Once a month, the men and women who’ve served as president of the Jacksonville City Council since City-county consolidation in 1968 are invited to meet for lunch.
Called “The FCP,” for “Former Council Presidents,” the group’s chairman is Bill Basford (1985-86).
Its purpose, he said, is “to stay in touch and to enjoy the company.”
“We relax, brag about ‘how good we did it’ and stay current with local issues of concern to our community,” he said.
There are no bylaws or regulations. There is no agenda. There might be an informal speaker. There are no dues.
“Most of us are burned out on rules and regulations and laws,” joked Eric Smith, Council president in 1990-91 and 1996-97.
About three dozen people have served as Council president, some more than once. At least one past president who served twice is back on the Council again — Warren Jones (1991-92 and 1992-93).
Several of the past presidents are deceased.
It’s been 43 years since consolidation and the men and women who led the Council don’t seem reluctant to talk about their experiences and insights at the meetings.
Not everyone asks for their opinions, however.
“We haven’t been asked to provide any solutions that I recall, but there is a wealth of knowledge” in the group, said Smith.
As chairman, Basford distributes the monthly notices and selects the meeting’s host.
The host’s role is to lead the discussion, although side conversations are typical.
The August host was Terry Wood (1988-89) and the September host was Elaine Brown (2004-05), although she was unable to attend and was represented by her husband, Dick Brown, who has served both on the Council and as mayor of Neptune Beach.
The meetings, at Athens Café, typically attract five to 20 people. Sometimes, past presidents bring guests, such as Bill Carter (1984-85), who invited retired First Guaranty Bank Chairman Hickory Fant to the August meeting.
Dick Bowers, a former City department director, attended in August. “He maintained a good relationship with most of us,” Basford said, “and is still our friend.”
Bowers said he attended his first meeting as Wood’s guest and continues to participate from time to time.
“I was a department head and in the mayor’s office during the terms of service of many of the Council presidents,” he said.
“I think they let me come because of my good looks and deep insights, and I am witty and wise,” he quipped.
Another August participant was longtime Republican Party leader Tom Slade, also a former state representative and senator.
Sometimes people who are invited to informally speak, such as Duval County School Board Chair W.C. Gentry, return for subsequent meetings.
However, it’s not common for current Council members who served as president to attend. That’s because if two current members attend, open-meeting laws, called Florida’s Government-in-the-Sunshine Law, come into play.
Jones attended the August meeting, but was the only currently serving member there. Stephen Joost, the 2011-12 Council president, didn’t attend, but his mother stopped by.
The August meeting attracted both Duval County Property Appraiser Jim Overton (1997-98) and Supervisor of Elections Jerry Holland (2002-03).
The group’s first meeting was Jan. 21, 2009, Basford said.
“At first, I called it ‘City Boys,’ then ‘Life On The Council Lunch,’ then ‘Former Council Presidents Lunch,’ which we address as FCP or ‘The Prez lunch,’” he said.
“At one point, we even considered ‘All The President’s Men.’ I don’t think Ginger, Alberta, and Elaine would be enthused about that one,” he said, referring to Brown and Ginger Soud (1999-2000) and Alberta Hipps (2000-01).
Basford said the group was organized with the participation of Jim Tullis (1994-95), Henry Cook (1982-83, 1986-87), Clarence Suggs (1983-84, 1987-88), Smith, Wood and Carter. He said Hipps arranged a similar meeting a couple of years before.
The conversations bridge time and topics.
Tolls, the gas tax, term limits, redistricting, elections, the City budget and the Jacksonville Jaguars were among the many points of discussion at the recent meetings.
Deceased past presidents include Ted Grissett, John Lanahan, Earl Johnson, Lynwood Roberts, Earl Huntley, Johnny Sanders, Joe Forshee, Tillie Fowler and Don Davis.
The Daily Record asked group members to offer their most relevant lesson that could apply to current and future Council leadership. Several members responded, some by email and others at the September meeting.
Among their lessons:
• Homer Humphries (1970-71): “I have no one issue of remembrance other than an early decision as to the members I could count on when things got extremely difficult. The ability to understand the individual positions on complex questions became an important factor in the overall governance of the Council business.”
• Henry Cook (1982-83) (also former Clerk of Courts): Maintain developments, as in parks and boat ramps. “You have to maintain it, or it’s a waste. Take care of what you have.”
• Bill Basford (1985-86): “The Council Auditor should properly be called the Taxpayer Protector or Truth Teller. I learned early in my presidency that the one person in the entire Jacksonville government whom I could call upon to tell me the unvarnished truth was the Council Auditor. The City Council is charged with the purse strings and must have accurate information about proposed spending by government agencies and how the money is actually spent.”
• Eric Smith (1990-91, 1996-97): “Don’t spend down trust funds; don’t spend down vehicle replacement funds; keep in mind (the administration) is keeping you on a need-to-know basis.”
• Dick Kravitz (1995-96): “Understand the role of the Council as an equal, yet independent body which is doing what it believes is in the best interests of the citizens, not necessarily the administration. Also, the Council president has to command the respect of the Council members by showing fairness and civility in his or her dealings with Council members and the public at large. And above all, the Council President has to be beyond reproach. His or her actions should reflect favorably on the City of Jacksonville.”
• Ginger Soud (1999-2000): When Soud was coming into the presidency, 14 new members were joining the Council. As vice president (the position was then called president pro tempore), Soud was authorized by Council President Don Davis to create an orientation program for the new members. She worked with the Office of General Counsel, City agencies, the chamber of commerce and former Council presidents to create the program. ”It was very good. With term limits, it is critical for people coming into office to be shown how to understand consolidated government and what their role in it is and how to execute that role. Whether you have 14 new ones or three new ones, it is still the same.”
• Jerry Holland (2002-03): “Don’t operate on a one-year budget. Don’t operate on a yearly mindset. Don’t steal from trust funds. Don’t operate in the goods times like there won’t be bad times.”
• Lad Daniels (2003-04): “Always think about what government should do, not what it could do. The temptation is to be all things to all people.”
While Dick Brown didn’t serve as president, he offered insights from his experience as an elected official.
“We tinker too much with government,” he said. “We may have a need and before you know it, you are creating a regulation.”
Bowers observed that term limits sound good, but “you lose your institutional history.”
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