In their own words: The 4 candidates running for open Jacksonville City Council seat

2 years ago 249

Candidates privation to capable 20 months remaining successful word of Tommy Hazouri’s at-large post

Candidates for City Council At-Large Group 3 peculiar election: Nick Howland, James C. "Coach" Jacobs, Tracye Polson and Howdy Russell

Early voting begins connected Saturday successful the peculiar predetermination to capable the Jacksonville City Council spot that was vacated by the precocious Tommy Hazouri.

Four candidates -- 2 Democrats and 2 Republicans -- are connected the ballot:

Nick Howland | James C. (Coach) Jacobs | Tracye Polson | Howdy Russell

Vote-by-mail ballots are already out, and 9 days of aboriginal voting begins Saturday and Election Day is Dec. 7.

While the candidates’ parties are listed, since metropolis elections are unitary -- each voters formed ballots for immoderate campaigner connected the ballot.

The victor volition go the At-Large Group 3 assembly subordinate done June 2023 -- the remainder of Hazouri’s term.

If nary campaigner gets astatine slightest 50% positive 1 successful the December election, the 2 with the astir votes volition beforehand to a 2nd predetermination successful February.

To assistance pass voters, News4Jax asked each campaigner a bid of questions astir themselves, their apical priorities and immoderate issues facing the city.

You tin besides click present to ticker interviews with Polson and Howland connected This Week successful Jacksonville. Jacobs and Russell volition beryllium connected this week’s occurrence of TWIJ, airing Sunday astatine 9 a.m. connected Channel 4.

The peculiar predetermination aims to capable the Jacksonville metropolis assembly spot vacated by Tommy Hazouri.

Scroll down to work the answers precisely arsenic provided by the 4 candidates.

Party affiliation: Republican

Occupation: Executive Director, The Fire Watch (Veteran Suicide Prevention)

Age: 48

Candidate’s family: Wife and 2 boys (ages 15 and 13)

Education: MBA

Political experience: None. However, I served 4 years successful the United States Navy, 8 years connected Jacksonville’s Environmental Protection Board, 4 years connected the First Coast Manufacturers Association board, and 1 twelvemonth connected the astir caller Jacksonville Charter Revision Commission.

What bash you spot arsenic the apical 3 issues facing the metropolis implicit the adjacent 2 years?

Public Safety - a caller JSO survey recovered that we are a fewer 100 officers abbreviated of the fig indispensable to supply safer communities crossed Jacksonville. This spread volition widen arsenic our colonisation swells if we bash not absorption connected it now. I volition marque it a precedence to guarantee JSO has the resources it needs to support our increasing neighborhoods safe.
Jobs - we are rapidly approaching 1 cardinal people. We person had large occurrence attracting fiscal firms downtown. We request to leverage that occurrence and pull manufacturing and logistics businesses arsenic well, with mediate people jobs, to support our system strong.
Strategic Growth – we person unthinkable earthy resources successful the river, the ocean, our marshes and disposable land. We besides person a beardown geographical advantages astatine the northbound extremity of the state, astatine the intersection of 95 and 10. We request to enactment intimately with residential and commercialized developers to guarantee that we turn successful a strategical and planned mode - to amended downtown, repurpose much dilapidated areas of our City, hole neglected infrastructure successful our northwest broadside and grounds bully stewardship successful caller development. We request a strategical maturation program and bully fiscal management.

How tin you assistance voters successful a mode that others moving for this bureau cannot?

I americium a Navy veteran, concern executive, husband, father, and present the Executive Director of a statewide effort to extremity seasoned suicide. I cognize the concerns of veterans, of businesses and of young families. I’ve lived them. I’ve besides served our large metropolis respective times – Jacksonville’s Environmental Protection Board, the First Coast Manufacturers Association board, and the astir caller Jacksonville Charter Revision Commission. I person heavy ties successful the seasoned and concern communities successful Northeast Florida and I cognize what it volition instrumentality to pb our metropolis implicit the adjacent decade.

When it comes to downtown development, bash you hold with the Shipyards program and different projects already successful the works? If not, what would you similar to see?

I powerfully hold with the Shipyards plan. Revitalizing our Downtown is simply a cardinal portion of what volition alteration this City implicit the adjacent decade. I’d similar to spot much residential improvement with 1st level retail, much nutrient and amusement options and adjacent an innovation corridor on Bay Street to pull much exertion businesses and young professionals to our Downtown neighborhoods.

What bash you deliberation is the champion strategy to hole the metropolis for the effects of clime change? How precocious of a precedence is this contented for you?

I enactment the caller hiring of a Chief Resilience Officer. Having served arsenic the manufacturing industry’s typical connected the City’s Environmental Protection Board, it became wide to maine that biology extortion and economical maturation are not mutually exclusive concepts.

What would you anticipation to beryllium remembered for accomplishing aft serving successful this office?

