Campaign # 159 is for Sunny Gettinger in FL
What? Election
When? Tuesday, May 14
Who? Democrat Sunny Gettinger
For? City Council
Why? For a brighter Jax, make it Sunny!
How? Be a voter!
In many cities, municipal elections are non-partisan. It doesn’t mean that the people who run and get elected are “independent” and share no principles or values with a particular political party. It just means that on the ballot, voters will not see a D or an R next to their name, for example. It can be a way for Republicans to “sneak” into elected office in a majority-Democrat city.
About Jacksonville
Jacksonville (known by the locals as “Jax”) has a common leadership problem. A strong Republican Mayor has created a voting block on the Council that needs to be challenged by an equally strong Democrat.
You may not know this, but Jacksonville leads other Florida cities in crime. It is consistently ranked the murder capital of Florida. Mayor Lenny Curry, former chairman of the Republican Party of Florida and vocal Trump supporter, ran on solving the crime problem when he was elected 4 years ago. He has since been re-elected in a municipal election this March, despite the fact that under his administration, crime has risen significantly. He and the Republican-run sheriff’s office have yet to introduce any policies effective at reducing crime.
Democrat Sunny Gettinger has as her central policy focus tacking crime. With smarter community policing, officers would live in the communities in which they work. Sunny also wants to invest in opportunities in their most vulnerable neighborhoods as a way to prevent crime. By addressing the root causes beforehand, not just reacting after crime has taken its toll.
The District
Sunny’s district includes charming historic neighborhoods such as Riverside, Avondale, and Ortega. It follows the St. Johns River along its western bank and up into Argyle, a lovely suburban neighborhood on the county line. She observes that they are fortunate to have more beautiful waterfront property development than most, but that the city has not invested enough in infrastructure to address our drainage issues. A very light rain can cause flooding in many urban-core and riverfront neighborhoods. Storms like Hurricanes Matthew and Irma can leave residents stranded in their homes and without electricity for days or weeks.
Her experience working for Google Fiber has taught her to think outside of the box and to look for funding for such large-scale projects through federal and state grants. Taking on projects to fix basic infrastructure issues like drainage, under-grounding utilities, and finally eliminating the outdated septic system will require long-term investment. But, they will also create long-term job opportunities. They will increase property values. And they will protect Jax from both the next big storm and from gradual blight.
A lack of leadership from the Mayor’s office is contributing to a growing feeling of hopelessness. Only 24.5% of registered voters decided to exercise their right to vote in the March election. Even fewer are expected to show up this month.
Her opponent was endorsed by the Mayor and can be counted upon to rubber stamp an ineffective agenda. That’s not something residents can afford. It’s not something businesses can endure.
Here’s a Q&A one of the local radio stations conducted with Sunny: https://news.wjct.org/…/qa-district-14-city-council-candida…
There’s also a video at the bottom of her website where she speaks about why she’s running: https://www.votesunny.com/
Sunny and her team have been hard at work spreading her message for a brighter Jacksonville. We can do what we do best and remind Democratic voters to show up and make their own forecast on election day: make it Sunny.
Write on!
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