From Jake Godbold to Alvin Brown, each of Jacksonville’s most recent mayors has had distinct styles and demeanors when it came to running the city.
Each has had hallmark initiatives, from Ed Austin’s River City Renaissance to John Delaney’s Better Jacksonville Plan to John Peyton’s Jacksonville Journey.
And each needed the same action for those projects: 10 votes from the City Council.
“It’s about, ‘Can I get 10?’” said council member Denise Lee.
Those votes are often tied to a positive working relationship and strong communi-
cation between the mayor and council.
Lee knows the value of those bonds. She’s been on council during each of the past six administrations. So has Warren Jones. John Crescimbeni has been there for four.
Some mayors were better at working with council than others.
Jones and Lee remember Godbold being masterful at it.
Delaney knew his way from experience with the Austin administration and he was
personable.
Peyton struggled early on with building the relationship but grew into the role.
Almost three and a half years into the job, Brown has faced those same struggles, council members said. And it’s showed in council’s lack of support of key ideas from Brown.
The budgets he submitted. The first pension deal he crafted. Or even his attempt to continue the water taxi service on an emergency basis.
“It could be better,” Lee said of Brown’s relationship and communication level with council. “Much better.”
Brown spokesman David DeCamp said there’s a difference between communication issues and building a relationship.
He said Brown and the administration are communicating — there just have been disagreements on policy.
It hasn’t all been gridlock, he said, noting reorganization and recent efforts to combat blight as examples of the sides working together.
But, council President Clay Yarborough says Brown still has “significant room for improvement” when communicating with council members.
“Communication is a key ingredient on which trust and working together rests,” he said.
A series of setbacks
Brown’s troubles with council began early and have been very public.
Less than a year in office, the council sided with the judicial branch in its battle with Brown over $750,000 in furniture for the new courthouse.
Last year, council members quickly rejected his deal with the Police and Fire Pension Fund.
The water taxi issue in June drew the group’s ire after the administration bought two vessels for $339,000 without the required approval of council.
And Brown’s past two budgets have been lightning rods for criticism from council members. Last year, there were $60 million in unidentified cuts. This year, it was Brown’s proposal to spend millions of reserves and borrow $230 million to finance capital projects during an election year.
“Those kinds of things catch people off guard,” Jones said.
Finance Committee Chairman Richard Clark publicly asked where the mayor was for the month and a half of budget reviews.
Council members also were disgruntled Brown did not share his priorities as the review continued through August and early September.
Yarborough asked Brown’s Chief of Staff Chris Hand to prioritize capital improvement projects. Hand said the administration had done what it was legally required to do. Yarborough never got that list. Hand did send an email to Yarborough the next day, reiterating the administration believed all of the projects on the original list were priorities.
Compounding the issue was Brown attending a high-end fundraiser for his re-election campaign hosted by Bill Cosby in New York on the night council members finalized the budget.
Council member Matt Schellenberg called Brown’s absence “disrespectful” to council and the city staff who were working late.
Yarborough called Brown’s New York trip during the budget a “slap in the face”to council members and taxpayers. He said that while mayors typically aren’t in council chambers during the budget, they’re at least in the vicinity should questions arise. He used Peyton as an example of that practice.
DeCamp described the issues over the budgets more a matter of differences of opinion, not a lack of communication. The mayor had a working lunch with Clark on Aug. 13, DeCamp said, and staff has readily been available to respond to council questions.
The administration issued several statements lamenting council’s “tone” during the budget review process.
Outside of the budget, DeCamp said the administration has “done its best” to build positive communications between the two sides.
As for the overall relationship, he said “every administration and council relationship has its own course” and the “effort and intent has not changed in trying to have the best relationship.”
Opinions on the other side vary.
Jones said he thought the level of communication was “OK.” The relationship, not as much.
He said he first noticed the deterioration during last year’s budget process when council was left to fill in extraordinary lapses of more than $60 million.
Lee called the communication from Brown’s side “not that good.”
“I think the City Council has done more outreach with this administration,” she said. “I don’t think council can do anything. It’s up to the mayor.”
Crescimbeni compared it to a golf game — there have been peaks and valleys, but the past year has had an upward trend by Brown’s staff.
“But the real communicator, the mayor … they’ll never be able to substitute,” Crescimbeni said. “They can’t carry all the water. The mayor has to take responsibility.”
Overall, Crescimbeni, Lee, Yarborough and others spoke favorably of the job Brown’s staff has done, with Chief Administrative Office Karen Bowling at the forefront of accolades.
As for council’s relationship with Brown, Crescimbeni said it is “as low as it’s ever been.”
