Jax Mayor elections 2011, (Jacksonville, Springfield, Jay: live, budget, best)

[skyshark75]

Originally Posted by FlyiMetro

You used to live in Jax? And the first thing you attack is the Skyway train?....hmmm thats a lil suspect, especially once I saw you only had 4 post. Your posting style is very combative. Yes....yes....

Not sure I understand what you are getting at? Yes I grew up in Jax and visit family and friends there every year. Mainly due to not living in Jax I am limited to what info filters its way up to me. Which lately I have seen a lot of talk of dredging up the Skyway which having lived there for the initial project and seeing so many people so enamored with having a monorail its like a complete flashback. Jax wasn't ready then and it still isn't now for one. I am just strongly against wasting anymore money on it because I saw how that went before and nothing has changed to make me believe it will be any different now. Just a new generation of dreamers who aren't looking at the realities of maintaining a track from nowhere to nowhere. There are a lot of better things to spend money on.

I suppose having a low post count could be suspect. I don't live on internet forums so I really dont pay any attention to post counts other than be leery of people who have so many. You have to wonder if they ever see sunlight.

Not seeing anything combative about my post other than that it happens to disagree with yours.

[jsimms3]

Nobody is talking about getting rid of the skyway, so whatever news of that has made its way to VA is not accurate or grounded in reality. There are actually a few people who are trying to get support to expand the skyway as it was intended (the original plan was actually for the skyway to connect Riverside, Downtown Northbank and Southbank, Shands, San Marco, and the sports district). It likely will not happen for a very long time and may not happen ever. JTA is changing its tune to BRT on certain routes, commuter rail on certain routes, and streetcars.

[FlyiMetro]

BRT is a stupid idea. Its too shorterm

[fsu813]

hey i read skyway usage has gone up recently anyways

[edgarmueller]

Talking to people in the bars of Jax, if I were running for Mayor, I would promise to try to:

1 - Recruit good-paying, non-FIRE (Finance, Insurance and Real Esteate), jobs to Jacksonville...go after large tech manufacturers like GE, Westinghouse, Siemens, auto-suppkiers, etc. and high-tech companies (solar, wind, water, biomass, etc.)
2 - Get the Jax Port dredeged to depths to support Post-Panamax ships
3 - Get a third runway build at JIA for future air cargo (fits in with being a logistics center)
4 - Hire more Police and and get a chief who will crack down hard on all crimes, including small ones (like Giuliani did in New Yor City 20 years ago); this seems to be THE issue among the residents who are losing their neighborhoods to crime.
5 - Keep the Jaguars (they keep Jax on the map)
6 - Improve Public Schools
7 - A tourist 'village' as close to downtown as the ships can go (or extend the monorail to where they berth)


...a 7-Point Plan, blasted out in 7 minutes.

[fsu813]

1 - Good idea
2 - Good idea
3 - Good idea
4 - The sheriff recently declined hiring police because they have enough to get the job done. Contrary to public opinion, the facts are that serious crime in Jax has steadily dropped for many years, and continues to do so.
5 - The Jags aren't going anywhere in the next 10 years, at least. Don't beleive the hype. There are at least 4 more vulnerable franchises than the Jaguars.
6 - Good idea (easier said than done....unless you have a elixer for poverty and building family morals up from scratch)
7 - Downtown will be a MAJOR focus for whichever candidate wins. Moran, Mullaney, and Bailey are very aware that Downtown Jax is a huge untaped money-maker for the city.

[fsu813]

Originally Posted by Jax Questions

hey i read skyway usage has gone up recently anyways

Correct.

"Steve Arrington, JTA director of resource management, said more people who work in the downtown are choosing to live closer to where they work. This is causing communities like Riverside, Springfield and San Marco to flourish. That will lead to more congested roads and parking downtown - and, Arrington believes, create a need for the Skyway with people parking at the Prime Osborn Convention Center parking lots and at the Kings Avenue parking garage on the Southside.

The Skyway has seen an uptick in ridership recently, and Arrington said that is largely due to more people living and working close to downtown."

from: http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2...ains-punchline

[FlyiMetro]

Originally Posted by Jax Questions

hey i read skyway usage has gone up recently anyways

Those numbers are not acurate....they need a card reading system or ticket reading system. Coins get jammed, some turnstyles are broken & debris can clog up coinshoots.

[jsimms3]

FTU: Jim Bailey Drops Out of Race

I know my father is very disappointed, and frankly so am I. I was originally pulling for Moran, and pretty quickly switched to Bailey. I think he would have been the best mayor out of all of the choices, but at least this year the choices aren't horrible and already set in green paper stones. It's still a *real* race between Moran, Hogan, and Mullaney. My thoughts are iffy between Moran and Mullaney, and Hogan behind those two. Moran has left me very unimpressed and a little worried about her vision and Mullaney left me with a bad taste in my mouth when he didn't announce his candidacy until technically too late in order for him to stay employed by the mayor just long enough to secure a huge pension. Hogan has been endorsed by either the fraternal order of police or the firefighter's union, and I despise unions with all of my heart and then some, so...eh, we'll see how this pans out.

[fsu813]

I've had the opprotunity to speak to Audrey Moran a couple times at length, as well as Rick Mullaney recently.

Though Ms. Moran is my clear #1, I'd take either over the block of wood that is Mike Hogan.



Since this a politcal thread, check out this At-Large City Council candidate: Jacksonville Election Candidate Group 5 At-Large City Council Seat

She's had some recent success: Hogan, Rutherford and Rubio win Jacksonville Young Republicans straw poll | jacksonville.com

Straw Poll
District 5 At-Large: Michelle Tappouni - 36, Robin Lumb - 32, Sean Hall - 26, Dane Grey - 20


Also, FYI - The League of Women Voters, Riverside & Avondale Preservation (RAP), and Springfield Preservation And Revitalization (SPAR) will be hosting a major Mayoral forum on March 1st (location to be determined, somewhere downtown).

Mark your calenders....