by Karen Brune Mathis
Managing Editor
Mayor John Peyton, who leaves office in less than four months, said Wednesday that Downtown Jacksonville is ready for redevelopment.
“I think we’ll make the turn,” he said. “I’m as optimistic as I’ve ever been about Downtown.”
Peyton, speaking to the Southside Business Men’s Club, said Downtown, the port of Jacksonville and Cecil Commerce Center are strong opportunities for the next mayor.
On the other hand, whoever takes office July 1 must continue to focus on the problems and issues of violence, public pension costs and the health of the St. Johns River.
Then there’s the park system, which Peyton called “one of the things we have to celebrate.”
Without naming mayoral candidate Mike Hogan, Peyton said “it made me cringe to hear a mayoral candidate say he would sell some” preservation land.
At the Rotary Club of Jacksonville on Monday, mayoral candidates were asked whether the City should consider selling land set aside for preservation in order to raise revenue.
Three said they wouldn’t and the fourth, Hogan, said “everything is on the table.”
As for Downtown, Peyton said that with the infrastructure in place and investments in public improvements, such as Friendship Park, under way or completed, “we are in a position for recovery.”
He said those public improvements were made to convince future corporate and development investors that the City is committed to Downtown.
Peyton said the area population is expected to double in the next 30 years, which will drive people to live Downtown.
“It will happen,” he said, adding that “it is going to take more investment.”
The Northbank Redevelopment Task Force that he encouraged has called for development of a convention center Downtown.
Peyton was sworn in as mayor on July 1, 2003, and is leaving after eight years because of term limits.
“The past eight years have not been without challenge,” he said. Peyton said a second term is typically when a mayor can launch a bold, visionary platform.
However, he said Jacksonville was then hit with state property tax reform and an economic recession, throwing his administration into “crisis management.”
He listed what has made him most proud, including:
• Job creation. While the area lost jobs in the recession, he said close to 27,000 jobs were created as the area attracted 81 projects in eight years. “We had some pretty gravity-defying wins,” he said.
• The port of Jacksonville. “We opened Asian trade lanes,” he said, listing Mitsui O.S.K Lines and, soon expected, Hanjin. However, finding the funding for deepening the river channel for post-Panamax ships “must be a first and foremost priority of the next mayor.”
• The Jacksonville Jaguars. Being one of 32 National Football League franchises is a privilege, he said, but “we had a condition that was not boding well.”
“The banter was Jacksonville was an experiment that had failed,” he said. “We reversed that.” The past season, the Team Teal ticket drive resulted in no local television blackouts.
Peyton said the health of the St. Johns River is a continuing issue. “Every administration has made it a priority,” he said.
Peyton said Jacksonville also needs to continue its focus on reducing violence, especially its murder rate, and he talked about the success of the Jacksonville Journey effort.
“It is very hard to grow an economy when you have a public-safety issue,” he said.
Peyton said there might be some good news coming. He said the final numbers should be released in April or May, but “there is a chance we won’t be the murder capital of Florida.”
Peyton also said the pension fund issues will continue to face the City.
In summary, he said, “the judgments I made were not based on popularity.”
He said he considered how his decisions would affect the community, where he and his wife are raising two young sons and where the family business, Gate Petroleum Co., is based.
Peyton also said he looks forward to returning to the club after he leaves office. “I hope to come back and reminisce and talk about what the new mayor is doing wrong,” he said.
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