While it may not seem like a big deal to some people, Mayor Alvin Brown handed Downtown proponents a win last week when he filed legislation to make it easier for organizers and vendors to produce special events.
The ordinance also is good for groups, such as nonprofits, that are anxious to invest energy in Downtown's great spaces but have been rebuffed by excessive red tape, costs and bureaucratic resistance.
The bill, which is scheduled to be introduced at Tuesday's City Council meeting and voted on Nov. 18, lessens requirements to host special events, gives city officials more flexibility and speeds up approvals of event permits.
Special events have long been a staple of downtown.
They provide fun and first-class entertainment while delivering economic impact to the businesses and organizations involved.
The events draw visitors to Jacksonville and, just as important, they provide a great way for our own citizens to celebrate our city.
We just need more of them. Big ones like the Jazz Festival and regular ones like Art Walk and Riverside Arts Market.
But, we also need to make it easy for service clubs, merchant groups and school organizations to bring life to Downtown's street corners and parks.
The mayor's proposed ordinance will help do that.
After taking some serious criticism this summer because of his underwhelming budget and failed pension reform, the mayor should find it encouraging that numerous individuals have publicly praised his proposed changes in the way the city handles special events.
Stakeholders such as Tony Allegretti, a board member of the Downtown Investment Authority who is also director of Downtown engagement for the JAX Chamber, were invited by Brown and his director of special events, Tonisha Landry-Gaines, to provide feedback at a nonprofit forum this month.
Hearing from — and listening to — the people who are engaged daily in wanting to make Downtown Jacksonville a vibrant and active place, is a smart thing to do.
It not only creates buy-in and produces advocates to support the ordinance before council, it provides critical information from people who've struggled with the current process.
The way this ordinance came about marks the second time recently that Brown and his administration have taken a correct approach to problem-solving.
The first happened a few days ago when Brown's Chief Administrative Officer Karen Bowling led a group of department heads into a special council committee meeting to discuss ways to battle the trash and blight plaguing many Jacksonville neighborhoods.
Bowling committed that the mayor's team would work with council to bring resources to fix the problem.
And, right behind it Brown produces the new special events ordinance, which was also crafted with broad community involvement and cohesive support from members of Brown's staff who were cooperative and anxious to work together.
It is a refreshing change to see that perhaps the start of a new day is dawning on the way the administration deals with the council and handles some of Jacksonville's solvable problems.
Now, if they can do the same thing to solve the horrendous Hemming Plaza embarrassment, we'll really be making progress.
Strong leadership pays off for CSX
Sometimes, it's pretty easy to take for granted some of the things that are important to Jacksonville.
Last week, when I saw that CSX Corp. realized a profit increase of 2 percent in the third quarter despite having less coal to haul, I felt that way about this great company, headquartered in Downtown, right on the St. Johns Riverfront.
What a great local organization; a tremendous corporate citizen.
Make no mistake. CSX is a big deal.
Its earnings announcement last week beat Wall Street expectations with net income of $463 million, or 46 cents per share.
One reason CSX has been a rock-solid company for a long time is because it has had a succession of strong leaders.
The first I remember was Prime F. Osborn III, who headed Seaboard Coast Line Industries (SCL) and then became founding chairman of CSX in 1980 when a new railroad was created with the merger of Chessie System and SCL.
Osborn was a community icon, a "go-to-guy" when city leaders sought wise and strong leadership.
For years, the local railroad was run by Pete Carpenter, who guided the CSX merger with Conrail. Like Osborn before him, Carpenter was at the forefront of Jacksonville issues and was often called upon for leadership.
In 2003, Michael Ward took over and has continued the railroad's strong financial position while maintaining its legacy as a great corporate citizen.
As utilities around America began shifting from burning coal to a cleaner natural gas, many folks started wondering about the financial future of railroads like CSX. After all, coal was the foundation, the rock, upon which CSX was built.
Now, two years into the decline in coal revenue, Ward and his team have proved once again that they are pretty smart people. They can adapt. Like dinosaurs, many industries have failed over the years in large part because they weren't able to adapt.
One place CSX has gone to replace the coal loss is the Bakken shale formation in North Dakota. The railroad hauls 70,000 barrels of crude every day to a refinery in Philadelphia.
With new facilities in Winter Haven, Atlanta, Charlotte, Louisville, Ky., and Montreal expansion, not extinction, is the future of CSX.
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