Day 139: The Omen

There is a city where the downtown is on fire, business is thriving, but crime has spiked and the city council is plagued by accounting errors in the hundreds of millions of dollars.

A white conservative is running for mayor against a black incumbent, and his platform ensures public safety, expands economic opportunities, spotlights education, and seeks to unite the town's neighborhoods in an effort to reclaim its greatness.

Sound familiar?

Well, I'm not talking about my campaign for mayor in Savannah. I'm talking about Jacksonville, Florida, where Lenny Curry, a white conservative, ousted the black incumbent last night in a tight race ending in a 51-49 split.

There are many similarities between Savannah and Jacksonville, our neighbor just 90 miles away. We are southern ports with rich histories and are vacation destinations. Our downtown areas are booming, but violent crime has gone through the roof because the bordering communities fail to share the prosperity. Both cities are plagued by town councils that bleed money and fail to employ a system of checks and balances. Neighborhoods in both places are forced to form associations that unite neighbors in an effort to deal with crime that law enforcement fails to prevent. Schools in both areas fall below average and both towns lack a trained workforce.

The incumbent mayor describes himself as a uniter and a conservative democrat. He is affable and well liked, a nice guy. Reminds me some of Edna Jackson's style of leadership. But when Jacksonville went to the polls yesterday, Crime and Corruption were the twin evils that prevented the mayor from being elected to a second term.

I consider the vote in Jacksonville-- including the narrow margin of victory-- to be an omen of what comes this way in November.

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