by Bradley Parsons
Staff Writer
Ron Barton wants to move beyond the plan in the Downtown master plan.
The City’s top economic development official said Thursday that his Jacksonville Economic Development Commission will take the lead in moving the plan from the drawing board to reality. If the master plan is the playbook then the JEDC is the City’s quarterback, said Barton.
Though much of the work will run through the JEDC’s Downtown Enhancement Committee, Barton left little doubt that he’s the coach.
“This is a role I embrace and it’s a role that I’m not going to delegate,” he said following the JEDC general meeting. “This is where I live so to speak.”
Barton was hired, in part, for the hands-on expertise he displayed as St. Petersburg’s economic development director in helping turn around that city’s urban core. By focusing the JEDC’s efforts Downtown, Barton thinks he can help author a similar success story.
Downtown development has been stymied because the area has lacked a standard-bearer in city government with the clout to get things moving, said Barton. Implementing the master plan is a coordinated effort among several City departments, but none have been able to focus exclusively on Downtown.
“Public Works and Park and Rec., they have county-wide responsibilities, they can’t just think about Downtown,” he said.
Barton said leadership in other departments has responded well to a more assertive JEDC. The Downtown turnaround will have to be a group effort, he said.
The JEDC will focus on defining the existing plans and trying to connect them to funding, but it will ultimately be up to other City departments to start shoveling the dirt.
“Frankly, this role for the JEDC as a coordinator has been met with a lot of enthusiasm,” said Barton. “And we need that teamwork mentality. At the end of the day we don’t execute these plans. We don’t have the funding.”
The pace of implementation on the master plan will depend largely on how much money the City invests. It’s important for the JEDC to identify priority areas before the City closes its budget books, said Barton. That will put Barton in the best position to haggle for money in an expected tight budget year.
“Our real tangible budget to do things Downtown is zero. We need to make the case why we should be at the top of the list when the City has limited resources,” said Barton. “We need to set our priorities so we can elbow under the boards for more money.”
Those priorities will be determined over the next several months by the Downtown Enhancement Committee. Generally, Barton wants to see improvement in Downtown’s retail and market-rate residential development. Other priorities include improved infrastructure and making Downtown more walkable.