Mayor Alvin Brown offered some advice Wednesday to potential candidates for public office, based on his experiences in winning the mayor’s race this year.
“My weakness was understanding the value of the dollar,” Brown told members of the third class of the Jacksonville Political Leadership Institute. He was a member of the first class in 2009.
“If somebody had told me what it meant to raise that money once you announce, forget it, all bets are off,” he said.
Brown said that during his campaign, the ability to raise money was a challenge but not a deterrent. He raised $466,503 in monetary contributions and $533,599 of inkind contributions, according to the Supervisor of Elections website.
“You will know who your friends are when you announce, whatever you run for,” he said. “You’ve got to have conviction.”
He said that conviction and the will to work for it daily is a must to succeed.
“You’ve got to have backbone, you’ve got to be strong, you’ve got to be convincing and get up every day because generational leadership divides people’s imaginations,” Brown said. “Just because something doesn’t happen or never happened, doesn’t mean it can’t.”
Brown is the first African-American mayor elected in Jacksonville and the first Democrat elected to the post in 20 years.
He said a candidate’s network of support at the start of a campaign is not enough because it takes a broader base. Candidates must ask themselves a basic question, he said.
“Can you articulate an honest, clear vision that people really believe in? That you care?” asked Brown.
The leadership institute is associated with JaxBiz, the political affiliate of the JAX Chamber. It is an educational program for people interested in public leadership.
“It was really good that I went through the program,” Brown said. “There were a lot of things I didn’t know. It really reaffirmed my commitment about public service.”
Brown told the class members they should also become comfortable in selling themselves to the public, another challenge he said he faced because he is a private person.
“I’m a workhorse, not a show horse,” Brown said.
Another key to success was the ability to listen and then act, he said.
“Visionary leaders don’t wait for something to happen, they make it happen,” he said.
Several students from the current class, which ends in May, have indicated a desire to run for elected office in Northeast Florida, said Mark Mills, the institute’s directing consultant.
Registration for the next class will be early next year.
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