A bill introduced into City Council to muffle entertainment noise from Metropolitan Park could have a stifling effect on Jacksonville's efforts to move forward as a progressive city.
Generated mostly by a handful of neighbors who reside south of Metro Park along the St. Johns River, the bill tightens the restrictions on ticketed events at the park that attract more than 500 people.
By law, the park is limited to hosting no more than 12 ticketed events each year.
Many of those dates could be taken by the once-popular Starry Nights, which the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra is trying to revive. A popular entertainer joins the orchestra as the audience eats and drinks under the stars at what many describe as the perfect backdrop of Metro Park.
If approved, the new regulations would basically tell music promoters who want to use the park for their ticketed concerts and festivals that they aren't wanted in Jacksonville at Metro Park, a wonderful setting that most cities would love to have in their Downtown.
That's a message that eliminates some popular and highly attended festivals, and also deprives local hotels of the visitors and revenue these events provide.
The bill was introduced by members of the Ad Hoc Committee on Metro and Urban Parks as a way to temporarily regulate music events until a permanent system is devised. That shows event the bill's sponsors know this effort has shortcomings and lacks sufficient study.
I know council member Lori Boyer, who's heading the committee, and members of the panel — Denise Lee, Don Redman, Reginald Gaffney and Bill Gulliford — are sincere in their efforts.
But, this legislation is not the way to solve the issue. It will effectively shut down the park to legitimate promoters who generate revenue with parking for SMG, jobs, hotel rooms and so on.
The local environmental department has done sound studies during events by the promoters, but no money has been allocated to do any studies during well-known large events like Saturday's Florida-Georgia game or Jacksonville Jaguar events.
The legislation addresses the noise problem by saying the city should literally pull the plug during events that exceed the sound guidelines.
That isn't the right solution and could possibly incite a riot. Instead, if an event violates the sound guidelines, a much better solution is to ban the promoters for a period of time.
This legislation is also counter-productive to the mayor's recent bill to cut back on the red tape for events Downtown.
The bill is still hung up in Kimberly Daniels' committee, Public Health and Safety.
If members don't approve it at their meeting this week, it will give the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra, the promoters and the mayor time to resolve this long-debated asset to the growth of Downtown.
Gulliford takes on Brown once again
Well, let's get ready for another City Hall showdown.
After spending several weeks during the summer budget season establishing himself firmly as the King of the Mountain, City Council President Bill Gulliford has pulled another surprise assault, squarely aimed at upending one more of Mayor Alvin Brown's no-tax pillars.
Gulliford made his first move in mid-July when he pulled Brown's pension reform package out of committee and had it rejected by council on his first night as council president.
That was quickly followed by fast and sure steps to deconstruct Brown's proposed 2013-14 budget, a move that raised the millage rate to restore services, a solid rejection of the mayor's no-new-taxes pledge.
Then last Friday, at a gathering of business leaders and elected officials, Gulliford pulled the unexpected once more when he announced, with the mayor sitting nearby, that he intends to introduce a bill this week to extend the city's 6-cent gas tax, a revenue source enjoyed by every Florida county and one that has been in effect in Duval County since 1985.
I have previously urged city leaders to extend the gas tax as a vital revenue source to build and maintain roads.
As Gulliford said Friday, extending the tax beyond its 2016 date will permit the Jacksonville Transportation Authority to issue about $140 million in bonds for road construction projects that have been put on hold.
Under his proposal, the JTA will take over operation of the Mayport ferry and the city would maintain a penny of the tax for city street maintenance and to build bike and pedestrian paths.
If not evident before, Gulliford has now clearly defined himself as someone entirely different from Brown.
In the history of consolidation, there probably hasn't been a single council president who has not fancied himself or herself as a future mayor. I am suspecting that Gulliford, former mayor of Atlantic Beach, is no different in that regard.
But what is making Gulliford different from most is that his bold leadership actions are drawing attention from people looking to challenge Brown in 2015.
Gulliford is known for being sly, and he has certainly displayed a streak of independence.
Folks don't seem to know if Gulliford is seriously considering getting into the mayor's race, but many don't think he has ruled it out.
One thing seems clear to me.
Some of the language Gulliford used to announce his gas tax plan had the ring of a future candidate and appeared aimed at Brown, especially when he said city leaders should "seize the moment and not accept the status quo, because to accept the status quo is to leave the future to chance."
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