Jacksonville Mayor? The Ten Who Should Run
In a totally arbitrary manner (and no particular order), we present ten people who aren't running for Mayor that should! Sometimes its hard to remember how many smart capable people we actually have in Jacksonville, so join us for our list after the Jump!
Image Courtesy of Abel Harding
Abel Harding
Abel is a perennial choice amongst the young visionary and sartorial set. One of his best qualifications is his reluctance to run, followed by his ability to learn, and his deeply conservative mindset when it comes to responsible finance. He's busy chairing the Cultural Council, making money in business, and raising his son, but the city would be better off with Abel at the helm.
Tonyaa Weathersbee
The brilliant, erudite, worldly, well-connected journalist and author knows more about the real inner workings of Jacksonville than most living people, and she has seen it from many angles. In particular, her deep understanding of Caribbean culture and her work in Cuba would make her a fearless and exceptional mayor. Plus it would be nice if a little beauty and sophistication came to the Mayor's office for once.
Audrey Moran
It's not a secret that Audrey has fanboys in the public policy and planning camps. She represents the best of the Delaney Years and manages to be both business savvy and not-for-profit oriented at the same time. Tremendous personal style and the ability to bring oppositional voices together make her one of the better candidates for mayor.
Killingworth, first on right
Bill Killingsworth
Without a doubt one of the brightest, most competent, and most clean-scrubbed men of the city. Deeply ethical, visionary, and comfortingly practical, there are many who believe that Mayor Killingsworth could initiate a golden age administration.
Image Courtesy of Farrah & Farrah
Eddie Farrah
Eddie started humble and made it big. His generous, unpretentious nature and deep roots in the set of families that have capably administered Jacksonville for decades make him an attractive candidate.
John Delaney
The Delaney Years are already looked upon with great nostalgia as the era when responsible government met vision and practicality. While he seems to have found a niche as the President of UNF, Jacksonville could certainly use a bolt of his intelligent and energetic leadership.
Kay Ehas
Easily the most competent person ever to draw breath in the recent history of Jacksonville. As competent as Sam Moussa and just as likely to resort to surprisingly colorful language. If it weren't for the fact that several important organizations would go under without her governing them, Jacksonville would benefit from her running the show. Even more than she already does.
Lori Boyer
There is a lot of speculation about Mayor Boyer. Terribly competent, scary smart and perpetually sunny, Lori Boyer has been one of the only saving graces in the past four years of City Council terribleness. It would be nice to have sharp leadership in an office that hasn't really had it in more than a decade.
Matthew Carlucci
Matt is from one of the most beloved political dynasties of the last fifty years, and proved his mettle as the President of the City Council. Most people feel that the city would be a very different place had he bested John Peyton 12 years ago, and he has only improved with age.
Rick Mullaney
No one will ever go broke over-estimating the innate intelligence of the director of the Jacksonville University Public Policy Institute and former mayoral candidate. No one knows more about how Jacksonville actually works or how best to coordinate the often cumbersome machinery of Consolidated Government than Mullaney, and he would provide a direct current of energy with a Mullaney Administration.
Article by Arash Kamiar and Stephen Dare