by Staff
Over 120 community leaders visited San Francisco and Oakland last week on the Jacksonville Regional Chamber of Commerce’s annual Leadership trip.
The group left Jacksonville Wednesday morning and returned late Friday. On the trip, they visited civic and cultural sites, observed programs which may be replicated here and met with the mayors of both cities.
Here’s what some of them brought back:
Jim McCollum of BellSouth, Chamber chairman-elect:
“Two things. The broad spectrum of people who went. There were politicians, people from large businesses, people from small businesses . . . people who were going for the first time and didn’t have any idea what to expect. And, how many people came up and told me what a great experience it was. Being on the planning end, that would have been difficult for me to assess.”
Jerry Mallot, Chamber senior vice
president:
“The main challenge is that the trip was too short. I was really impressed with what they’re doing in their school system. They brought in a new superintendent two years ago and she’s making dramatic and apparently successful changes.”
Ann Shea, Downtown Council:
“The walking tour of downtown Oakland really opened people’s eyes. They’ve done a wonderful job of renovating and restoring the area. It was nothing like what we’ve heard: a high crime, high violent crime area. We didn’t see any hint of that. It’s clean and beautiful. It’s still a close-down-at-5 like our downtown, but they said it’s coming back. I think we saw what we can do . . . we’re a little behind them.”
Leerie Jenkins, CEO of RS&H and past Chamber chairman:
“I think everyone brought back something in their own field. We met with people who were very candid, and many of their issues are the same as ours: transportation, schools, the port. They’re ahead of us in some areas, which is natural because of the size of their city, and we heard a lot of things that we needed to hear.”
Denise Wallace, Northeast Florida Builders Association president:
“It was my third trip and I’ve focused on education each time. I saw a good system out there and there were three good elements: a strong principal, autonomy for that principal and smaller schools. The trip also was a great opportunity for me to talk with FCCJ president Dr. Steve Wallace about cooperative workforce programs, and what we could do to enhance the training and apprentice programs he has in place. Our industry needs good workers, and we need a way to get young men and women involved from the high school level.”
Bob Baldwin, Chamber vice president:
“There’s a facility on Delancy Street that’s run by recovering addicts. It’s a self-sufficient community; they do everything from full service meals to even running a moving company. It’s been duplicated in several communities and could be applicable here, if the right person can be found to run it.”
Jan Stringer, Chamber director of
member resources and development:
“They have a great challenge in their school system because of the various cultures. They have made great progress in presenting an appropriate education program for everyone. They have a great commitment to education. We heard that something like 46 percent of the people there have a master’s degree, so they really have an understanding of the need for good schools.”
Janice Donaldson, UNF Small Business Development Office:
“One of my breakout sessions caused me to take a hard look at what we’re doing. I went to a women’s technological incubator and there are so many online in Jacksonville now — Beaver Center Enterprise and others. I looked at their process for accepting tenants, the checks and balance system for evaluating tenants and how to build a community which is necessary for these incubators to succeed.”
Barry Allred, Elkins Constructors and 2003 Chamber chair-elect:
“The public transportation system varies, with several modes of travel, and we were told that no one is more than two blocks away from public transportation. Of course, they have a population density four times what we have, but it shows the way they’ve met a need.”
Penny Thompson, Shands Hospital:
“Audrey Moran [the mayor’s chief of staff] and I visited their animal control center and it’s a model of how this should operate. They have a great working relationship between their animal control people and the SPCA [Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals] chapter. They work together for neuter programs and public education. We need to develop that type relationship here between the City and the Humane Society.”
Bonnie Knight, Downtown Council:
“Their downtown. When we arrived, the place was full of pedestrians. There were lots of shops, lots to do. We’re on the verge of that and those of us from the Downtown Council really were impressed about what can be done.”
Martha Barrett, Bank of America and School Board member:
“I’ve been on all 22 Leadership trips and this was as good as any. It’s the opportunity to meet new people, and it’s also the opportunity to get things going. There are decision-makers on the trip; if you see something that’s applicable to Jacksonville, you can get people together right there and discuss it. I also enjoyed talking to one of their School Board members who isn’t directly involved with schools — he’s a pediatrician. I’m like him; I’ve never worked for the system here and I don’t have any kids. It was nice to know that he shares my opinion that outside voices are needed.”
Hugh Greene, Baptist Health CEO:
“These trips are always valuable and the value lies in the exposure to what other communities are doing and in the opportunity to interact with those of our own city to discuss ideas. I am very interested in public education and thought the presentations by San Francisco’s chairman of the School Board and superintendent sparked a lot of informal discussion and prompted great dialogue, especially for the School Board members on the trip.”
