Staff Writer
If City Council approves an ordinance tonight that would allocate $3.5 million toward the purchase of additional parking for the Landing, Mayor John Peyton will be waiting with veto pen in hand – and he also believes that Council will override his veto.
Peyton made the statement during a question-and-answer session with the Meninak Club of Jacksonville Monday, following a presentation of his goals as he completes his remaining 14 months in office.
Peyton said he opposes the measure because it would use taxpayer funds to buy a parking lot that is at capacity, although he would entertain future deals that would create more parking.
In addition, Peyton said he believes the Landing has sufficient parking in and around the area and that adding parking would detract from the goal of making Downtown more viable as a walkable, vibrant urban environment.
“I don’t accept parking as the problem,” said Peyton.
Making Downtown a more pedestrian friendly and walkable environment was one of Peyton’s earlier talking points in the presentation to more than 80 members of the civic organization.
Spending one-time dollars on public space improvement, even during troubled economic times, has never been more vital, he said, because the investment increases the overall value of the area and will attract new businesses and residential developments to the area and increase its tax base.
“You have to show them a case for why they should be there,” he said, noting that downtown improvements are a trend in cities across the country.
Budget challenges were another of Peyton’s points. He said past spending coupled with legislative mandates have led to “where we are today.”
“We lost a lot of revenue in a short amount of time,” he said.
A $60 million hole this year hasn’t been curbed with easy decisions, as he reminded the group of library hour reductions and cutting two fire engines as part of the budget plan.
A pension reform plan he’s submitted is “one step of many in the future” to curb pension plan expenditures and said he hopes City Council members have the “intestinal fortitude” to approve it.
The plan would have to be approved by Council unless talks with union officials, currently at a standstill, or efforts by a magistrate would fail.
Peyton also talked about Cecil Commerce Center and Hillwood, calling such a deal between the City and a private developer a contentious but necessary effort. He said he understood the critics’ point on the land deal, but said privatization was in the best interests of taxpayers.
As for one of his last questions regarding the upcoming mayor’s race, Peyton warned that the future would be challenging. “It will not be pleasant. It’s brutal,” he said.
He said he is worried about some of the rhetoric coming from camps of the mayoral hopefuls concerning cuts in services and warned people to beware of those seeking union endorsements during a time when public perception has changed on the issues. “You can’t be all things to all people,” he said.
356-2466