Peter Rummell parts ways with Mayor Alvin Brown.

[ronchamblin]

from mtraininjax:

Aside from the Brown and Hogan debate, what makes Curry Mayoral material, in Jacksonville? What positions has he held locally that call him into being a qualified candidate? Seems to me the last "outsider" came in from DC, pissed off the city morale, leaders and is now on the 4th floor of 117 West Duval Street in the catbird's seat.

I don't see Curry coming in and able to lead, we are a big small town, and you cannot come in and think you can run Jacksonville like you think you can run Tampa or Miami or Orlando. We're different and for good reason. But.....after what Brown did and said in the last election, it is painfully obvious that ANY candidate will say ANYTHING to get elected.

Makes sense mtraininjax ..

There can be political maneuvering and money infusion by those with the clout, to place anyone, for any reason, into the mayor's office.  But to be effective ... in order to do well as mayor, the man in office must perceive the major needs of the city, to brush aside machinations focused on his or her political future -- and to concentrate on the present significant objectives as shaped by the most important needs of the city and its citizens.

It has become evident, and I've said this before, Brown so far has behaved like a true and shallow politician -- wavering, without qualities allowing the objective observer to conclude that he has been the effective and strong leader we need so desperately in this city.

Hopefully, we will not endure another mayoral mediocrity via an election process shaped by the selection, influence, and pressure from the powerful and moneyed, who just might not have selected the best in the environment; that is, the candidate who can not only think independently, with genuine concern for, and knowledge about, the realities in our city, and who has the apparently rare qualities of a strong and determined leader, so that real progress in solutions and improvements is forced upon the city.

[Badfinger]

Republicans in Tallahassee and on the state committee have been more than a little excited at the prospect of Curry resigning to run for Mayor and have been talking about this frequently during this year's legislative session.  Most view him as a mistake and are looking forward to the prospect of being able to replace him with someone who can actually do the job.

But would he truly have to resign from his post at the RPOF to run for Mayor?  As long as his duties get staffed out, there's no downside I can think of to keeping the title and turning his attention to Jacksonville.  The RPOF then gets either a "huge win" or, perhaps more likely, can blame the absentee chairman for whatever ill befalls the state party in November.  I believe Governor Scott has a tougher path to re-election than does Mayor Brown, all things considered.

It is difficult to believe that Curry would announce to run before the November election if Scott and his team wanted him to stick around and run the party until then.  They know who and what he is and the talk in Tallahassee is that he has been shut out by them since at least Thanksgiving.

[Tacachale]

What is your source for this "talk in Tallahassee?"

[Badfinger]

What is your source for this "talk in Tallahassee?"

This past Friday it was the two people that I was having lunch with at Andrew's.

[Steve]

Curry might be a good guy, but I'll reserve judgement on him until I learn more.

Now, with regard to Rummell's decision to not back Brown, that's certainly his right, and I don't see anything wrong with him moving away from Brown. My feeling the entire time from the big donors was that the backlog of Brown was less about Brown, and more about Hogan, who to this day I think is completely visionless and would have been a complete disaster for Jacksonville. Remember, this is the guy that was on the 4 side of the 14-4 vote for the Jaguars in 1993.

Now, my personal feeling is that Brown hasn't been half bad for Jacksonville. Now, he doesn't seem to be able to solve this pension thing and his lack of stance on the HRO bothers me, but I'm a very big results guy. In any organization, if things go bad then the leader is always blamed, so it's only fair that he gets credit when good things happen under his watch. Think about where we were in 2011...a lot of good had happened.

[Tacachale]

What is your source for this "talk in Tallahassee?"

This past Friday it was the two people that I was having lunch with at Andrew's.

Who?

[Badfinger]

What is your source for this "talk in Tallahassee?"

This past Friday it was the two people that I was having lunch with at Andrew's.

Who?

Frank and Dean.  Joey and Sammy could not make it.

[Tacachale]

What is your source for this "talk in Tallahassee?"

This past Friday it was the two people that I was having lunch with at Andrew's.

Who?

Frank and Dean.  Joey and Sammy could not make it.

Well, if you have some dirt that can be attributed to sources beyond "Badfinger" and his dead friends, I'm sure many around here would be eager to hear it. In the meantime, let me be the first to say that "Baby Blue" rules.

