J Magazine Summer 2018

LEA
DER
SHIP
ISSUE
We are
waiting,
Mr. Mayor.
We give
you an A+
for trying.
But we
need more
evidence of
progress.
plate comments on the issue.
Instead of a debate on the merits of selling JEA,
the city ended up dealing with infighting at City Hall
between Curry and City Council President Anna
Lopez Brosche.
Brosche must accept some responsibility for the
tension. For example, she disrespectfully refused to
allow the mayor to speak at a City Council meeting.
At deadline, she acknowledged she is thinking
about a run for mayor herself after her term ends.
In an interview with the Times-Union for J
magazine, Curry declined to grade his performance
on Downtown, but he sensed the frustration of the
Times-Union Editorial Board.
“I wouldn’t grade myself because I believe you’re
only as good as what you have done today,” he said.
“While I can sit here and list the accomplishments we
have done in office that were stalled before I got here,
I remain as frustrated with some of the hurdles and
bureaucratic stuff that we have to go through, but I’m
fighting it like no administration in recent times.”
Curry mentioned attracting UNF, FSCJ and JU
students to attend classes and even live Downtown
as well as renovations of the Laura Street Trio, the
Barnett Bank Building and the Cowford Chophouse.
We agree with the mayor. These are significant
steps. We just can’t afford to stall out. We must push
ourselves collectively in order to truly revitalize our
Downtown.
Unfortunately, we are still dealing with the unsightly
eyesores of the Northbank — The Jacksonville
Landing, the old City Hall and courthouse and
Berkman II.
Curry noted that money has been budgeted for
demolishing the old City Hall and courthouse, and
bids are being sought. Meanwhile, the Downtown
Investment Authority has invited proposals by
developers for a convention center on that site.
As for Berkman II, it’s a privately owned development,
and Curry still insists his administration is
near a resolution. The city has cancelled the Landing’s
lease and demanded the buildings.
We are waiting, Mr. Mayor. We give you an A+ for
trying. But we need more evidence — more hardcore
evidence — of progress.
Yes, the dramatic plans by the Jaguars for a
mixed-use entertainment district near TIAA Bank
Field show what a public-private partnership can
do. After all, the Jaguars and the city have worked
together successfully on stadium improvements
like those massive scoreboards and Daily’s Place.
The new plans are uplifting and extraordinary —
eventually a $2.5 billion development.
In conjunction with future developments, Curry
has pushed for funding to tear down the Hart Bridge
ramp, which will allow a much more dramatic
mixed-use development at the Shipyards site. State
funding is in place. Federal funding is in the works.
And that is good.
Curry has told the Editorial Board that there are
investors just waiting to get involved Downtown.
“There are a number of meetings that have happened
in the last six to 12 months, people who are
working on doing things Downtown, working with
DIA. I don’t know where we are in the process of all
that, but there is real money, new money, playing in
different spaces Downtown.’’
We’ll take your word for it, Mr. Mayor, but we
are watching. Words will start to ring hollow if the
public doesn’t see real money, making real projects
happen.
To accomplish our goals, we must come together
and collaborate as a team.
The battle between Brosche and the mayor over
the potential of privatizing JEA sucked a lot of air
out of the civic balloon. We ask: Is the damage longterm?
We hope not.
“I have no desire to engage in disputes,” Curry
said. “I have for a year focused on projects that I care
about, policies that I care about. We’ve got to rise
above it. I have great relationships with most on City
Council. I don’t expect to be communicating with
future council leadership through the media.”
Curry’s pushing through the pension sales tax
was an amazing piece of political craftsmanship.
Even political insiders didn’t think he could work
through all the approvals — City Council, the Legislature
and a vote of the people.
UNF Political Science Professor Matthew Corrigan
sees this controversy with Brosche as “serious
but temporary.” In July, Aaron Bowman will take
over as City Council president, and he has impressive
leadership experience as commanding officer
of Naval Station Mayport.
Has Curry been hurt? Polling by UNF for the
Times-Union shows some slippage. While still at 56
percent, his overall approval has dropped significantly,
and his disapproval numbers have doubled
to 26 percent.
For Curry himself, communication is one of
the most important parts of leadership. Think of
Presidents Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton, different
politically but both great communicators.
Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shad Khan has said
that swagger and a push are needed to get things
done. Curry has the swagger, and he is willing to
push. “I have as much a sense of urgency as anybody
to get things done,” Curry said. “I’m just having
to navigate the landscape that I’ve been dealt.”
As important as mayoral leadership is, the
challenge extends to the essential strategic partners
— particularly the City Council and its leadership
and the business community and its leadership, JAX
Chamber and the Civic Council.
As political scientist Corrigan said, Downtown
has seen a great many plans and brilliant proposals
but far too little actual activity. When we make a
little progress, it stalls.
Corrigan said the ultimate test of Curry’s leadership
will be if Downtown looks different, and Curry
immediately agreed. Downtown needs Curry to be
the strong leader that we know he can be.
And then, in any orchestra, even the best conductor
is only as good as the players making the music.
SUMMER 2018 | J MAGAZINE 23