Cheryl Grymes, executive director for The Alliance for World Class Education:
“It was a good trip but it’s very difficult to go that far for that [short] period of time. We were only in San Francisco for about a day and a half. Those trips are always really fast-paced and you spend so much time flying that it’s difficult.”
Craig Meek, president of the Meek Companies:
“This was my first trip and I found the trip to be very beneficial. Obviously, it’s very interesting to see other parts of the country and see what they are doing. Specifically, I was interested in the larger development projects which have similarities to ours. In downtown Oakland, there are changes and challenges similar to ours. The mayor of Oakland [Jerry Brown] wants 10,000 residential units to be developed downtown to assist in the revitalization of downtown Oakland. That sounds very familiar.”
Al Battle managing director of the Downtown Development Authority:
“Any time you get the opportunity to visit a city as mature as San Francisco, you always come away finding out there are similarities between your problems and their problems. I went to understand their dynamics and how they are successful in their downtown area and how we can use those approaches here.”
Warren Alvarez, City Council member:
“It’s a long ways out there, but San Francisco is a very interesting place with a different philosophy than us. The mayor is spending a lot of money on downtown and so is Oakland. They are really stacking housing downtown and not letting it spread out. Their mass transit system works really well. They haul about 700,000 people a day.”
Mike Miller, City Council liaison to the mayor’s office:
“It was very worthwhile and we brought back a lot of ideas that can work in this city. They have beautiful weather, nice people and a nice downtown. But putting them next to each other, I’ll take Jacksonville. I found they have as many, or more, problems in public education that we do. In fact, there are more private schools than public schools in San Francisco County.”
Bob Helms, president Wachovia:
“It is obviously a beautiful place. There are some similarities we have in Jacksonville that made the trip worthwhile. The redevelopment of military bases is an issue. They deal with how to create an environment of exemplary education. I think it was incredibly valuable.”
Maria Williams, mayor’s office:
“I thought it was a great trip. San Francisco is a great city and provides some great goals for us and helps get our thinking even further out of the box as to how great we can be. Seeing their downtown and how alive it was, was great and good for our leaders to see.”
Suzanne Jenkins, City Council member:
“I really liked it and I loved their mass transit system. Having been there a week, we rode it a lot. What a difference it makes for a city to be able to get its citizens around. It’s good for the locals and it’s good for the tourists. If you look at San Francisco, their density is that of the whole First Coast area. Plus, the hills and parking is a premium. It’s $30 a day to park.”
Bob Downey, general manager for SMG:
“I was particularly interested in the Oakland development for downtown housing. They’ve done a good job of bringing people into the inner city to live. We’re trying to do that now downtown with residential and attracting more nightlife. For comparison, I didn’t think this trip was as analogous as other cities as far as population density and diversity, economics, cost of living, etc., but it was worthwhile overall.”
Faye Rustin, City Council member:
“Their downtown is so much larger that I didn’t feel we had a lot in common. They have a 24-hour city, a great transportation system and a lot of people don’t even have cars. We keep thinking about transportation issues but with our layout, I don’t think the people of Jacksonville will ever give up their cars and I don’t feel we ought to force it on them.”
Thomas Blakeley, proprietor of Open Systems & Networks:
“San Francisco is interesting because the whole city is like downtown. They’re on a completely different scale from us in terms of area, population, wealth, technology and their institutions. I think what you get is an appreciation of what an urban area is all about with lots of people and mass transit. In some ways, we’re looking at the future. We’ll deal with the same issues in getting that many people into an area.”
Teala Milton, vice president of legislative and regulatory affairs at JEA:
“There were a couple of projects we toured that were of interest to me. We went to Delancy town hall to get an overview of the redevelopment of a blighted area. It’s been totally renovated. Once homeless people are now working at the facility. It’s a real eye-opener of what you can do with a downtown. They have the standpoint of a can-do attitude. Jacksonville also is a can-do city with lots of potential.”
Pam Paul, special advisor to the mayor on children’s and community programs:
“The adventure of going to the big city full of big ideas and big price tags makes you stretch your thinking. Their ball stadium is four times as large as ours but it gave me the feeling that we’re doing something special for our community. Their library is massive with no amenities like we’re going to have so I felt good about what we’re planning. I saw more parallels than dissimilarities. I think everyone was energized by it. Our city doesn’t have the budget to do all those things but I came back excited about the possibilities.”
Mike Hightower, vice president of government relations for Blue Cross/Blue Shield:
“This was my 16th trip. I came away with the understanding that education is a challenge for all communities. There is no silver bullet. Second, the success that our community as a whole worked on with the base closings showed me we’re so far ahead because we have just one form of government. We’re pulling together for the whole and not allowing turfism to get in the way. The other thing is that the business community can’t do it alone. By taking elected officials, they can see first-hand and ask questions so when they come back, they can address it together.”