a reallocation from a Gateway Mall budget item that is not needed if the Election Office moves to the significantly less expense and far superior One Imeson Property. The Supervisor of Elections Fact Sheets for the proposed move is provided below. Your continued support to the overall plan is again needed quickly.

Action Item 1.

     Let Mayor Brown know THIS WEEK that you support Bill 2013-117 for leasing the Imeson facility for the Election Office. The One Imeson property is the best value for the taxpayer with $573,000 savings for the first year and $3.3 million over the next ten year. As of last Tuesday, the Mayor had not decided whether to sign the lease ordinance passed by City Council last Tuesday, veto it or let it become law without signing. Hopefully, the Mayor will approve the move the bill this week but if not, the City Council may override a veto. Also, let the Mayor know if you are super voter and never miss an election.
Contact Mayor Brown at: mayorbrown@coj.net or 630-1776 or make an appointment to visit him or an Assistant at 117 W. Durval St., Suite 400.

Action Item 2.

     City Council passed bill 2013-179 to move to the Imeson property by a vote of 13 in favor and 6 opposing. Councilpersons Anderson, Brown, Crescimbeni, Daniels, Gaffney and Jones opposed these huge taxpayer savings and should be contacted and asked “WHY”. These Councilpersons should be held accountable for their financially impudent vote to stay at Gateway Mall. Let them know if you are super voter and never miss an election. Their contact information is below.

Anderson:   GAnderson@coj.net   630-1398

Brown:   RBrown@coj.net    630-1684

Crescimbeni:  JRC@coj.net     630-1381

Daniels:  KimDaniels@coj.net     630-1393

Gaffney:  Gaffney@coj.net     630-1384

Jones:  WAJones@coj.net     630-1395

Action Item 3.

     US Rep. Corrine Brown, who has operated a campaign office at Gateway, announced intentions to look for ways to stop the move to Imeson, including the chance of suing, which would only add further taxpayer costs to deal with the suit. Rep. Brown should be contacted and asked “WHY” she opposes a move that will save taxpayer money and is accessible to all voters. Let her know if you are a District 5 super voter and never miss and election. Don’t get your feelings hurt if she answers “Lose my number” as she responded when asked about another message a voter sent (according the Times Union).

Her email is: https://forms.house.gov/corrinebrown/webforms/contact-me.shtml

Phone numbers are (904) 354-1652 or (202) 225-0123. FAX (904) 354-2721 or (202) 225-2256. Local office is 101 E Union St., Suite 202.

References: Fact Sheets  (For your information)

Supervisor of Elections

Elections Center Recommendation

 One Imeson Property:

“The Best Value for the Taxpayers”

FACT SHEET

Lease Highlights Include:

·   $573,000 savings in first year

·        Allows Supervisor of Elections Office to achieve

Mayor’s 14 percent budget deficit obligation

·        $0 cost to taxpayers for move and build out

·        Total savings of $3.3 million over ten years

·        Politically neutral site

·        Newest facility

·        Built to suit

·        Easily accessible from I-95, I-295 or Main Street

·        Located on a city bus route

·        Four loading docks for moving election equipment

·        Exclusive use of secured loading docks

·        One story building, maximizing efficiency

·        Free and secure equipment storage during the build out

·        New air conditioning and heating system

·        New roof with fifteen year warranty

·        Two thousand parking spaces

·        One Imeson rent $371,529.62 less than renting at Gateway

and is $242,848.11 less than Southgate over ten years.

·        

Gateway

FACT SHEET

     *  Landlord would not submit to a commercial inspection report.

         “Necessary Repairs” are just that: Repairs a landlord should make for a tenant. Landlord has refused to make repairs while city has been renting the space for years.

·        * Spent millions of dollars to paint and mulch the property instead of making necessary repairs.

·         * Would not fix AC during tenancy, this endured for years with millions of dollars of climate sensitive voting equipment at stake.

·         * Would not fix roof during tenancy: voting equipment was covered with plastic when it would rain.

·         * Would not fix the escalator.

·         *  Rejected ADA compliance (access for the disabled).

·        *   Incentives of free rent are at the end of the lease period: if the landlord won’t make repairs now while the city is paying, there is no reason to believe they will at the end when rent is free.

·         * The value of free rent at the end of a lease is worth less (the present value of delayed rent is $23,867 not the future value of $32,075).

·         * Troubling financial risks for taxpayers in the fine print.

·           * Current landlord has a bad relationship: refused tenants offers to meet, refuses tenants requests for repair work.

·         * Landlord was not forthcoming in negotiations, worked in secrecy and missed all deadlines.

·         * No good faith effort made to reduce the rent during the month-to-month negotiations: Landlord offered but then took the offer away when the city met its end of the bargain.

·         * Created delays to continue to get higher rent.

·         * Political and controversial site: there were rallies and protests at a Gateway campaign headquarters after saying on the record that the political issues were gone.

·         * Landlord stated the government should anchor Gateway businesses.

·          * Changed the fire escape locks the day after the vote, even though Elections Office is still a paying tenant.

Th   Thanks to Beth Heath for her assistance in pulling this information together.  Thank you to each of you who takes the time to make a difference.

  May God Bless You and may God Bless Our America!

Leanne

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