by Michele Newbern Gillis
Staff Writer
Since the age of 12, Daniel Davis has known that one day he will run for mayor of Jacksonville.
But, not yet, says the associate director of the Northeast Florida Builders Association and a Jacksonville City Council member.
Daniel has just completed his first year as a City Council member serving District 12 and is very busy in his current position with NEFBA.
He is quite content to learn the ropes and work his way up to his destiny.
“I am very happy with being a City Council member right now,” said Davis. “I’m going to do my best where I am right now. If doors open up in the future for me to walk through, we’ll figure that out when we cross that bridge. Since I was probably 12 years old, I have had a desire to run for mayor of Jacksonville, but right now I am a City Council member and I’m very happy with what I am doing and am trying to do a great job for the Westside.”
His job with the association allows him to be a jack-of-all-trades.
“What’s good about this association is that you do a little bit of everything,” said Davis. “I’m not afraid to take water out to a golf tournament or do whatever it takes to make the association successful.”
Making the association successful is more intricate than it sounds. Davis spends a lot of time making sure all of the pieces of the puzzle fit correctly so development in Jacksonville can thrive.
“If land doesn’t get developed, which is what we work a lot with to help developers create neighborhoods, then builders don’t have a place to build a house,” said Davis, a father of three little ones. “If the builder doesn’t have a place to build a house then the plumber doesn’t have a job. The window installer doesn’t have job. It all flows downhill.
“We work very hard at the association to make sure that the government regulations are not geared to hold people up or to stop quality growth. It’s very important to maintain quality growth. If you don’t, Jacksonville dies. Northeast Florida dies if it’s not growing.”
Davis works with the local municipalities to protect the building industry.
“It’s important that we do everything we can to maintain the thriving industry that we have,” he said. “It’s exciting to be a part of that. There are some people that would like for no one to build another house. What I try to do with the governmental agencies is to help people understand how important shelter is.
“We bring jobs in to Jacksonville and Northeast Florida by the thousands and all those people need to have a place to live. We provide the shelter for those people. The members of NEFBA have built the neighborhoods that everybody calls home. It’s important for people to understand that everyone deserves the opportunity to have quality shelter and a great neighborhood to live in.”
Problems that he said are facing the builders currently are worker’s compensation and the lack of a qualified workforce.
He said the No. 1 issue is worker’s compensation insurance because, at the state level, pretty much every company that writes worker’s comp has left the state because they are having so many problems with attorneys, fraud and debt.
“(Florida’s) Worker’s compensation rates are some of the highest in the nation,” said Davis. “We need to overhaul the legislation of the whole workers compensation system. Impact fees and concurrency are all important issues we are working on locally and on a state level. Another issue we face is the lack of a skilled workforce.”
He said that today there is too much emphasis on people needing a college degree to be successful. Leaning a skill or a trade through NEFBA can be as or more profitable than having a college degree.
“Some of the wealthiest people I know don’t have a college degree,” he said. “They run a great business by learning a skill and are pillars of the community.”
Davis describes his job as public relations with the public, governmental entities and with the members. And, he added, every member of NEFBA is in the public relations business to promote the organization and quality construction.
Davis started at NEFBA five and a half years ago as the governmental affairs director. He became the associate director three years ago.
“There is nothing day to day,” he said. “I’m in Nassau County one day and St. Johns County the next.”
For instance, Davis said right now in Nassau County they are going through land development regulations, which have a huge effect on construction.
In Duval County they are working on permitting and how to make the permitting process more efficient.
“We passed legislation last week to add six new building inspectors and three new plan examiners to the city to help with the efficiency of the permitting process,” said Davis. “We have increased permits over the last three years in record breaking numbers.”
Between his two jobs, Davis is learning the meaning of working long hours to get everything done. His typical day starts with a meeting at 7 a.m. ending with a late meeting.
“I usually get home around 6:30 or 7 p.m. and then there are some days when I get home really late,” said Davis.
Many of these meetings are with elected officials where he tries to explain how important different legislation is to the homebuyers.
“Ultimately, government increases the price of housing and what that does is knock people out of the home buying market,” he said. “There is a misconception out there that home builders are the ones paying for an impact fee or increased regulation. The truth is they don’t pay it, they just pass it on to the end user to pay. What that does is knock people by the thousands out of contention to purchase that house.”
As a City Council member and his current position with NEFBA, Davis has a very busy schedule.
“I use very strict time management,” said Davis. “I don’t go to every event. I could go to three events [between both jobs] every night if I wanted to. NEFBA is my job. That is what puts bread and butter on the table. The City Council position is a part-time position where I am serving my community. Not only can I help with making sure we have good quality development out on the Westside with my expertise here at the builder’s association, but it just serves two purposes. I think it is a great marriage.”
Davis explained that each City Council member has an expertise in something. His just happened to be building, so when legislation is on the table about permitting, he’s the one who helped out the most.
“I know the intricacies of the building process; the other City Council members don’t know it,” he said. “They know portions of it, but I’ve been involved in it for so long that I know about the permitting process so I was able to jump in and make sure that what was passed was good and would help out the city and those getting permits. It was a win-win situation.”
He said if you look at other City Council members who have expertise in education or floral shops, they would be the experts when it comes time to pass legislation about education or floral shops.
“That’s why I think Jacksonville’s founding fathers had a lot of foresight in making this a part-time position,” said Davis. “They want someone who understands the real world.”
Davis graduated from Maranatha Baptist College in Watertown, Wis. with a degree in Liberal Arts. Right out of college, he joined the State Attorney’s office where he became a counselor with the Juvenile Justice System. He quickly moved up as a court program specialist with the Fourth Judicial Circuit.
He ran for City Council in 1999 but lost. NEFBA was so impressed with how he ran his campaign that they offered him a job as the governmental affairs officer.
“It really has been a great place to work,” he said. “I love what I do.”