by Glenn Tschimpke
Staff Writer
The City Council presidency race has taken a big turn: Jim Overton wants the job and he may have enough votes to win.
Until earlier this week, the battle was between Vice President Suzanne Jenkins and Jerry Holland. Then Jenkins withdrew, noting Holland’s 10 apparent votes — a majority of the Council’s 19 members — and the fact that her status as a Democrat made winning almost impossible.
She suggested that Overton get her votes.
He may have them ... and more.
Overton comment? “I’m running and I think I’ll do just fine.”
Does he have the votes?
“You don’t know until they vote,” he said. “If someone says I have 12 votes, they must mean there are 25 people on the Council.”
When will he reveal how many votes he has?
“I don’t have them, the voters do. We’ll find out when we vote.”
At the top of his list of concerns are 13 pieces of legislation drafted by the Historic Preservation and Downtown Revitalization Task Force.
“The first one out of the box, Jerry voted against,” said Overton. “It held up in committee for an hour and a half in debate. It concerns me that he argued against it. What if he’s council president and he tries to kill all 13 pieces of legislation? That’s a year’s worth of work that could just go down the drain.”
Holland had reservations about a bill that would ease building and fire code requirements for older buildings, which would reduce redevelopment costs and thus entice builders to renovate instead of raze. While Holland voted against it while it was in council committee, he maintains he would have voted for it at full council had he been present.
“I’ve been in construction for over 20 years and am very familiar with codes,” said Holland. “People didn’t want to come out and say it lessens the safety of buildings. Is it still safe? Yes. Is it less safe? Yes. When it comes to the codes, it was not a stand against the historical preservation task force.”
Holland said he would support the remaining pending legislation from the task force with the exception of a few, which he wants to research further before making a decision.
Overton and Holland have differed in the past over issues, including
the location of the new Jacksonville Beach pier.
“I thought his position was just the wrong one,” said Overton. “Of course, it’s the beach and it’s in his district and he thought he ought to be able to decide. We all have something to say about where the beach pier goes. We’re all spending the money for it. It’s a county-wide amenity. I was concerned about that.”
While public officials supported moving the pier north of its old location, Holland maintains his constituents and the general public supported a rebuild in the same location and he followed suit.
“I didn’t arbitrarily do what elected officials wanted,” said Holland. “Everywhere I went, the public wanted it at the south location.”
Before dropping out, Jenkins had seven vote commitments from fellow council members. Those commitments may transfer directly to Overton, although he admits it’s not a lock.
“I’ve done it and it was an interesting experience,” he said, referring to his time as council president from 1997 to 1998. “It’s kind of a pain. But you get great press for a year and that kind of stuff. The advantages are pretty much what you can think of. The disadvantages you have to deal with a bunch of personalities the whole year, plus you have staff responsibilities.”