[Cheshire Cat]

^Well, in all fairness, in response to the "you think you can run the city etc" comment,  Lenny himself hasn't said anything about it one way or the other. We don't know what he is thinking but we do know he is being encouraged to run for the seat. Some local players both within the GOP and outside of it have had it with Brown and his inability to lead and are looking for a candidate they think can bring in the needed financial support to run. As an elected office holder outside of his GOP post we don't know how Curry might lead, but we do know that he has some very good experience when it comes to what will or will not make for a winning campaign and that like it or not is going to be an important factor in this race. My guess is that request has more to do with Curry being a person of profile in the GOP as opposed to much else at this stage.

Apparently he has a good deal of experience on the "will not make a winning campaign"

From the St. Petersblog, that stephendare quoted from earlier

Here’s Curry’s record:

As chair of the Duval County Republican Party, Curry saw a Democrat elected mayor of red-meat Jacksonville.

As chair of the Republican Party of Florida, Curry saw Democrat Barack Obama carry the state despite it being a must-win for Mitt Romney, who was leading in statewide polls until the very end.

As chair of the Republican Party of Florida, Curry saw Democrat Bill Nelson easily re-elected after he defeated Connie Mack IV, the last man standing out of a lackluster field of Republican challengers.

As chair of the Republican Party of Florida, Curry saw Democrat Amanda Murphy win the high-profile Special Election for House District 36.

As chair of the Republican Party of Florida, Curry saw Democrat Rick Kriseman unseat the Republican mayor of St. Petersburg, despite 7 in 10 residents polled saying that the city is on the right track.

To Curry’s credit, the Republicans still hold the Cabinet and wide majorities in the Florida Legislature, but that has more to do with Curry’s predecessors, such as Tom Slade and Al Cardenas, than it does Lenny Curry. In fact, Speaker Designate Steve Crisafulli just had to send out a memo to Florida House incumbents telling them to get their sh*t together because their fundraising is off pace from where it was during the last election cycle. So even the GOP’s strength in legislative races could soon be diminished.
http://www.saintpetersblog.com/lenny-currys-abysmal-record-as-chairman-of-the-florida-gop

And to spuwho's comment that leadership ability is more important than political philosophy, that only goes so far.  For example, Scott has significant experience as a leader - masterminding the largest Medicaid fraud, took pretty good leadership skills - but his anti-environment, anti-worker positions are reason enough not to return him to office.  Also, Clay Yarborough is a heck of councilman - responsive to his constituents and does his homework - but his political philosophy makes me glad he is term limited.

It seems naive to keep saying "Curry hasn't declared" - I really don't think someone of Rummel's acumen would put his stamp of approval on some random person who wasn't interested.  I am sure there have been conversations.  There are reasons Curry wouldn't announce yet - as State GOP Chair, he needs to focus on this fall's Governor, Legislative, and Congressional races; and publicly declaring would place all sorts of rules on fund-raising and such.

I don't disagree with much of your commentary with the exception of the statement it is naive to say Curry has not declared.  It's a factual statement even in the face of the indicators and conversations that say he may be running. 

[Tacachale]

Curry might be a good guy, but I'll reserve judgement on him until I learn more.

Now, with regard to Rummell's decision to not back Brown, that's certainly his right, and I don't see anything wrong with him moving away from Brown. My feeling the entire time from the big donors was that the backlog of Brown was less about Brown, and more about Hogan, who to this day I think is completely visionless and would have been a complete disaster for Jacksonville. Remember, this is the guy that was on the 4 side of the 14-4 vote for the Jaguars in 1993.

Now, my personal feeling is that Brown hasn't been half bad for Jacksonville. Now, he doesn't seem to be able to solve this pension thing and his lack of stance on the HRO bothers me, but I'm a very big results guy. In any organization, if things go bad then the leader is always blamed, so it's only fair that he gets credit when good things happen under his watch. Think about where we were in 2011...a lot of good had happened.

A lot of positive things have happened in Jacksonville in the last few years, but mostly in ways a mayor has no real influence over. A real mayor would have carried that momentum much farther than what we're seeing. They also wouldn't have punted on the pension and the port, produced a budget so incompetent that the Council had to take it away from them, and torpedoed the HRO from behind the scenes.

I guess it could be said that Brown's vaguely-positive-but-noncommittal stance on Downtown hasn't actively stifled the grassroots support for revitalization that's been building regardless of who's in City Hall. Credit where credit is due.

[Cheshire Cat]

Jimmy: Someone else, I think Diane, made the point above that if Lenny Curry is going to run for Mayor, the RPOF and Scott camp need to replace him, in function if not in form.  I haven't heard much rumbling about that in Jacksonville or Tallahassee.  The crazy thing I have heard in Tallahassee circles is that Charlie Crist is looking closely at Alvin Brown as a potential Lt. Governor running mate.  That would trigger resign-to-run, regardless of the outcome of the gubernatorial contest, and essentially throw the Mayoral race open.  It would also mean the Council President would become Acting Mayor, yikes...

