I read about the latest “squeeze play” by Mayor Curry to take back the Landing (per his internal plan).  I wasn’t surprised by this new bully tactic.  We expected it.  But, I WAS disappointed in the Mayor — someone who once stood with me at The Landing and rallied against politicians who used tactics just like this.  What irony.

Here is the latest squeeze play:

The city is now requiring the Landing and those who hold events there to get a permit.  That should go well.

For 31 years, the Landing has been exempt from this requirement but suddenly — Mayor Curry has decided to squeeze the Landing owners through regulations, permitting, etc.  It’s such a typical tactic by politicians squeezing the little guys to give favors to their buddies.  Not saying that’s happening but it sure looks like a page out of the Corrupt Politicians Playbook.

When I was the co-leader of the First Coast Tea Party and Lenny Curry was the head of the local GOP, we teamed up together for rallies at The Landing.  In fact both of us were called out on Keith Olbermann’s show for a rally in 2009 as the worst persons of the week.

I remember Lenny calling me and we both laughed and thought it was great to get the “worst persons award” because we knew we were right and Keith was wrong.  We were standing up for our Constitutional rights and speaking out against out of control spending, over-taxation, and most especially against regulation strangulation.  We, the little people, were being choked to death by big government and we were petitioning the government which was our right and our duty.

At that time and still today, the Landing was the one and only place we could hold the event that did not require a permit from the city and did not charge us to hold our event there.  That was a good thing because we had no money and we needed a place to voice our concerns.

There was no other place in town that could hold the numbers we brought to events – up to 5,000 people.  The city required permits on all other spaces they maintained and it took an act of God to get a permit because we were “tea party people” and they were afraid we might cause a riot.  (We never did and I’m proud to say — no tea party across the country ever did either.  We peacefully protested and we’re still doing it via this website too.)

The Landing owners were happy to have us AND the Landing owners are ALWAYS happy to assist other non-profits and special events for FREE most of the time.  They open their doors to those who can’t afford the high dollar rental venues owned by the city (the taxpayers that is).  They put on free concerts for people who can’t afford to go to the high priced taxpayer funded venues and the Landing owners have hosted more than 600 events every year.

The Landing owners are givers.  They give to the community.  They give to individuals.  They give to their tenants.  They give to their state and to their country.  They love America and all she stands for. After the Landing owners grandparents immigrated legally to America, they went to work to accomplish the American dream, raise their children and give back to the country they love.  They are down right good wholesome people and they are one of us.

The media and others in this administration would like you to think The Landing owners are greedy and don’t want to fix the Landing.  That’s not the case at all.  And very soon in a courtroom just down the street from the Landing, we pray justice will prevail and the City will be exposed for hindering the Landing’s potential since the 80’s when the Rouse company developed it.  The big squeeze has been going on since that time and under this administration – the big squeeze is on steroids.

The Landing owners do NOT deserve to be squeezed by the once-good-guy and now our Mayor who stood with me at The Landing to demand justice for all people.  It’s crazy to believe I’m even writing this about him.  It’s incredibly sad and shows you how people can change.

Oh my how far our Mayor has fallen from those tea party days.  The power of politics has found its way into the heart of Mayor Curry.  Politics is a cruel game and if the Mayor isn’t careful, that cruelty will impact hundreds if not thousands of people, businesses, non-profits and others in Jacksonville such as:

• Those who own businesses at the Landing — the Cookie Company, Hooters, Apple a Day – who have been there for 31 plus years.  Without events, all the merchants will go out of business. How shameful that would be.
• Or the employees of Landing who love their jobs and have been there forever.  They love working with the community to bring events to the Landing and they work those events day and night to ensure success.  They will be out of work if the Landing is squeezed to death.
• All the non-profits will need to find a permitted place to hold their events (and heaven forbid if they get on the wrong side of the administration – no permits for them!).  Non-profits work off shoe string budgets so this will affect them in a big way.
• And don’t forget all the free events will be gone forever and those who can’t afford to pay to go to concerts – will go without and stand outside the expensive walls of the stadium and arena wishing they could go inside.  Our Mayor is the Mayor of low income people too.

This squeeze play is almost as bad as the one before this.  The one where the city owned docks at the Landing are rotting and decaying.  It’s the city’s job to maintain the docks and they are not doing it.  It’s an eye-sore, shameful, dangerous and a catastrophe waiting to happen.

As we watch the various squeeze plays, we have come to the following conclusion and now fully understand the Mayor’s internal plan to take back the Landing:

• Squeeze The Landing owners from the river side and squeeze them from the city side — and maybe they will finally collapse in on themselves.  Wear them down and run them out of business.
• Then the city will shut them down for violations and ultimately…take back the Landing.
• And then, lo and behold, the Landing property can be handed off to who knows who.  Maybe a big donor to the Mayor’s campaign?

I very rarely agree with a liberal and especially with Keith Olbermann but this time I do.  Mayor Lenny Curry is the worst person of the week  — AGAIN.  And this time I am not laughing with him.

And for those who are planning to view the July 4th fireworks from The Landing, come on down.  They are still on.  Enjoy the good times with your neighbors on the river as you listen to great music from the Landing’s stage and wait for the sky to light up with the amazing fireworks.  Shake the hands of the Landing owners and their employees.  Support the Landing businesses too.   All of them need our support and encouragement.  It’s the least we can do for our fellow man.

And surely Mayor Curry wouldn’t be so nasty as to shut down the Landing for one of the biggest events of the year.  Would he????

Well we hope not.  If he is even thinking about it, he might want to take a hint from the Chief of Staff for Springfield’s Mayor Quimby in The Simpsons regarding those low income nobodies.  There’s an election coming. This stupid country.

[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]