Outgoing City Council President Lori Boyer wants to boost the city’s profile by increasing tourism, emphasizing the area’s natural resources and activating the waterfront.
Her solution: Develop around the natural resources like the Beaches, St. Johns River and nature preserves to attract tourists that would typically travel elsewhere on vacation.
“That’s why the Huguenots came here, that’s why the Navy is here, and that’s why port is here,” she said.
“No other city has the natural resources Jacksonville has.”
In her role as council president, which ends this week, Boyer said she’s had plenty of conversations with businesses and individuals.
Boyer said embracing tourism would help Jacksonville distinguish itself nationally and globally.
“It’s not that we have a negative reputation, we just don’t have a reputation,” she said.
Boyer represents District 5, which covers San Marco, San Jose and much of South Jacksonville.
She outlined her year as council president Wednesday to the Southside Business Men’s Club and talked about her plans.
She said tourism and the area’s natural resources are natural fits.
“As you know, the state of Florida has a brand and makes a lot of money on tourists,” said Boyer. “Jacksonville has never really engaged and worked to be part of that Florida brand.”
Doing so, she said, would provide jobs for “people who want to find work, but could not otherwise find jobs.”
Boyer said she’s talking about hospitality, dining and other service-industry jobs generated by tourism.
“I think it’s especially important for areas of the city where unemployment remains high,” she said.
Boyer also plans to continue her crusade to “stitch both sides of the river back together.”
For the past few months, she has been presenting her ideas on how to activate areas of the St. Johns River near Downtown.
It includes “nodes” or places along the riverfront that would include river-taxi stops, features and interactive visitor kiosks.
“It’s not just one project, it’s multiple projects, and marketing and capital,” she said.
Boyer said the first “node,” Corkscrew Park, will be completed this year and council set aside funds for the next two projects.
She said repairs for Friendship Fountain on the Southbank are budgeted, “which will include more landscaping and some of those enhanced features.”
Finally, she said, she’ll continue pushing developers to expand the Riverwalk on their own, or provide easements for the city to do it, when they present plans for riverfront development.
“Our idea is to create a complete loop, connecting both sides of the river,” she said.
Her year at the helm was highlighted in part by controversial legislation reforming the city’s pension fund and expanding the human rights ordinance to include protections for the LGBTQ community.
“As a city and as a governing body, I think we handled those issues pretty smoothly,” Boyer said.
She said council probably achieved about half of what it set out to do a year ago.
Even so, Boyer said she’s proud of the progress on other hot-button issues, like funding more positions at Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office and improving infrastructure around the city.
Boyer and Vice President John Crescimbeni will leave their leadership positions tonight as incoming President Anna Brosche and Vice President Aaron Bowman are installed.
The ceremony begins at 6 p.m. at Jacoby Hall at the Times-Union Center for The Performing Arts.
Council returns to business July 17.