I privation to assistance marque Jacksonville THE apical destination successful the Southeast for families and business. That means safer streets, amended infrastructure and much jobs. I besides privation to marque our City the astir subject and veteran-friendly assemblage successful the federation by ensuring we person supportive resources for our heroes and their families. That is the bequest I would similar to permission behind. In the longer term, my anticipation is that erstwhile my boys postgraduate assemblage and look to rise a family, they bash it here. Not Charlotte, Orlando, Miami oregon DC. But here, successful Jacksonville, the top metropolis successful the Southeast.

Campaign website: VoteNickHowland.com

Campaign’s societal media pages: facebook.com/VoteHowland

Party affiliation: Democrat

Occupation: Athletic Coach/Before and AfterCare Program Director

Age: (no response)

Candidate’s family: (no response)

Education: Bachelor’s grade successful Public Safety Management. Currently successful grad schoolhouse majoring successful acquisition leadership

Political experience: Student assemblage president successful college. Ran for metropolis assembly At-large radical 3 successful 2019 and ran for schoolhouse committee territory 3 successful 2020.

What bash you spot arsenic the apical 3 issues facing the metropolis implicit the adjacent 2 years?

Economic improvement for each of Jacksonville particularly the Northside municipality halfway areas.
The deficiency of programs and services for peculiar needs and autistic children.
The deficiency of stateless programs and services! not to notation to removal of each septic tanks from each of Jacksonville particularly the Northside municipality halfway areas.

How tin you assistance voters successful a mode that others moving for this bureau cannot?

Coach Jacobs is the lone campaigner who relates with the mundane idiosyncratic successful Jacksonville. Coach Jacobs continues and has worked with elder citizens arsenic good arsenic moving and volunteering with children and families. Coach Jacobs does not person wealth but has been impacting children and families successful Jacksonville for 20 positive years arsenic a volunteer, mentor and coach. Coach Jacobs understands and tin assistance voters by his hands connected acquisition successful the trenches! that different candidates can’t recognize oregon subordinate to the each time issues from each sides of Jacksonville particularly the Northside municipality halfway areas.

When it comes to downtown development, bash you hold with the Shipyards program and different projects already successful the works? If not, what would you similar to see?

Coach Jacobs stands for what is close for the radical of Jacksonville and what is not close for the radical of Jacksonville manager Jacobs volition not support. Anything that volition uplift the City and elevate each citizens of Jacksonville manager Jacobs supports.

What bash you deliberation is the champion strategy to hole the metropolis for the effects of clime change? How precocious of a precedence is this contented for you?

Coach Jacobs believes that introducing and passing legislature that volition combat and amended clime change. Coach Jacobs believes that each contented and occupation is simply a precedence for our city.

What would you anticipation to beryllium remembered for accomplishing aft serving successful this office?

Coach Jacobs hopes are to beryllium remembered arsenic a idiosyncratic who has represented everyone nomatter wherever they unrecorded nomatter what they look similar oregon talk oregon however overmuch wealth they person oregon not have. Coach Jacobs believes everyone needs representation.

Campaign website: coachjamescjacobs.com

Campaign’s societal media pages: facebook.com/CoachJamesCJacobs2021

Party affiliation: Democrat

Occupation: Licensed intelligence wellness nonrecreational and tiny concern owner

Age: 62

Candidate’s family: I unrecorded with my husband, Kevin Clair, and americium a ma and bonus ma to our 5 grown children, 1 grandchild, and 2 dogs.

Education: B.A. Human Relations, Trinity University, 1991 M.S.W. - Master of Social Work, University of Maryland, 1996 Ph.D., Clinical Social Work, Smith College, 2014

Political experience: Prior to moving to Florida, I was progressive successful legislative matters successful Montgomery County, Maryland. I’ve fixed grounds earlier the Budget and Taxation Committee successful the MD legislature connected aboriginal puerility intelligence wellness and was a portion of a radical who worked to walk a measure successful MD related to aboriginal puerility intelligence health. I was successful the Senate chambers successful Florida erstwhile galore of the students from Parkland were successful the gallery. I was with them successful my relation arsenic a intelligence wellness nonrecreational portion we watched the Senate members garbage to perceive the bills related to weapon violence. I work the study connected selling JEA, the Lot J proposal, and the Safer Together study each successful their entirety, and I’ve watched and spoken astatine metropolis assembly meetings. I cognize our metropolis needs change; I’ve seen excessively galore backroom deals attempted. Too often there’s a deficiency of transparency successful captious decisions made by the metropolis -- and excessively galore successful Jacksonville are excluded from providing aboriginal and consequential input connected the absorption of, and spending by, our metropolis government. This is my 2nd clip moving for bureau — I archetypal ran for State House District 15 successful 2018. I mislaid that contention by a small much than 1200 votes. I was honored to person the endorsement of Tommy Hazouri for that contention and look guardant to carrying connected his bequest of bipartisan leadership.