Whoa Nellie, I had not heard this.  lol  That would be quite an interesting development in both races to be sure.  As far as nabbing Brown for a Lt. Governor position, Brown sure hasn't missed a photo op with Scott.  lol 

Ah, the world of politics, never a surprise not to be had.  Lenny Curry has sure been taking some heat from the GOP that is no surprise.  This is the same GOP whose big players absolutely hated Scott when he first put his hat in the political ring. This time around they all back him. Politics is fickle that way.  The GOP also has a great record when it comes to "eating" their own, (Dems don't do bad either). People still don't understand that when it comes to top tier politics in general, it is not always about who may be the best leader, but rather about who can win considering the political landscape.  In Jacksonville it is undeniable that politics play a big hand in what is supposed to be the non-partisan position of Mayor.  The top tier understands that it is about branding and holding control in as many states as possible.  Our political system has always been fraught with partisanship, corruption and dysfunction.  That being understood it falls to the voters to make it clear they want real leaders, not party place holders.  The rub is that the candidates who really do listen to the public "after" the elections are over are often underfunded and remain relatively unknown.  Look at the State level for an example.  There is a woman named Nan Rich, a Dem in the race for Governor who many people feel really cares about the state and has a good platform.  She is basically ignored in most major polls because of her funding, low profile etc.  Meaning that great ideas or not, good platform or not, she will not be elected to the office of governor.

Lenny Curry is a good man who some believe has not done a great job for the GOP at the State level.  However, as he has not officially declared, we have yet to hear a platform or a plan.  When and if he becomes a candidate I would like to see if he has a resolve in mind for the Pension problem, as well as his views about everything from a more viable downtown, to the fact that we have the greatest infant mortality rate in the state and in much of the nation as well.  That we have yet to resolve the issues of homelessness,  jail overcrowding etc. etc. etc.  We know what Alvin Brown is about and what he can and cannot give to our city.  So far in my opinion his is a failed term in most respects.  The problem is who can take the office of Mayor and truly lead and lead in the direction most of the citizens of Jacksonville desire?  Remember, this race and the races for council will not turn on the issue of downtown.  This is about the needs and wants of the entire populace which go way beyond funding downtown projects. 

[Steve]

Maybe I'm giving Brown too much credit, but let's say Brown is a card in a deck, and let's call him somewhere between and 9 and 10, but below a face card. However, there are a lot more cards below a 9 than above a 10. I don't want another Peyton.

[Cheshire Cat]

Maybe I'm giving Brown too much credit, but let's say Brown is a card in a deck, and let's call him somewhere between and 9 and 10, but below a face card. However, there are a lot more cards below a 9 than above a 10. I don't want another Peyton.

Nor do I Steve, but I also don't want four more years of non-leadership in a city that struggles to stay alive and relevant in todays world.  I will return to the pension issue which no one wants to comment on save myself in this thread.  The resolution of this issue is huge when it comes to our future finances.  Not having that resolution is hurting us greatly when it comes to our future finances. It will impact everything from the level of basic city services to our dream city funded projects.  We are looking at a huge bond or much higher taxes down the road, which has always been a point of contention in this city.  We have a responsibility to the generations of Jacksonville citizens who will be left to deal with the mess of a nice guy mayor with charisma who did not know how to resolve the big important problems that are facing us down.

[edjax]

I think the pension is not being mentioned right now with regard to the next mayoral race as it potentially could be settled by then. They are entering into negotiations with the Fund in early May. What if somehow it is settled?  Brown getting the credit? Would seem he would get some credit if deserved or not, but if settled somehow that could put him back in office regardless of the other issues as all know it is the most pressing need.  Perhaps that is why Others are not jumping into the race as they know if it somehow gets settled under his watch it will most likely make him very unbeatable.

[Tacachale]

Maybe I'm giving Brown too much credit, but let's say Brown is a card in a deck, and let's call him somewhere between and 9 and 10, but below a face card. However, there are a lot more cards below a 9 than above a 10. I don't want another Peyton.

You're right about one thing: you're giving Brown too much credit if you think he's a nine or ten card. At least Peyton never submitted a budget so incompetent the Council had to handle it for him, and he supports the HRO. If Tanzler and Austin are kings or queens, Peyton's a number card, but Brown's the joker.