The City Hall atrium was filled with supporters.
The message was overwhelmingly positive, filled with accomplishments of four years of work. It had all the elements of a campaign speech.
This was different, though.
This was a goodbye from Mayor Alvin Brown.
This was a show of gratitude toward employees who helped Brown along the way — because as he said, “the mayor couldn’t do it alone.”
“I’ve seen your hard work, sacrifice and love for the city,” he told the group. “We did it.”
Words like “we” and “team” and “teamwork” were abundant.
We made economic development a priority, he said. One of six placards in the atrium highlighted 3,901 new jobs and $783 million in announced projects during his four years.
“We did it,” he said. “We did that together.”
Downtown, he asked them to say aloud, became a priority when there was a debate whether it should be. The Downtown Investment Authority, Hemming Park, the Shipyards, Brooklyn, the duPont Center all listed as accomplishments.
And the director of the military affairs department was elevated to a cabinet-level position, a priority met to help veterans find jobs.
He said he tackled the city’s biggest problem, pension.
“Say it one more time,” he asked the group. “Pension.”
He asked for a round of applause for his chief of staff, Chris Hand, who helped guide the talks that ultimately resulted in a deal being approved last week.
Karen Bowling, his former chief administrative officer, received applause for her work in reorganizing the city.
So, too, did Dave Roman. Brown’s first campaign manager also headed up the city’s parks initiatives, another accomplishment Brown praised for his four years.
And finally, he thanked his family, who joined him at the podium to a chorus of applause and a standing ovation.
Brown’s wife, Santhea, his “best friend in the whole wide world,” and their sons, Joshua and Jordan, who were “down here” four years ago, Brown said holding his hand flat around his waist. Now, they’re “up here” he said raising it toward the middle of his chest.
He concluded, as he often does, by thanking God for the blessings he and Jacksonville have received.
Much was accomplished by everyone, he said, because of a shared vision.
It’s a vision ending in less than a week, a time Brown believed he’d be entering his second four years.
“I thought I had it,” he said afterward.
A result that caught him by surprise, but one with which he said he’s now at peace.
He said the Wednesday event wasn’t fully a goodbye.
He’ll see the people who helped him in the trenches again, reach back out in the coming months after he has a chance to decompress.
“I will see them again,” he said, then smiled. “Once you work for the mayor, you always work for the mayor.”
Next month will be his first in some time out of the public spotlight.
He said he feels guilty for missing his sons’ spring break, which was in the heart of Brown’s campaign against Mayor-elect Lenny Curry.
Brown will make up for that lost time with trips over the next month, with at least a stop at Disney World on the agenda.
Time with the team that’s always been closest to him.
@writerchapman
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