Mayor Lenny Curry is touting in his campaign ads that Jacksonville is on the Rise. I have to agree with him on that point – Crime IS rising in Jacksonville.
We woke up Monday morning to this headline:
No this isn’t the wild, wild west — it’s our hometown – Jacksonville. An actual gunfight took place near the OMNI Hotel across from the Times Union Performing Arts Center and near The Landing. It was an amazing discovery and we wondered — “Where were the police?
ANSWER: They were just down the street a few blocks and that type of crime happened right under their nose.
Our city has big dreams. They have handed out big incentives to develop downtown. They are in negotiations with a billionaire NFL franchise owner to develop along the riverfront and handout big incentives on that deal too. And EYE wants all of those deals to be a success because we are partners in those deals.
However, we also want more focus on the crime issue and we want it NOW. No more fancy pants talk about developing downtown if you can’t figure out how to make downtown safe for all of us AND for VISITORS.
And here’s a funny one to add to this drama: Our Mayor recently threw out his internal plan to force out the Landing owners, tear it down and make it a large public park – The Landing Park? Well, Mr. Mayor, that’s a dumb idea sir. If you can’t keep the streets safe across from The Landing, how the heck do you think you can make a park safe where all the drug dealers, homeless people and gun toting criminals will hang out?
It’s time to take a serious look at the crime in Jacksonville and do something about it. Until that happens, all those lofty dreams for downtown development will be shot full of holes – literally.
[author] [author_image timthumb=’on’]https://eyeonjacksonville.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Billie-Tucker-1.jpg[/author_image] [author_info]Billie Tucker has worked in the CEO world for more than 30 years and was the Chief Operating Officer of Vistage Florida, a think tank for CEOs. She started her own consulting practice, CEO Service Bureau, in 2001 and earned a reputation for her keen understanding of the motivations, challenges and goals of people and became a life-long student and teacher of leadership principles. She craved anything leadership related and enjoyed being around the world of entrepreneurial CEOs. She watched as they made decisions; pondered how they would make payroll when cash flow was tight; and appreciated how they created career opportunities for hundreds of thousands of people. Because of her experiences, she has emerged as a key resource for the media and others who want to understand important insights about executives, management teams and board dynamics. In 2008, Billie became discouraged as she watched some of her clients struggle with the political economic impacts on their businesses. The same CEOs who mortgaged their home and charged up their credit cards to make ends meet to build a business and keep others working, now watched as their government bailed out the big banks who had mismanaged their resources. She cringed as most of her clients laid off employees for the first time and she vowed she would help them… somehow…someway. That somehow…someway showed up in the Tea Party Movement in America. She formed one of the largest tea party group’s in America (more than 9,000 members strong) and helped bring attention to America’s debt problem, out of control spending, over taxation and regulation strangulation on companies. With her background in working with leaders and her influence in the political and leadership world, Billie has continued her dream to help CEOs navigate these troubling waters that permeate the world of capitalism in America. She has been an active participant in the media as a guest on CNN, Fox News, Fox Business, Bott Family Network Radio and co-hosts a political/financial radio show in the Northeast Florida market entitled, Smart Money. She was the first speaker at the House of Representatives Tea Party Caucus inaugural event and was invited by Heritage Foundation to speak at their prestigious annual Heritage Resource Bank, and on their National Security Panel live broadcasts. She spoke at the Congressional Republican House Retreat in Pennsylvania in 2012. She was also the co-host and co-producer of the CNN Tea Party Express Debate in the 2012 Presidential Election. She is a firm believer that America needs more entrepreneurs and more opportunities for people to use their God-given talents and passions to better themselves, their communities and America. Her favorite quote has become her mission to help CEOs succeed: “Vision without execution is hallucination.” – Thomas Edison[/author_info] [/author]
