Downtown Turnaround

On Thursday, February 24, Downtown Vision, Inc. and the Downtown Residents Group hosted a city council candidate forum at the Museum of Science and History's Gooding Planetarium. The forum was moderated by Channel 4 meteorologist Rebecca Barry and focused on issues facing downtown development. Time restraints prevented candidates from going in-depth into any proposals, but the forum did provide a good opportunity to determine candidate stances on building up our cities urban core.

In attendance were candidates from city council districts seven and nine, and at-large districts four and five. Due to the short time span only districts located in the "core" downtown area were represented in the hour long forum. There were ten candidates in attendance:

1. Marc McCullough, Sr. - District 7
2. Warren Jones - District 9
3. Greg Anderson - At-Large Group 4
4. Juan Diaz - At-Large Group 4
5. Jim Robinson - At-Large Group 4
6. Fred Engness - At-Large Group 5
7. Sean Hall - At-Large Group 5
8. Robin Lumb - At-Large Group 5
9. Robin Rukab - At-Large Group 5
10. Michelle Tappouni - At-Large Group 5

Candidates Don Redman of district four and JOhn Gaffney of district seven were on the program, but did not attend. Redman cited "scheduling conflicts" and Gaffney was out sick.

The first question asked what the candidates thought were the biggest problems facing downtown. They were given three minutes to answer. McCullough wants to better address the homeless situation, and give down town a safer appearance. Jones wants to provide more incentives for businesses that locate and build downtown. Anderson believes that parking is a major hindrance that keeps people from coming downtown, and he wants to increase downtown employment. Diaz sees the problem being a lack of leadership and the ineffectiveness of past task forces. Robinson called for a need for consistency, pointing out that changes in leadership often bring projects off-track and shift priorities. Engness sees downtown traffic as being to confusing. He wants to get rid of one-way streets and bring in two-way road, and adjust the appraisals of vacant homes downtown to lower prices and encourage people to move in. Rukab read a written statement that called for the assembly of a smart-growth team to explore possibilities for developing downtown. Tappouni said that our focus needs to be on the river, and that we need to fix the public's perception of downtown and build on the success of the Riverside Trolley program to bring more people in.

In the second question, the candidates were asked why downtown was important to the rest of the city. They were given one minute to respond. McCullough said that downtown should be the heart of a city, and pointed out that in our heart there is "nothing going on". Jones talked about growing up in Lavilla and remembered how downtown used to be. He said that downtown should be the biggest tax base of the city, and that we need to make it that again. Anderson reiterated McCullough's cliche about downtown being he heart of a city. He called for a shared vision and stressed the need of a vibrant downtown to drive revenues for the city as a whole. Diaz use a different metaphor and described downtown as the hub of a wheel. He said that downtown needs to be more pedestrian friendly, that parking needs to be more affordable and that traffic patterns - instead of shooting straight from I-95 to the Arlington Expressway - need to encourage people to stop downtown. He also mentioned his desire for an aquarium. Robinson spoke of the importance of downtown saying, "You can't be a suburb of nowhere" and mentioned how when he asked citizens what Jacksonville was known for he often received blank stares. Engness talked about how the need for more thing to do downtown, citing high gas prices keeping westsiders from driving all the way across the river o spur spending again. Hall called for a Coney Island type attraction downtown, or to keep some fair ground attractions open year-round. He also mentioned his belief that the public is tired of talk about developing downtown and is ready for some action. Lumb spoke of the hard financial situation the next city council will face and how good hard looks will need to be taken at any downtown development plans and whether the city can afford them. Rukab spoke o the need to market downtown to businesses and Universities to start a movement. Tappouni spoke of the need for downtown to "lead the way" for the rest of the city.

The last question asked how candidates would address funding needs. McCullough spoke of priorities, giving an example of how the city spent $19 million planting palm trees along a road on the northside when those funds could have been better spent elsewhere. Jones spoke about how the city needs to do better at maintaining what it has before it adds more responsibilities to the pile. Anderson spoke of his financial background and how the financial situation was the "question of the election". The next city council, he said, would face a $60 million dollar deficit in the first months of taking office. Diaz's answer echoed that of Warren Jones. He saw maintenance as a core purpose of government, and the need to take care of what we have before we build more. He also called for the need to stop irrelevant construction (which many would classify the newly constructed Duval County Courthouse as being). Robinson spoke of the decline in public trust resulting in the funneling of restricted government funds for one purpose into the general fund for another, and how the city needs to address that practice and use its funds more ethically and responsibly. Engess called for an end to no-bid contracts (like the Trail Ridge Landfill contract of 2010) and recommended that community service sentences from local judges be used to help clean-up and maintain downtown cityscapes. Hall recognized that we are not in "normal times" and brought forward the idea of public-private adopt-a-block clean-up programs to use citizen involvement and ownership as a tool to clean-up downtown. Lumb called the area around I-95 and Park St. an "open cesspool" and called for the need for more code enforcement to force land owners to maintain their own properties. Rukab did not appear to have much to say on the financial situation facing the city. Tappouni said that government shouldn't pass the buck and stressed her desire to get small business more involved.

It was a short forum that missed a lot of issues facing our downtown region, but a few of the big things were covered. If you have time, please check an earlier post where I shared an article from Metro Jacksonville about five drastic steps they say can help revitalize our urban core.