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Times Union: Peyton: Next Jacksonville mayor will face tough choices
Jacksonville's next mayor will have trouble pursuing major projects unless he or she can convince voters to pay more for them, Mayor John Peyton says.
"There's not money for a bold vision," Peyton said Monday during an interview with The Times-Union's editorial board.
Big issues that should be addressed, the mayor said, include figuring out a way to pay for indigent health care, taking care of at-risk kids, trying to attract more biomedical companies to the area and working at getting a convention center downtown.
Those first two items are particularly important for the future of the city, Peyton said, but dealing with them will require either an increase in property tax or sales tax rates, neither idea popular with voters.
In the wide ranging interview, Peyton looked back at his 7 1/2 years in office as well as the current race to replace him.
During the race, the mayor said, he'll act as a "reality check," making sure "things being said are intellectually honest."
Some things he's heard from campaigns aren't accurate, Peyton said, although he declined to state specific examples.
However, he said it's irritating to hear candidates make blanket statements about the ease of cutting expenses without laying out exactly where.
"It's really a question of how many libraries you want, how many fire stations you want," Peyton said.
Having the mayor hold candidates accountable is a good thing, said Audrey Moran, who is seeking the office.
"Voters are hungry for the truth," she said. "If Mayor Peyton can help voters know the truth about our city government and the significant issues our next mayor faces, I'm all for it."
The Mike Hogan campaign took the mayor's comments a bit more combatively.
"Comments from the mayor whose raised more fees and taxes than any in recent history and kept fewer of his campaign promises speak for themselves," said campaign consultant Paul McCormick.
Over the next few months, the Peyton administration will focus on preparing for the transition, including holding budget workshops in February.
The information the current officeholders gather, Peyton said, will give the next mayor and the community a menu of options for moving forward.
The major challenge for the next mayor will finding enough money to keep the city running, with Peyton projects the city will run a theoretical $170 million deficit by 2015 if property tax rates don't go up.
Most of that expense comes from the city's 8,000 employees: Making changes to their pay and pension system will be difficult, especially after most of the workforce has agreed to 2 percent pay cuts this year.
If candidates say they'll balance the budget by cutting service, Peyton said, he wants to know where.
"The voters," he said, "deserve to know that to a certain level of specifics."
timothy.gibbons@jacksonville.com, (904) 359-4103
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Comment
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Comment by Patricia M. McBride on January 6, 2011 at 8:03am
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I agree Dawn. What you point out is part and parcel to the same thing. Taking money from one group to provide help to those who did not earn the money or have any claim to the fruits of someone else's labors. This is more socialism, but our city government is just as bad as the one in DC and must be replaced this spring with a group of people who have at least read the constitution and understand what this country is about. The entitlement programs have to stop on every level. The founders wanted people to get help, but they didn't want it coming from the government (at any level) unless all other sources were exhausted first as in family, churches and non profits which accept donations (not forced theft as in the government).
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Comment by Dawn Holder on January 6, 2011 at 7:30am
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What is you take on the city requesting funds from Charities to pay for their portion of the matching funds to insulate attics for Jacksonville's "Most Vulnerable" ? I can't even figure out how they are vulnerable. Heck, I am vulnerable to drafts, hot weather, the whims of petty bureaucrats and a host of other outside forces.
Here is the info:
2010-926 ORD Approp $125,000 from Jessie Ball DuPont Religious, Charitable & Educational Fund for Matching Dollars to Assist in Insulating Attics in Homes of City's Most Vulnerable
People; Auth Funds Carryover to Subsequent Fiscal Yrs. (BT 11-038)
(McCain) (Req of Mayor) Public Hearing Pursuant to Chapt 166, F.S.
& CR 3.601 – 1/11/11WHO “MOST VULNERABLE PEOPLE” AND WHY DO WE NEED TO INSULATE THEIR ATTICS WITH CHARITY MONEY?
Every time I review the bills, there is always something that should not be coming from the public coffers or we are taking from the Feds for something that is not a government function. Taking from the Feds should not be done unless they mandate some action and so We HAVE to do it. Money from the Feds is money that is financing the Chinese Army or that the Feds just print and by doing so potentially devalue the dollar. It is morally bankrupt to place this debt on the backs of children, some not yet born, through out the United States. This City needs to stop feeding from the teat of big government!
The City Council of Jacksonville is actively involved in the redistribution of wealth. They don't like to hear that but it is absolutely the truth!
I will be posting the list of bills that are open to public hearing. On most bills, there is only one public hearing before the full council. The Committees allow comment now but it is limited. I hope that people will start emailing, calling and writing about this issues and that is why I am involved. Getting the information out there so that people know what, where, when, why and how to fight for or against is my objective.
Downtown drives me absolutely mad because of the wasteful spending. Big cities often do have vibrant downtowns but they what they don't have is an abundance of land on which to build so they have to make and redo what is available. We keep saying that we want to be like this city or that city and have this downtown or that downtown. Well, then the Land Use and Zoning guys need to get the memo because they keep permitting development outside the downtown area!
I know a person who has been doing a lot of work on the Pension problem. He has focused on the Police and Firefighter Pension Fund. I can get you in contact with him if you want to send me an email. He has expressed some interest in doing meetings about that particular fund's shortcomings.
It has been a pleasure to "discuss" this with or at you. Thanks for the post and keep fighting!
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Dawn, you are right. The thing locally is that many of the feel good programs they are involved in are unconstitutional. You can't take one person's money to give via special programs or anything else that isn't for the general public at large or a service the city is responsible for. They should not be restoring the downtown or anything except city buildings at taxpayer expense. Private money should be used for anything that is not deemed government property. They should be hunting up people in the private sector to take on these projects, but they can't because folks know that it is a bad investment, but these politicians don't mind wasting all our money to support all their friends in the builders association. And let me qualify that a little, it isn't all builders, contractors or members of the builders association; it is actually a very small group who have had their hands around the throats of the tax payers in this city. This mayor has squandered millions of dollars at a time when, as they say, we have this huge elephant in the room called unfunded liability.
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Well, it seems to me that you need to look to the city's Charter and cut anything that is not declared as a required expense. Then take another look at the Charter and get rid of the other fluff like JEDC. Something has to be done about the pensions too. The next Mayor had better be willing to make the hard choices or start filing for Chapter 9-Municipal Bankruptcy. It really is that BAD.
htChartertp://library.municode.com/HTML/12174/level2/
CHRELA_PTACHLACHJAFL.html
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