Times Union: On Politics: Jockeying for mayor has begun

[Patricia M. McBride]

Submitted by Abel Harding on November 30, 2010 - 5:44am Abel Harding

The first candidate to qualify by petition in the race to replace Jacksonville Mayor John Peyton wasn’t one of the top fundraisers in the race. It was Warren Lee, a Democrat who’s an officer with the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice.

Four of the 14 candidates in the race — Jim Bailey, Mike Hogan, Audrey Moran and Rick Mullaney — have raised six figures, and a fifth — Alvin Brown — was within several thousand of that threshold by the last reporting cycle.

To date, I’ve sat down with the top four fundraisers, learned a bit about their backgrounds and listened to where they’d like to lead the city. Here’s a brief rundown:

Jim Bailey. The only one with no previous government experience, Bailey said he wants to make it easier for small businesses to thrive in the city. A big advocate of downtown, Bailey says he’ll bring leadership skills the others lack.

Mike Hogan. A former city councilman and state representative, Hogan says he’s no career politician, even though he’s now the tax collector. He points to his extensive work in the private sector, including more than two decades with BellSouth, as the foundation for how he’d run city government. He wants to tackle pension issues in a less confrontational manner and focus on job growth via a focus on small businesses.

Audrey Moran. She spent time in city government, including a stint as chief of staff for former Mayor John Delaney, ran her own business and currently leads a nonprofit. Moran says the mayor should be nonpartisan and, as such, she’s looking for voters of all stripes. She wants a focus on public education and has promised to bring back the Downtown Development Authority as one of her first acts in office.

Rick Mullaney. Another former chief of staff to Delaney, Mullaney spent the last 13 years as the city’s chief legal officer. He wants a focus on growing the city’s health care sector and has made drawing a medical school here one of the centerpieces of his campaign.

Among the other candidates in the race are Brown, Lee, Councilwoman Glorious Johnson and Robert Hutcherson.

A pricey gig

Earlier this month, the St. Johns County Commission approved a new contract with Michael Wanchick, the county administrator, worth more than $1.1 million over seven years.

Wanchick wowed commissioners during his first 3½ years on the job, so much so that they’ve made it rather difficult for future commissioners to oust him.

Only one of the five commissioners — Cyndi Stevenson — dissented, citing concerns about making a government employee “untouchable.”

Under Wanchick’s original contract, he could be fired for “gross insubordination, material violation of county policies, material breach of this agreement, excessive absenteeism, gross negligence and/or dereliction of duties.”

The new contract changes the reasons to “Misfeasance, malfeasance and/or nonfeasance in performance of County Administrator’s duties.”

With its lack of specificity, the new language is an attorney’s dream.

If elected officials decide they’ve tired of Wanchick, they’ll now have to cough up three years’ salary: $510,000.

Now that’s job security.

http://jacksonville.com/opinion/blog/401574/abel-harding/2010-11-30...