by David Chapman
Staff Writer
After a year of admitted tough decisions and even tougher criticism from some of their constituents, Jacksonville’s City Council was told “Thank you” for their work this past Council year during the annual Jacksonville Regional Chamber of Commerce City Council Appreciation Luncheon on Tuesday.
The event was attended by over 200 people including numerous Council members, Council staff, City officials and Chamber members.
Council President Daniel Davis was honored for his tenure.
“We’ve had a tough year,” said Davis. “At this time last year, Michael (former Council President Michael Corrigan) and I had so many different balls in the air, but I couldn’t be more proud of everyone.”
Davis went through some of the positives of his tenure during his speech, beginning with the approval of three revenue increasing but unpopular fees that passed.
“They (Council members) did not care about political future, but instead what was best for the City,” he said. “I think history will show these fees were good for the City of Jacksonville.”
Another highly publicized decision, funding approval for a new courthouse, was also accomplished on Davis’ watch, but it wasn’t easy.
“I struggled with it personally,” he said, “but I believe it was inappropriate to put it off onto others in the future where it will just cost more.”
Other achievements he cited included the partnerships between the public and private sectors that benefited children and recent passed legislation that will help industry concurrency costs and increase area jobs.
Even with the tough decisions and public criticism, Davis said he wished he could stay but believed that Fussell will succeed leading the Council in 2008-09.
“I’m going to miss it,” he said, then joked. “I thought about sitting in the chair as long as possible until Ronnie forced me out. But he’s been working out and has big muscles so I decided not to.”
Chamber Chair Ron Autrey went from humorous to serious in moments after he thanked Davis for his leadership the past year.
Autrey focused on the Chamber’s role in attempting to create a more prosperous Northeast Florida despite the decisions at the State level that affected local government and the issues those decisions created.
“The good news is, this isn’t the first time Jacksonville has been forced to deal with such dilemmas,” said Autrey, who noted past instances including the Great Fire of 1901, scandals in the 1960s and the effort behind the River City Renaissance and Better Jacksonville Plan projects. “Today, we focus on another challenge with budget concerns.”
Fussell followed Autrey, praised Davis and the rest of Council staff for their effort before he discussed some of his approach for next Council year.
“We have a tough year coming up,” he said. “But like this past year, we can have disagreements on things without a negative, condescending way and deal with things appropriately.”
Fussell also said he wanted to see Council make solid decisions for the future.
“I’m not the kind of guy who throws spaghetti on the wall to see what sticks,” he said. “I like to cook it, put sauce on it, complete it and then sit down to enjoy it.”