Ballots in the City Council District 2 race won’t be counted until March 24, but if campaign contributions are proportional to support, it could be a close election with a large turnout.
Democrat Lisa King leads the cash contest with $121,117 in her coffers, followed by Al Ferraro, a Republican, with $100,534. Neither candidate’s treasurer’s report documents any funds personally contributed.
Jack Daniels, also a Republican, trails the two with $3,835, including a contribution of $3,600 from the candidate.
After reapportionment in 2011, District 2 became the only district that crosses the St. Johns River. The north boundary is at the Nassau County line east of Main Street, continuing east to the Atlantic Ocean. The south portion begins at the Southside Connector and Interstate 295 and continues east almost to Girvin Road with a southern boundary at Atlantic Boulevard.
Ferraro owns a landscaping and lawn service company he started 30 years ago in the district. King is vice president of Langton Associates, a commercial real estate development firm.
King cites her experience as vice chair of the city Planning Commission and years of service with the Friends of the St. Johns River Ferry as some of her qualifications for public office. She also is a registered lobbyist in Tallahassee and in Washington, D.C.
Ferraro said he has a more grassroots background. “I’m not an establishment guy,” he said.
He said he will work to better control government and improve residents’ interaction with police and “give people a sense of pride in their community.”
He also would support possible privatization of some city departments such as the motor pool and establishing an incentive program to encourage city employees to find ways to save money without reducing services.
Ferraro and King cited pension reform and fiscal responsibility as major issues facing the city.
“In terms of pension reform, we need a deal as soon as possible. It’s eating the budget,” said King.
“I’m concerned about the way the city spends money,” Ferraro said. “People feel they’re not getting value for their dollar.”
He also would work with the new sheriff to improve public safety and mentioned putting the Community Service Officers back on the street as a priority.
“The geography of the district emphasizes one of the challenges representing its constituents, and some residents of North Jacksonville aren’t pleased to be grouped with part of Arlington,” said King.
“They have very different needs,” she said.
Two of King’s priority projects, if elected, are representative of the split district.
King said two projects that were included in the Better Jacksonville Plan but have not begun are the widening of Alta Drive in the north part of the district and a similar project along Kernan Boulevard in the southern section. Since the design for each is about 10 years old, the first step will be to re-evaluate the plans, she said.
The district’s greatest need, King said, is for increased transportation funding. She said north Jacksonville is the fastest-growing part of the city and that means more development.
“We have too much traffic now,” King said
What unifies the district is the Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve. King said she will seek to improve the experience at the 46,000-acre facility managed by the National Park Service.
“I’ll make sure we have park amenities,” she said. “There are over 1 million visitors a year and there are only two restaurants and no hotels. People have to stay in Nassau County to visit our national park.”
Daniels did not respond to multiple requests over several days to be interviewed for this story.
Responding to a Daily Record questionnaire in March 2011 when he was running for City Council in District 5, Daniels said the single most important issue facing the district was “electing a councilman who hasn’t taken campaign money from businessmen and businessmen represented by lobbyists who do business with the city.”
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