Mission Accomplished: The Peyton Years

Duval County Courthouse - Not Started

Laura Street Lighting Plan - Not Started - No intentions

Jacksonville Landing Redevelopment - Not Started

Friendship Fountain Repair and Redevelopment - Not Started

Northbank Riverwalk - Closed and in disrepair for a year

Southbank Riverwalk - $800,000 study to determine state of rotten wood
 

Homeless Issues - No resolution. Key figure resigns.
 

Illegal City Contracts to friends - Complete

Budget Overruns - Complete

Parking Garage Contracts guaranteeing a profit - Complete

Snyder Memorial Church - Empty and future victim of Demolition by Neglect

FSU Medical Center - Unaware and Not Pursued

Cecil Field - Boeing Promised - Tire Warehouse landed for this prime industrial site

Hold taxpayer funded "Day of Faith" and get sued - Complete 

Greening of Main - Under Construction (including ill-advised pocket park)

Metropolitan Park converted to flex space for "next Super Bowl" - Not Started

Establish new fees to cover budget problems - In Progress

Place unqualified friends at the head of every city department - Nearing Completion

Destroy old Fuller Warren Bridge and its public pier potential - Complete 

Convert parks from Biggest to Best - Increased size of park system and fired the Parks Director.

Allow city departments to spend money without oversight - Complete

Let's take a short trip back in time to April of 2006.

The Cast:

Alan Mosley, City Chief Operating Officer

Ron Barton, JEDC Executive Director

Mike Saylor, Planning Department Director

John Peyton, Mayor

Their roles:

Peyton: Plans to move the planning department and JEDC -- located at City Hall Annex several blocks from City Hall -- under one roof at the old Haverty's building adjacent to City Hall. The building is undergoing extensive renovations.

Mosley: Within the next 30 days, Mosley said a new public works director should be chosen. The applicant pool has been narrowed to one out-of-towner and two locals.

Barton: Will be busy updating the Downtown master plan and implementing the changes. Four task forces led by JEDC commissioners or industry experts will focus on different areas of the master plan for Downtown and will have six months to outline a comprehensive approach.

Saylor: Is focusing on mapping out the next five years -- every week of them to help prevent the group from jumping too far too fast with their ideas for Downtown development. A true engineer, he said planning Downtown development needs to be approached like building a tall structure: build the base first, understanding everything that goes into development and matching it with budget constraints.
 

The Script:

"We're evolving out of that start-up mode," Barton said. "We're about to hit our stride in terms of executing. That's the fun part anyway."

"We came together out of necessity," Saylor said. "We just formed this little tribunal -- the 'Alan, Ron and Mike Show.' "
 

Saylor's open mind, Mosley's sense of humor and can-do personality and Peyton's goal of getting the best people and letting them do their jobs helped them immediately gel as a team, Barton said.
 

Peyton keeps the team moving. He is aggressive in maintaining momentum and implementing change, Saylor said.

Mission Accomplished.