by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
A quick survey indicated it’s been a long time since the City Council Chambers was at capacity and then some. A few land use issues, the recently imposed fees and Mayor John Peyton’s first budget address in 2003 filled the Chambers, but no one could remember when it was standing-room-only.
But, it was Monday morning.
Between kids sitting on the floor, mayor’s office staffers and other City employees, police officers and firefighters, area business and civic leaders and curious members of the general public, the walls of the Chambers were lined with an audience eager to hear how Peyton intends to meet general service needs, fight crime and keep taxes flat — all at the same time.
What they got was an impassioned 25-minute speech that centered on three initiatives and one theme: taking back Jacksonville.
Peyton’s proposed $972 million budget will address the entire basic needs of the city, but will focus on fighting crime, economic development and the health of the river.
“We must become a community again that looks in the mirror and likes what it sees,” said Peyton. “We must return to a place where our citizens believe in this city and its leaders. We must return to a place where our citizens believe in each other.”
Peyton said he’s submitting a budget that is cognizant of the current nationwide economic woes yet addresses the immediate needs of Jacksonville. He’s not proud of being the murder capital of the state and he’s determined to change that by allowing Sheriff John Rutherford to hire 80 new officers over the next year.
“Let’s be very clear, what I am proposing today is not an initiative. This is not a campaign,” he said. “This is a war to take back our town. And in a war, people have to choose sides. There are good guys and there are bad guys. Everyone has to choose a side.”
Peyton’s budget will now be examined closely by City Council, specifically the Council Finance Committee chaired by Council member Michael Corrigan.
After the presentation, the Daily Record caught up with several people to ask them what they thought of what they heard.
Jacksonville Aviation Authority Board member Jim McCollum
“He said all the right things. He talked about the stuff that just has to be implemented.”
Former Mayor Hanz Tanzler
“I think Mayor Peyton is right on track. He is aggressively undertaking a tough assignment. There are so many overall problems in law enforcement. I think as a city we have grown under consolidation, but we left the inner city out. I advanced Consolidation in the 1960s and that was always one of the questions. In 1966 and ‘67 I was police commissioner as well as mayor. According to FBI statistics, we had the second-safest city in the country. You can’t tell right now if more officers will do the job.”
State Sen. Stephen Wise
“He’s right on target, especially with the re-entry program for ex-felons. We can’t build our way out of the problem by building jails. We’ve got to have progress and we have got to start dealing with mostly guys coming out of jail. We have to do something with the juvenile justice system. We need meaningful programs to get these kids’ attention. I think we can do something from the State level and we will work on it.”
Fraternal Order of Police President Nelson Cuba
“I think it’s great that we are going to put more officers on the street. We are in the middle of contract negotiations and in one-and-a-half years we will still be doing more with less. We are working harder than the rest of the state and we need to be paid. In the contract negotiations, we need to get more money for these officers. They need to be compensated for the job they are doing.”
City Council member Denise Lee
“He did what he had to do. Every year, the mayor presents his budget, but it’s up to City Council to scrutinize it and make decisions relative to spending. It is so difficult to discuss a budget presentation until you have the opportunity to look dead at it. I will not get too caught up in one issue.”
Justice Coalition Director Ann Dugger
“The way to win the war against crime is not just to fight through City Council or the mayor. The war has to have citizen involvement. Unless you have citizen involvement, you will never win it.”