by Michele Newbern Gillis
Staff Writer
If there’s one way to pack the house, it’s to advertise that the mayor will be speaking.
It worked for the Commercial Real Estate Women of Jacksonville last month at their meeting at the Jacksonville Marriott, except for one thing - the mayor didn’t show.
He had a good reason - he was in Tallahassee working on getting stimulus funds into the Jacksonville area.
He did, however; send a video message to apologize for missing the meeting and his general counsel Rick Mullaney to speak in his place.
Mullaney entertained the group with anecdotes surrounding his growing up in Jacksonville and his family. He also talked about how the future of Jacksonville is bright based on its natural assets. He discussed how the city came into a consolidated government, how he feels that is what sets the city apart from other cities in Florida and the fact that he thinks it will help the city move forward.