by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
City Council vice president Suzanne Jenkins has no intentions of renouncing her bid for the Council presidency, a position that Jenkins contends is rightfully hers considering the amount of effort she’s put forth during the last year as vice president.
Last week, City Council member Jerry Holland disclosed that he has 10 signed pledges supporting him for Council president. Holland, with nine votes from his peers and his own vote, has enough votes to win the job. He also contends that he and Jenkins agreed to a scenario where if one of them secured enough pledges, the other would gracefully drop out the race, allowing the Council to vote on the matter with little or no debate. Jenkins denies that any kind of deal was struck and fully intends to continue her pursuit of the Council presidency.
“No, I’m not throwing in the towel,” said Jenkins. “I never agreed to that with Jerry. What he said last week, that was a half-truth.”
Jenkins said she and Holland did discuss such a deal, but never agreed on anything. Now that party politics are playing a major role in how Council members are expected to vote, the race for Council presidency may very well intensify rather than come to a quiet end. Jenkins, whose tenacity and work ethic got her elected in the first place, still feels good about her chances despite the fact that several Republican members of Council have been pressured by representatives of the local Republican Party — specifically Tom Slade this year and Cindy Burgin last year — to vote for Holland simply as a show of party solidarity.
“I think I’m just going to work hard the next couple of weeks and see what happens,” said Jenkins. “I don’t think everything has come out.”
What has been disclosed so far is that Council members who would have ordinarily voted for Jenkins — regardless of party affiliation — and continued with the natural progression in the Council, have, as Jenkins contends, been instructed to vote for Holland or face possible future political repercussions.
This doesn’t sit well with Jenkins for several reasons. First, she believes her leadership speaks for itself. Jenkins also wonders, if it was so important to vote within the party, why Council president Matt Carlucci and Council member Alberta Hipps, who is running for mayor, have spurned fellow Republican Holland in favor of her. And, if Jacksonville is so paramount to getting Gov. Jeb Bush reelected that the Republican Party feels the need to control the Council election, why they aren’t concerned at all about the 13 local state senators and representatives?
“The Duval Delegation elected Denise Lee [a Democrat] as their chair and there are only three Democrats in the Duval Delegation. All of those Republicans supported her. If it’s such a big deal on mine, why isn’t it a big deal at the state level?” said Jenkins, adding that she does not have a local Democratic leader, like Clyde Collins, pressuring anyone on Council to vote in any particular manner. “You don’t see Clyde Collins or Terry Brady up here [Council offices].
“I believe the election should still be about leadership. I don’t believe a party leader should be telling people what to do. I’ll put my work on the table any day and say, ‘What have you got to match me?’”
As for Carlucci and Hipps, two of Council’s most visible and respected members, bucking party lines and voting for Jenkins, she contends that’s a reflection of their character as much as anything.
“They have backbones,” said Jenkins. “Their identity is not wrapped up in who does what at party levels. I think they are sticking with me because I think they recognize good leadership, not just my work with ordinances but also with the full Council. Everyone has said they will not abandon me and that they are staying with me until it’s over. That was pretty nice.”
No matter how things end, the outspoken Jenkins is not at all happy with how things have progressed recently. Crossing party lines for the sake of Council as a whole is a practice that has been en vogue for years. Jenkins points to her support of Carlucci, Hipps and Ginger Soud — the past three Council presidents and all Republicans — as a prime example of voting for the right person regardless of party membership.
“I have voted Republican since I’ve been in office,” said Jenkins, referring to Carlucci, Hipps and Soud. “My party didn’t give me any grief about that.”
Jenkins contends that Slade should stay out of the election and allow Council members to vote their conscience rather than hold their political futures hostage.
“I think they are stepping over the bounds. This is a local political election,” said Jenkins. “There are not Republican or Democratic issues at the local level. I think that shortchanges the voters. We are here to carry out their will, not the party’s will. I’m not surprised, though. I was told at the end of last year’s election that they waited too late. This year they started earlier and brought in the big gun.
“It was a fair fight until then. He [Holland] did not get it [the 10 votes] until they got involved. Obviously, they thought they needed to get involved.”