by Rachel Witkowski
Staff Writer
Mayor John Peyton found himself in an odd position Wednesday — in a room full of women who make a whole lot more than he does.
Peyton was the guest speaker for the Women Business Owners of North Florida Million Dollar Circle luncheon at the River City Brewing Co. where he talked about the local economy, Downtown and early education. About 20 of the organization’s 60 members attended the quarterly luncheon. According to WBO Government Relations Liaison Gwen Griggs — an attorney at Driver McAfee Griggs & Peek — there are normally more women who attend the meetings, but they had to move the date in order to accommodate Peyton’s schedule.
Peyton covered his most advocated topics — the economy, the state of Downtown and Rally Jacksonville!, his early literacy program. He said the mayor’s office started in a “bad position” with the way they handled small and minority owned businesses when he came to office.
“We are never going to claim that we have all the answers, but we will claim to reach out to the community,” said Peyton. “I think it’s a business community.”
Peyton emphasized focusing on building capacity with small businesses and the minority community and creating a more “customer friendly” city.
Peyton also discussed the decrease in per capita income in Jacksonville compared to the national average and the Blueprint for Prosperity campaign which was created to raise the per capita income in Jacksonville and address minority disparity issues. The city’s per capita income has dropped from 98 percent to 96 percent compared to the national average, according to Peyton.
“I think Jacksonville should be equal to or better than the national average,” he said.
Peyton stressed the importance of early literacy and “delivering a more prepared student to the school system,” he said. “We know literacy is the most accurate predictor for how far a student gets in school.”
Many of the women business owners expressed a concern over the decreasing per capita income and space limitations at public schools. Though Peyton said he has no control over the budget and plans for the school system because it is overseen by the Duval County School Board, he is working on supplying books for children to encourage early education and higher education. He is also focused on bringing people with the resources into Jacksonville in an effort to raise the per capita income.
“We have got to produce a work force that is competitive here,” he said. “Our goal is to be the most city friendly business leader.”