by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
Getting to meet or speak with Mayor John Delaney isn’t the easiest thing to do. You could try calling his office — the number is public information — but when you are the leader of a city of 1 million people, answering phone calls can be tough sometimes.
If you really want to speak to Delaney the best way is to attend one of his bimonthly Town Hall meetings. The neighborhood gatherings, usually at a local elementary school, give residents a chance to ask Delaney virtually anything. It’s an informal gathering with a light atmosphere. But, there’s also a heavy undertone — the issues that concern some may seem paltry to others, but that doesn’t detract from their importance to that citizen. Or Delaney.
The saying, ‘One, man’s trash is another man’s treasure,’ oddly describes a Town Hall meeting. A drainage ditch that hasn’t been cleaned in years may be of no interest to a lady who’d rather ask Delaney about the physical condition of the county’s magnet schools.
At the urging of his predecessor, Ed Austin, Delaney established the Town Hall concept, and on Jan. 16, 1996 turned it into reality. But, he was skeptical. Austin had created the CPAC (Citizen Planning Advisory Committee) idea and tried to convince Delaney the idea had merit.
“I said, ‘Ed, you are crazy,’” recalled Delaney. However, Austin assured Delaney that there had to be a mechanism by which the citizens of Jacksonville could have a voice long before and after the voting booths closed. “He [Austin] was 100 percent right. As a result we created the Neighborhoods Department.”
The first meeting, in fact, wasn’t even a Town Hall meeting, but a CPAC meeting at Wolfson High School, which Delaney was invited to attend. For nearly three hours, the new mayor was grilled on both sides until he was thoroughly done. That CPAC meeting evolved into the Town Hall meetings, which have also evolved over the years.
Delaney held his first Town Hall meeting of the year Monday night at Spring Park Elementary School. It was also the 38th of his mayoral tenure. Although he called the meeting a “formal” one, the tone was lighthearted and casual. Delaney was accompanied by several department heads, as usual, but the many other City officials in the audience added to the air of importance.
Once Delaney introduced the department heads, he told the 150 or so in attendance that he’d give their questions his best shot. If he didn’t have an answer, someone would, if not immediately, but later or the next day.
“In the almost seven years I’ve been doing these, I get a report on them about a month later,” explained Delaney, adding he has instructed various City employees to follow up on unanswerable questions. “I’ve yet to have someone say, ‘You didn’t get back to me.’ We can’t always say ‘yes,’ but we’d like to. We’ll run about an hour and by my clock that’s about ten after seven. That doesn’t mean we’ll go running for the door. Any question is fine. If you want to talk about Afghanistan, that’s fine. We’ll try to answer your question.”
With the ground rules established, numerous hands shot into the air. Like a seasoned teacher, Delaney picked them off, one by one, even letting folks know who was next and next after that.
An older, established neighborhood, Spring Park folks are concerned about issues fledgling neighborhoods may never have to deal with. The roads need to be widened and repaved. Many are still using septic tanks. Some just want the trash collected more often.
With the patience of a preacher and the experience of a seasoned politician, Delaney listened to each person. Often he left his post — a simple stool and microphone — to get closer to the inquisitive resident. As others cupped their ears to hear the questions, which were often drowned out by the school’s antiquated heating system, Delaney often reiterated and paraphrased the question for all to hear.
After two of the first four questions centered on dumpsters, Delaney said, “We seem to have some dumpster issues here. It’s interesting and we’ll have to get caught up on this issue.” One lady wanted to know the hours during which commercial dumpsters could be emptied. Unable to answer her, Delaney asked Janice Davis of the Solid Waste Department to address the issue. (The answer is after 7 a.m. and before 10 p.m.)
“So, 3:30 in the morning is not acceptable,” the resident posed.
“That’s wrong,” said Delaney with a quizzical, almost exasperated look. “That’s wrong. Did you get the company’s name?”
Another lady wanted to know what the mayor intended to do for the Ribault High girl’s basketball team, which just won its fourth straight state championship. She didn’t even live in the Spring Park area, but knew — through the Town Hall format — that this was her best shot at the mayor. She may not get the billboards all over town that she wants, but Delaney assured something would be done.
“We will bring the team down to City Hall and take their picture,” assured Delaney. “It’s a phenomenal run, one of the best in the country.”
Another resident wanted to know why the storm water drains in his neighborhood weren’t being replaced while those in surrounding areas were. It simply didn’t make sense to him.
“This answer will take a minute,” said Delaney, who often explains before he answers. “We have prioritized the needs and at the end of the day it’s about money. We have spent about $150 million since I’ve been mayor on drainage. We spent $25 million before that in the history of the city. It’s catch-up time. That is an issue at every town meeting.”
One resident was concerned with the lack of trash receptacles at Jacksonville Transportation Authority bus stops. She also wondered why so many of them were nothing more than metal stakes with signs affixed. Realizing that JTA was a separate entity with no representatives present, Delaney produced a rare non-answer.
“Why they [JTA] don’t have more garbage cans is beyond me,” he said. “It just makes sense. It would be like going to Disney World and not finding any garbage cans.”
All around the room, heads nodded in agreement at both the question and, unfortunately, the answer provided by the mayor.
A concern Delaney anticipated was next. A resident wanted to know the status of the proposed overpass at Atlantic and University boulevards.
“What’s going there?” she asked. “How do we get to see the plans?”
Delaney smiled and noticed that City Council vice president Suzanne Jenkins, who represents the area and is vehemently opposed to an overpass, was in attendance.
“This question came about 45 minutes later than I thought it would,” said Delaney, grinning. “She’s [Jenkins] smiling because we have spent hours talking about this. She’s against an overpass and I’m thinking, let’s let the engineers decide.”
While most ask questions, others use the Town Hall meetings as sounding boards, an opportunity to get something off their chest or let the mayor know what’s going on in their neighborhood. Others just want to meet Delaney and shake his hand. After the meeting, one lady worked her way to Delaney and grabbed his hand. “I just wanted to meet you and say thank you for everything you’ve done,” she said, genuinely and in an admiring manner. “I want to you to know I pray for you every day.”
Not a bad way to wrap up another Town Hall meeting.