Women account for 52 percent of the population in Northeast Florida.
But if you’re talking about city councils and commissions, the ratio is 5-1 in favor of men. Of the 50 seats on local legislative bodies in Duval, Clay, Nassau and St. Johns counties, just 10 are held by women.
Ginny Myrick says that’s not enough.
She’s the chair of “At the Table” a political action committee registered with the Florida Division of Elections that’s dedicated to identifying, recruiting and financially supporting female candidates for local and state public office in the four Northeast Florida counties.
“Our intent is to feed the pipeline with accomplished women who have leadership ability and understand local issues,” Myrick said.
The committee’s board of directors is a group of women who are known for being active in the community, such as former United Way Executive Director Connie Hodges, 2010 Eve Volunteer Service Award-winner Barbara Ketchum, former Jacksonville Children’s Commission CEO Linda Lanier and Jacksonville Public Education Fund Vice President Pam Paul.
The group also includes two 2015 Jacksonville City Council candidates, Lisa King, vice president of Langton & Associates, and Ju’Coby Pittman, CEO of Clara White Mission.
Another board member is Debbie Buckland, BB&T market president, who serves on the JAX Chamber board of directors. She also is chair of Downtown Vision Inc.’s board.
“I know we are going to make a difference,” she said.
A few men are working with the group, including Holland & Knight partner Buddy Schultz and Jim Bailey, publisher of the Daily Record.
“We only invite men who aren’t threatened by women who are leaders,” Myrick said.
The political committee is an extension of an effort that began more than a year ago.
Myrick and Lanier were involved with “9-in-15,” a grassroots effort to put more women on Jacksonville’s council in 2015.
“We didn’t endorse any candidates. We just wanted to see if we could expand options for voters,” said Lanier.
She said 9-in-15 was limited to making information available to potential candidates — including King, Pittman and Anna Lopez Broche — on subjects such as how to raise money for a campaign and how best to handle inquiries from news media.
Brosche won the At-Large Group 1 council seat. King and Pittman’s campaigns were unsuccessful.
After the 2015 general election, Myrick and some of her fellow advocates decided to make a more substantial effort that includes building a war chest to help fund campaigns for women candidates.
“I felt it was almost disingenuous to recruit women to run and not give them money to run,” said Myrick.
Women bring a different style of leadership to the political arena, she said.
They are more likely to work with those who might not agree with them, more likely to work to build consensus and are more often motivated by policy instead of power and prestige.
Myrick said the committee realizes one of the hurdles to be addressed is the difference in how women and men get into politics and campaigning.
“It’s a process and a pipeline and most women just aren’t in that pipeline,” said Lanier.
While a man wakes up one morning, decides to run for office and then heads out the door and starts building an organization, “that’s just not in our DNA,” said Myrick. “We have to be invited.”
That’s how she got into office.
Gifford Grange, San Marco’s representative on council, decided not to seek re-election in 1987 to run for the state Legislature.
Myrick and some of her neighbors in the district tried to draft several men who they thought would be a good replacement to run for the seat.
“When they all said ‘no,’ the group turned to me and said ‘you could do this,’” she said. “It never occurred to me to run for office, but they invited me.”
As it turned out, Myrick could — and she did — serving on council from 1987-94 before she ran, unsuccessfully, for the state Senate.
She has since been an adviser to former mayors John Delaney and Alvin Brown and 2011 mayoral candidate Audrey Moran. She also is president of Myrick Policy Group, a state and local government relations firm.
The committee’s most pressing goal is to secure at least $100,000 to help fund campaigns for women they endorse. Myrick said the committee has raised $12,000 in the past few weeks.
“We’re nonpartisan and we’re not issue-oriented. We’re just looking for great candidates,” she said. “Some people aren’t crazy about that, but it’s the only way to build a broad base.”
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