by Bailey White
Staff Writer
When incumbent Doyle Carter announced he wasn’t running for another term because he wanted to spend more time with his family and business, two candidates, Republican Daniel Davis and Democrat George Addington, entered the race for the Dist. 12 City Council seat.
George Addington
George Addington says he’s considered a run for City Council for a while and decided now was the time to enter the race.
“I’ve had a variety of experiences that make me qualified for the job,” said Addington, 69. “I served 20 years in the Army and was an officer, so I’ve learned to be a leader. I know how to get people moving and doing what needs to be done.”
Addington is also a veteran of the City’s accounting division, where he’s spent 14 years as an employee.
“If there is any place in the City that knows where the money goes, that’s it,” he said. “I know who to talk to to get something done.”
Currently on a leave of absence from his job to focus on his campaign, Addington said he believes Council members should be required to devote full-time hours to their position.
“I don’t think anyone should try to work and be a City Council person,” he said. “Just being on the Council will take up most of your available time. I don’t expect that someone who runs a business to close, but they should have someone else running day-to-day operations.”
Addington said he will do what he can to get businesses interested in building and creating their companies and small businesses in Dist. 12.
“We have a very small economic base on the Westside, compared with some other areas of town,” he said. “We need to work on getting built up.”
He also plans to focus on improving the flow of traffic in certain neighborhoods and will fight for the living wage ordinance and better health care for City employees.
Daniel Davis
Daniel Davis is running for the Dist. 12 Council seat for a second time. In 1999, he lost to Doyle Carter, but later supported Carter during his time on the Council. Now with Carter deciding not to run for reelection, Davis saw an opening to again pursue the seat.
“I ran back then because I wanted to serve my community,” said Davis. “The reason is the same now.”
Davis, 30, grew up in Dist. 12 and graduated from Trinity Christian High School. He is currently the associate director of the Northeast Florida Builders Association, where he says he will continue to work if elected.
“Being on Council is a part-time job and I would not do this without the blessing of the builders association.”
His goal for the district is simple.
“It all comes down to quality of life,” he said. “I want to improve it by bringing in quality economic development and by pursing high paying jobs for the Cecil Commerce Center.”
Davis said making sure the Better Jacksonville Plan projects are implemented on time is another one of his plans for the district.
“I’ll continue to work on road improvements,” said Davis. “It’s all to help the citizens of Dist. 12.”
“My vision for Jacksonville is basically the same thing. We know we’re going to grow and we want to make sure we do it right,” he said. “We want to make sure we hold on to our small town values as we grow.”
On his confidence about the outcome of the race Davis said, “I’ll put it this way ... we’re working very hard.”