by Max Marbut
Staff Writer
At age 26, he is one of the youngest people ever elected to City Council, but when Clay Yarborough joined his colleagues in the chamber at his first Council meeting July 16, he had already spent many hours in the room.
Even before he was elected to the Duval Soil and Water Conservation Board at age 19 in 2000, he had a part-time job while he was in high school operating one of the TV cameras at Council meetings.
Yarborough’s government and civic experience also includes being appointed to the Greater Arlington / Beaches Citizens Planning Advisory Committee in 2001 and serving on the Sheriff’s Advisory Council as well as the Greater Arlington Civic Council.
His campaign for the Dist. 1 Council seat took him through most of Arlington including the Regency Square, Fort Caroline and Hidden Hills areas. It was a true grass-roots effort. Yarborough didn’t have a big campaign staff or a lot of money, so he did it the old-fashioned way.
It was also a part-time effort. He was working at UPS loading trucks during the campaign before being promoted to the shipping company’s Human Resources Dept. shortly before he took office.
“After I loaded trucks for four or five hours starting at 4 a.m. I would go out and campaign on foot for the rest of the day. I only had about 1,500 yard signs and a few bumper stickers. I just got out into the community and wanted to meet a lot of people.
“I remember one day I was going door to door in Alderman Park in the heat of the summer getting my petition signed. I knocked on a door and didn’t get an answer but as I was walking away I heard the door latch open. I ended up sitting and talking with the lady who lived there for about an hour and a half. I think she was just glad somebody came by to talk to her – but she did sign my petition,” he said.
Yarborough also said the hard work he did during his campaign was worth it.
“It was an honor to be elected. I think the City Council’s greatest function is to be a conduit between citizens and their government and the citizens need to have an advocate. I also realize there is a lot of power and responsibility to represent so many people.”
His district is somewhat unique in that as one of Jacksonville’s oldest residential and commercial neighborhoods there isn’t as much room for future development as in other areas of the county. Yarborough said that doesn’t affect his goal to see it improve.
“There’s not room for much growth in the traditional sense, but there is an opportunity for revitalization. I think the neighborhood needs to continue to attract new folks who want to live here. Being a mixture of original owners and new residents makes Arlington a very dynamic area.”
Taking the county-wide view, he said public safety is his top priority.
“We have to do whatever we can to lower the crime rate.”
Whether it’s the hours he spent in Council chambers as a teenager behind a TV camera or recording his vote on the City’s budget at 2 a.m. Wednesday morning, “I know this is where I’m supposed to be,” said Yarborough.