A historical perspective
Peyton was mayor during Yarborough’s first term, a period during which the council president admits to growing. The two didn’t always see eye-to-eye on issues. Yet, there always was the opportunity to have extensive one-on-one talks to express each other’s side.
Lee goes further back when talking about communication from a mayor.
“I think the greatest was Jake Godbold,” she said. “When I say that, I mean he was such a ‘people person.’ He would talk to you … everything now is such a formality.”
Jones agreed that Godbold and his staff did a good job, meeting personally with council members on a wide range of issues.
He also credited Delaney and Peyton for consistently reaching out and passing through council halls to check in even during times when they weren’t trying to lobby.
But when they did lobby, he said, they “put on a full court press.”
Such as when Peyton and staff drove Jones and other council members individually through their districts to show programs that would improve with the Jacksonville Journey, Peyton’s anti-crime initiative.
For Jones, that meant taking a trip to day cares and after-school functions within the largely minority District 9.
“It was definitely effective,” he said.
But, it wasn’t all about lobbying.
Crescimbeni said Delaney was “really good” at building relationships with council members.
“He would pop in on many occasions,” Crescimbeni said.
Sometimes it was as easy as talking University of Florida football. Other times, there might have been a disagreement about something Crescimbeni publicly said.
“Sometimes it would be about city business … but it doesn’t always have to be city business,” he said.
Delaney concurred.
“Politics is just as much about relationships as it is about policy,” said Delaney, now president of the University of North Florida. “I did my best to become friends with individual council members and understand their priorities.”
Delaney said he always thought it was important to periodically walk through council offices for pop-ins, find out how members were doing and gauge reaction to different ideas.
“Besides,” he said. “It’s hard to disagree with someone if you like them.”
There were hiccups — Delaney recalls a liquor license issue and tree ordinance where disagreements were had. And a time when fire inspectors were stealing time and not properly doing their work. Delaney said the latter was an instance where he had to come out and admit, “Hey, we messed that one up.”
But, overall, he said his relationship with council was positive.
It was on display during the buildup and vote for the Better Jacksonville Plan, a $2.25 billion infrastructure plan requiring a half-cent sales tax approved by council and voters.
Susie Wiles, Delaney’s chief of staff from 1996-99, said he worked “as hard on that as anything.”
“It was a hard sell,” she said. “We were taxing people.”
Delaney said for 18 months, he and staff met with every elected official and every candidate running for office. After the time and detail put into the pitch, people were on board.
That meant Delaney and staff working with individual council members, making sure investments were widespread.
Former council member Alberta Hipps was president at the time, Wiles said, and she “held our feet to the fire” to ensure district investments were sufficient.
Council overwhelmingly approved putting it on the ballot and the voters passed it.
Wiles was a figure in more than one administration. In addition to Delaney, she served in Peyton’s administration and played a key role in establishing the Jacksonville Journey.
“Frequent and transparent communication between an administration and council is the only operating strategy that works,” she said.
While several council members don’t think it’s at that level currently, it could be shifting.
Making an effort?
Despite the negatives in the relationship, several people can identify some positives that have resulted from the current sides.
Lee said the creation of the Downtown Investment Authority was a win. Jones made a note of the economic development deals that have brought jobs to Jacksonville.
DeCamp agrees with both and adds city reorganization, keeping an early voting site and office at Gateway Shopping Center and the efforts made to combat blight as examples of a positive relationship.
He also said Brown makes efforts to engage council members. DeCamp said Brown does wander into council offices, although DeCamp said many prefer prescheduled sit-downs or talks.
On Monday, a day before council finalized the budget, Brown was seen walking through the halls and stopping to meet with some council members.
Yet, those interviewed said minimal effort has been made by Brown for one-on-one talks.
Some, like Lee, said when the meetings did happen they were often one-sided— Brown mostly talked about himself or his priorities without seeking input or opinion.
Yarborough said Brown reached out to him before he became council president in July, saying he wanted to maintain an open dialogue. Calendars haven’t readily aligned, but an attempt has been there, Yarborough said.
Still, Yarborough said he wants to see more — and not just with him.
Yarborough said the 19 council members are Brown’s equals and there has been a lack of effort for personal engagement.
“Almost three and a half years into the term, it seems as though more effort could have been made,” he said. “It doesn’t give council members the impression you really desire good communication if you don’t maintain that relationship.”
As volatile as the relationship has been, there is still time for Brown to work with council to cement a signature initiative. One that would save the city millions.
The second rendition of pension reform is before council members now, with their attention likely to turn to the matter now that the budget is in the books.
It will take communication and a working relationship.
It will take 10 votes.
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