According to a recent poll, only 33% of Jacksonville residents think that Jacksonville is heading in the right direction. Less than half (48%) think that Mayor John Peyton is doing a good job and even less (35%) think that the City Council is doing any better. Compare these numbers with 71% for Peyton and 54% for the City Council nearly two years ago. For Jacksonville politicians, this is not a good way to start the day!
More than sixty percent (62%) consider crime to be a serious problem or even a crisis. This should not surprise us considering all the press about the Jacksonville Journey. However, before we point to the mayor’s backpedaling on the property tax increase for the Jacksonville Journey thereby showing his lack of commitment to fighting crime as the reason for the low numbers, let consider a few more facts.
- Sheriff Rutherford’s positive poll numbers are 65% only down six percentage points from 71% nearly two years ago. If the people of Jacksonville believe that city leaders are not making crime a big enough priority in both time and money, why would Rutherford who has the biggest role in fighting crime fare so well in the polls?
- Only 28% of Jacksonville residents feel personally threatened by crime. This tells us that most people are not victims of crime in Jacksonville and therefore base their perception of crime on the evening news.
- The city is nearly split on whether to raise taxes to fight crime. While the numbers are 49% for and 42% against, a near even split is within the error margin of the poll.
A more likely explanation for the low numbers is the fact that the mayor was willing to subject this city to back to back tax increases over the last two years and the City Council went along with it the first year. If it were not for the efforts of Americans for Prosperity, Libertarian Party, Republican Liberty Caucus and Concerned Taxpayers of Duval County, a property tax increase of one mill may have become a reality for Jacksonville taxpayers this year. Clearly, while most Jacksonville residents consider crime to be a problem, they simply do not want money thrown at the problem.
