Last week, there was lengthy community pushback about the removal of Lisa King and Joey McKinnon from the Planning Commission.
On Tuesday, City Council members put up much less.
Members of the Rules Committee effectively decided to back Mayor Lenny Curry’s latest decisions on boards and commissions appointments. They voted 4-1 in separate measures to move forward with the mayor’s choice of replacements, Abel Harding and Donald Adkison.
Curry asked King and McKinnon last month to resign from the commission, citing his desire for people who align with his vision.
Sure, there was some resistance Tuesday.
Rules member Tommy Hazouri said while he liked Harding and Adkison personally, he wasn’t going to support either. He wasn’t in favor of people being booted with time left on their terms, calling it an “unprecedented” move by Curry.
Council member John Crescimbeni isn’t on the committee, but sat in to ask questions. For all of the appointees, he wanted to know whether they’d previously served on boards.
From Harding and Adkison, he wanted to know if they considered themselves “business-friendly.” Being a quasi-judicial board, he said, it meant following the commission’s standards.
Both men said they would follow the standards and not necessarily always back business. Harding is a banker and Adkison owns a towing company.
McKinnon and King also had the opportunity to speak at Hazouri’s behest.
McKinnon said although he and Harding are neighbors, he’d put his credentials up against Harding’s for the board that oversees city land use and planning issues.
“I think I’m a better fit,” he said, stating he’d like to continue to serve.
King said her concern remained about the turnover the board would have with five of the nine members being replaced. She also approved of Curry’s vision to streamline government. Her recommendations to a transition committee about the ease of doing business with the city were adopted.
“I don’t share his vision,” she said, “he shares mine.”
Rules Committee member Jim Love was absent, but had a letter of support for King read into the record.
The pushback from King and McKinnon supporters also led to some resistance from Curry supporters.
Several Republican Party members were in the audience, standing in protest when McKinnon and King spoke. Rules member Sam Newby, citing “fairness” to hear both sides, wanted to hear from them, which led to two members speaking in support of Curry’s decisions.
Ultimately, the committee sided with Curry. They also did for several other appointments to other boards.
Business and civic leaders Tom Petway and Delores Kesler were approved for the JEA board. John Baker will replace Nancy Soderburg on the Jacksonville Port Authority board. Marc Padgett is replacing Melody Bishop on the Downtown Investment Authority.
The four are replacing members Curry asked to resign.
Those appointments weren’t contested by those who resigned or the Rules Committee. The two Planning Commission positions were.
Next week, the public will see how many other council members will do the same.
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