With less than two years before the next local elections in Jacksonville, the Republican Party of Florida (RPOF) sees a path to make Democrat Donna Deegan a one-term Mayor by painting her as a big spender out of step with local priorities.
That was one takeaway from a meeting between RPOF Chair Evan Power and leaders on the GOP-dominated City Council.
Power, along with President Kevin Carrico, Vice President Nick Howland and Finance Chair Raul Arias, are messaging around a 1/8 mill property tax cut and paring down Deegan’s proposed $2 billion-plus budget.
“I’m proud to stand with the people behind me who heard the call of their taxpayers that they wanted relief and they were willing to take the hard budget cuts and look at the waste and fraud and make difficult decisions,” Power said.
“For too long across the state, while the state is the most efficient government in the country, local governments have been spending out of control. And every time you’re over the target on cutting waste and fraud, they say you’re cutting the central services.”
Council members on hand offered complementary messages.
Carrico noted that being a budget hawk isn’t a Republican or Democratic issue, but instead “is an issue for the people, based on the calls that we’re getting, based on the concerns of our citizens, based on the conversations I’m having out in the district where people are struggling.”
“Taxes are going up on their houses. Trim notices have been delivered. Relief is needed,” Carrico added.
Howland said constituents had their own problems budgeting.
“Chicken used to be $3.99 a pound. A box of Cheerios used to be $1.99. Five years ago, the average home in Jacksonville was valued at $200,000. Now it’s valued at $300,000. That’s 8% annual growth. Over the same time, salaries in Florida have only grown 3 to 4% on average. It’s simple. A dollar today doesn’t go nearly as far as the dollar used to go five years ago. That means so many folks are struggling to keep up,” Howland explained.
“You need more dollars in your wallet to pay for groceries. You need more dollars in your wallet to pay homeowners’ insurance. You need more dollars in your wallet to pay your property tax bill. But if governments go unchecked, they’ll reach in and take more dollars out of your wallet.”
Arias said “the mission” for his committee during August deliberations “was simple.”
“It was to lower taxes, to reduce debt and strengthen our reserves. This is literally the first time in quite some time that we’ve done all three in one year,” the Southside Republican said.
Former Council President Terrance Freeman characterized the process of budget deliberations this year as “asking tough questions so that the citizens in Jacksonville were fully aware of what was taking place.”
Of course, part of the reason Jacksonville has a Democratic Mayor is because Republicans couldn’t unite behind one candidate two years ago, with many crossing party lines to vote for Deegan in the May General Election.
Asked how he would avoid that happening again, Power was circumspect, saying he would “let the Primary process play out.” He said the more immediate goal is “taking on these tough fights” and “exposing the horrific things the Deegan administration has done.”
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