What bash you spot arsenic the apical 3 issues facing the metropolis implicit the adjacent 2 years?

Resiliency and infrastructure — we indispensable bash much to support our neighborhoods from the worsening impacts of clime alteration similar flooding, utmost heat, and aerial pollution. There are well-documented and undeniable risks successful failing to adequately code this substance including nationalist information (per our top-level subject and homeland information experts), economical consequences (including hazard to spot and spot values, jobs, and macroeconomic elements including hazard to bully growth), wellness consequences, and more.
Criminal Justice Reform, broadly, including reducing the fig of low-risk offenders (for example, tiny amounts of marijuana possession and nary convulsive transgression history) successful our crowded jails, and reinstatement of the Safer Together Committee. I would similar to spot the Safer Together Committee restarted truthful that arsenic a metropolis we tin person the often hard conversations that people originate wrong immoderate divers radical of stakeholders, to find meaningful solutions including revised arsenic indispensable policing policies, practices oregon resources connected which our full assemblage tin travel to agreement. I judge it is past clip for meaningful betterment that tin trim avoidable authorities expenses, amended economical outcomes crossed the metropolis and county, and heighten the information and lives of residents and their families.
Economic Development, including fostering maturation successful higher-wage jobs and realization of long-delayed downtown improvement — We request to enactment together, much inclusively than we person successful our caller past with each of the aggregate stakeholders to vet the champion imaginable developments for our downtown and different areas of the region utilizing broader treatment successful the open/available to the public, and transparent decision-making alternatively of the backroom deals that exploit payer wealth to reward a precise few.

How tin you assistance voters successful a mode that others moving for this bureau cannot?

As a licensed objective societal idiosyncratic and intelligence wellness professional, I cognize the problems and struggles that the radical of Jacksonville look each day. I’m not lone qualified but passionate astir sitting side-by-side with radical to perceive and find impactful solutions to their issues.

When it comes to downtown development, bash you hold with the Shipyards program and different projects already successful the works? If not, what would you similar to see?

I bash not hold with galore aspects of the process utilized precocious to beforehand these projects. We request much transparency and broader information arsenic they make conceptually. We request to necessitate much safeguarding of taxpayer’s wealth including a amended instrumentality of currency and different benefits to the nationalist for each dollar spent by the metropolis -- and we indispensable person person introspection and earlier, and much public, disclosure connected precisely who benefits from immoderate metropolis wealth allocated.

What bash you deliberation is the champion strategy to hole the metropolis for the effects of clime change? How precocious of a precedence is this contented for you?

The apt impacts of clime alteration urgently needs to beryllium addressed. Today our U.S. subject bid and adjacent present our large-scale fiscal firms, banks and security companies, not conscionable ‘environmental activists’, are calling for an effectual effect to rising waters, much catastrophic storms, much aggravated wildfires and heat. For excessively agelong we person delayed responding meaningfully to this reality. Any authorities oregon national enactment Jacksonville receives is highly improbable to code the afloat scope of impacts connected our city. We indispensable code it connected a section level to support our communities, jobs, subject bases and different captious infrastructure. As a Jacksonville City Councilmember, I would bash this by proposing authorities to mitigate flooding, support the metropolis from different documented and known dangers specified arsenic definite areas being much exposed to excessive vigor and erosion, and hole updated plans to supply the indispensable exigency effect and follow-on remediation.

What would you anticipation to beryllium remembered for accomplishing aft serving successful this office?

I’ve worked hard to physique relationships each crossed the region with citizens and section leaders to perceive from a wide array of radical what they spot arsenic critically indispensable to Jacksonville’s betterment and growth. After my term, I anticipation to beryllium remembered arsenic a person who listened to and amplified the voices of Jacksonville’s children, moving people, and families.

Campaign website: polsonforjacksonville.com

Campaign’s societal media pages: facebook.com/polsonforjacksonville | instagram.com/polsonforjacksonville | twitter.com/polsonforjax | tiktok.com/@polsonforjacksonville

Party affiliation: Republican

Occupation: Restaurant Company Operator

Age: 61

Candidate’s family: Wife of 30 years, 3 kids, 4 grandkids

Education: Gettysburg College

Political experience: None

What bash you spot arsenic the apical 3 issues facing the metropolis implicit the adjacent 2 years?

How tin you assistance voters successful a mode that others moving for this bureau cannot?

I americium not beholden to radical that tin widen my vocation oregon assistance maine higher office.

When it comes to downtown development, bash you hold with the Shipyards program and different projects already successful the works? If not, what would you similar to see?

A batch of the plans are exciting. Some are not thought through. Jacksonville needs a thematic thread that works. I judge we should determination from the aged motto to “Gateway to Florida”!

What bash you deliberation is the champion strategy to hole the metropolis for the effects of clime change? How precocious of a precedence is this contented for you?