by Monica Chamness
Staff Writer
Three candidates for the City Council At-Large Group One seat have emerged in the race for the April election: Democrat Ronald Higginbotham and Republicans Henry Mooneyhan and Faye Rustin, the incumbent. All three contenders have business experience.
Henry Mooneyhan
Mooneyhan has no previous political experience but felt compelled to become involved in the City Council race, he says, so he could make a difference. His background boasts 37 years of transportation management locally. Currently, Mooneyhan is the terminal manager of Overnite Transportation.
“I have a lot of business experience,” he said. “I can use my talents in City Council to make Jacksonville a better place to live.”
Having studied logistics and transportation at FCCJ, Mooneyhan has spent his career pursuing the management fast-track to success. By the age of 29, he was vice president of Gator Freightways and, by the time he reached his early 40s, he was the COO of Fast Freight. He has also worked as the regional vice president of Saia Motor Freight.
Oddly, Mooneyhan did not enter the race because he believed transportation to be a major issue in Jacksonville. His top three concerns include public safety, adult illiteracy and suburban sprawl. Putting more law enforcement officers on the streets is priority number one for him.
“I want to be sure our fire and police departments are well-equipped and well-trained,” he said. “They are our first line of defense against catastrophic events. I want to see City Council give the sheriff’s office enough money to provide protection in high-crime areas so those people don’t have to live in fear anymore.”
Tackling the mammoth problem of adult illiteracy is next on his list. His strategy is to appropriate more money for tutoring the functionally illiterate.
“The adult illiteracy race is 49 percent,” he pointed out. “I want to provide funding for tutors and volunteers to work one-on-one with them so they can better fit into society.”
Father of three and grandfather of four, Mooneyhan is involved in several civic groups such as the Argyle Area Civic Council and as president of the Jacksonville District United Methodist Men’s Organization. He supports the continuity of local military bases, improved benefits for senior citizens, economic expansion and managed growth.
Managed growth preservation is high on his list of objectives for the county.
“As we grow our economy, I want to be sure we plan our new neighborhoods properly by building the infrastructure for both current and future needs,” he said. “We must also be sure that existing, older, historic districts be well-maintained and brought up-to-date.”
If elected, Mooneyhan promises responsive government and adequate representation. He feels his temperament and business background are what qualifies him to do the job.
“I’m a proven leader,” he said. “I listen to people’s views and maintain an open-door policy. I always will have an open-door policy. I think the voters are what this race is all about and I will listen to the voters over special interest groups.”
Faye Rustin
Faye Rustin has served on City Council since 1999. Born in South Georgia, she moved to Jacksonville in 1985.
“I lived in upstate New York for three winters,” she recalled. “It was too cold for a Southern girl. I never intend to live north of the Mason-Dixon line again.”
After deciding to settle down here, Rustin made her home on the Northside. Currently she operates Active Professionals, a full-service employment firm. During her tenure, she has made it her ambition to clean up Jacksonville.
“There is so much to be done by the Super Bowl,” said Rustin. “I want to put more emphasis on beautification because we’ll have world exposure. We’ll continue to deal with litter but more aggressively. Hopefully, we’ll clean up more of downtown. As much as has been done, we still have so much litter here. I’m sure there is in every city but if you spend a day cleaning up the roads, two days later, there’s more. It’s still the top topic I hear.”
Rustin’s obvious advantage is the name recognition she has garnered due to her current tenure. Learning the ropes, who can help, what the procedures are—these are all facets of a learning curve she has been down already.
“I had worked with big corporations down to small businesses but it is a totally different mindset in government,” she recalled. “It takes a long time to learn your way around. I feel I know what City Council is all about and that I’m as involved as anyone on City Council. We’re going to have new faces here but the Council will be stronger. We have four years under our belt; now we’re ready to really do something.”
Even without her political expertise, Rustin remains confident of her ability to serve the public.
“I’m a business owner and have good people skills,” said Rustin of her qualifications. “I’m a team builder and a consensus builder. In City Council, we’ve all learned we need to build consensus to bring about change.”
Ronald Higginbotham
Fed up with what he has observed in local politics, Democrat Ronald Higginbotham has decided to give city government a try. Higginbotham does not see his lack of any political experience as a disadvantage.
“I think I could do a really good job,” he said. “I have a passion for the job. I could do as good of a job as any of the rest of them.”
A retired electrician, Higginbotham bought and sold school buses to the school board for 20 years until the First Student company was hired. He believes radical change needs to be made in the way the school system is run, in the number of immigrants who work here, in how the Better Jacksonville Plan is executed and on how to attract tourists to the area.
“I would make sure that if a foreigner comes in to take a job from our graduates, that he can’t get it,” said Higginbotham. “Across the board, I would deny them jobs at the point of application, especially illegals. When we spend so much money to send our kids to school and somebody else from another country takes their job—no, that’s not right. I say keep them out of the country.”
A Westside resident, Higginbotham feels the public was lied to about what entities would be erecting the Better Jacksonville Plan projects.
“We built the Coliseum, ball park and library,” he said. “They were supposed to be built by local contractors but they’ve been bringing them in from out-of-town. If I was on City Council, I would pressure the mayor if he thinks he’s going to run people out of business that have been here for 20 years. What good is the Council if they don’t buck the mayor?”
What he is in favor of is constructing an amusement park at the zoo to prevent Jacksonville from being merely a pit stop on the way to a South Florida vacation.
“Why do we have to go to Disney World?” he asked. “Jacksonville doesn’t have a thing. I think tourism needs to stop here.”
A Jacksonville native, Higginbotham is a graduate of the Jacksonville School of Technology. He has two adoptive teenage daughters that he contends are A-B students. His first initiative would be to enhance job training for area employees.
“I heard about all the drop-outs in Jacksonville,” he said. “I don’t have the answer to everything but I guess I’d start by hiring a new superintendent.”