I was so excited to attend theTrans-Siberian Orchestra last night at the Veterans Memorial Arena.  If you haven’t seen them in person, put it on your bucket list.  It’s one of the most amazing concerts you will ever attend.

My sweetheart and I grabbed a bite to eat and then jumped in the car to head to the concert.  I live just over the bridge from the Arena and it should have been a quick trip.  It wasn’t.

Downtown was a parking lot.  Cars moved at a snails pace, people were getting frustrated and all of us in line had the feeling we would be late for the concert.

I kept looking around and NOT ONE POLICE OFFICER COULD BE FOUND.  There was no one directing the traffic jam — no one.  As I sat in the car trying to stay calm, I remembered this had happened another time but the excuse was it was at the same time as the fair.  There was no fair last night.

And yep, we were late to the concert AND we had to walk 6 blocks because all the parking was gone by the time we got there.  Cars were all over the place looking for parking and it was absolutely a disaster.

I fumed thinking about all the big plans our leaders have for the city YET they can’t manage parking?  Absolutely ridiculous for the citizens of this community to be involved in bottle neck traffic when the leaders knew this concert was in town.  And it was a sell out!!

We finally found the police cars.  They were sitting outside the front of the Arena and no police officer could be found there either.  Not sure where the guys in blue were but they certainly weren’t out there helping their fellow residents get to where they needed to go last night.

We pay a ton of taxes and those taxes should  help our fellow citizens navigate roads when events are in town.  What happened last night should never have happened.  The arena, the city leaders and the sheriff’s office deserve a stink on this one.  Anticipation of this parking jam should have been considered and fixed.

Mayor and other city leaders:  You keep saying we need to fix downtown and become the big city we were meant to be.  Before making all those big plans how about doing one simple thing – manage traffic.  That should be easy, shouldn’t it?

Oh well, it was a fun night anyway because we spent it with good friends at an amazing location.  The arena is an amazing location!  We seem to make the best of things and at this time of year, we need to.  Enjoy your holidays and make sure you leave a couple of hours earlier than usual if you are heading downtown for an event. Just breathe and listen to some soothing music.  That should make all the holiday stress a little better.

[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]