It was not a get-acquainted trip: While Bush's residence and most of his business ties are in Miami, he is no stranger to the political and business leaders of northeast Florida. Florida's new governor raised hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from area businesspeople and corporations. And he has strong business connections of his own in Jacksonville. He served as director at two Jacksonville-based companies, American Heritage Life Insurance Co. and Ideon Group Inc., and was a part owner of the Jaguars for a time, selling his share of the team when he ran for office.
Bush also handed off control of his think-tank, the Foundation for Florida's Future, to John Delaney, Jacksonville's Republican mayor and a Bush confidante. And on the personal level, Bush's son, 13-year-old Jeb Jr., attends Jacksonville's prestigious Bolles School.
Jacksonville, which has suffered for years from a civic self-image as Florida's neglected stepchild, clearly cherishes the relationship. Already buoyed by Jacksonville's inclusion into the club of National Football League cities six years ago, leaders here feel the city can use the Bush connection and its representatives' clout in the Legislature to establish itself firmly in the ranks of the state's first-tier cities. In addition to Thrasher, Jacksonville also can count on Jim King, the powerful former majority leader who often worked in tandem with Thrasher; King has given up his house seat to run for the seat of state Sen. Bill Bankhead, who was named secretary of the Juvenile Justice Department in the Bush administration. Bush also picked Adam Herbert, chancellor of the State University System and former president of the University of North Florida, as chairman of his transition team. Herbert, a hit with local civic leaders, still maintains a home in Jacksonville.
At the very least, Thrasher, King and Bush should guarantee Jacksonville a receptive ear in Tallahassee. "There's no doubt we have more clout," says Peyton, who owns, besides the Ponte Vedra Club, the Gate Petroleum chain of convenience stores and an assortment of real estate holdings, including an office tower on the banks of the St. Johns River in Jacksonville.
Some of Jacksonville's agenda is relatively small potatoes: Delaney's city hall will likely ask for a revision of the Jacksonville Port Authority's charter to give the mayor of Jacksonville, rather than the governor, the majority of the agency's seven board appointments.
A bigger priority for Jacksonville's leaders is to correct what they see as decades of funding slights from the state. Delaney and others think the city, once known as Cowford, has been shortchanged hundreds of millions of dollars in transportation and education money in recent years because of complex funding formulas that favored the politically powerful southern half of the state. "It's our turn to get a fair share," Delaney says.
Arcane formulas
Getting that share will involve reworking the arcane formulas the state uses to dole out money for education and transportation. The formula for education funding is based in large part on a cost-of-living adjustor. School districts in southeastern Florida, where costs for things such as housing are higher, get more money per student than do districts in the northern part of the state where costs tend to be lower. But critics of the formula like to point out that school expenses, for everything from textbooks and supplies to teacher salaries, are basically the same throughout the state. "The formula generally works well in a perfect world, but it doesn't give us an accurate picture," says state Sen. Jim Horne, a Jacksonville Republican.
Horne plans to introduce a bill this year to retire the existing formula in 2002 and replace it with a performance-based model that rewards well-run school districts with additional dollars. It's a proposal that he thinks will help schools in Jacksonville and throughout the state. "The time is right to do something that is fair," he says.
Jacksonville leaders also are looking for what they consider a long overdue revamping of the state's complicated formula for financing road projects. By law, the state disperses road funds throughout its seven districts based on a calculation that includes the district's total population and amount of fuel taxes collected. Money for new roads also is based on the needs within each district. Delaney argues that his region has done a better job of maintaining its roads and also has built new roads partly through local taxes. "We're being penalized because we watch the money better," he says. Getting those formulas changed may require more than determination, however. The education formula has been tweaked in recent years to reduce the gap between school systems that receive the most money and those that get the least. But achieving a major overhaul of the formula will be much more difficult.
In addition, the transportation and education funding issues generate perennial complaints from all corners of the state; virtually no region thinks it gets its share. And a recent analysis of federal and state transportation funding by the non-partisan group Florida TaxWatch found that, in fact, the distribution of money for road projects throughout the state is being done in an equitable manner.
However, Jacksonville clearly thinks its time has come. "Our legislative agenda will be more aggressive," asserts Ginny Myrick, a former city commissioner and now the city's Tallahassee lobbyist.
Players
Among the Jacksonville players holding the most interesting political cards is Delaney. Over the past few years, the former state prosecutor, who successfully ran for mayor of Jacksonville three years ago, has become particularly close to Bush; he is clearly the Florida mayor closest to the new governor. Delaney credits Bush's 1994 gubernatorial race with encouraging him to enter politics rather than private law practice.
Jacksonville-area political observers are eagerly watching to see what the popular mayor does with his potential political platform as chairman of the Bush-created Foundation for Florida's Future. Delaney, a self-described policy wonk, says he intends to have the foundation promote urban renewal -- an issue Bush has identified as a priority for Enterprise Florida, the state's public-private economic development organization. (See Tallahassee Trend, page 95.)
Among the Jacksonville businesspeople who supported Bush, other names to watch include Lynn Pappas, a land-use attorney who headed Bush's budget transition team; John Rood, chairman of Vestcor, a fast-growing real estate development and investment firm; and Thomas Petway, a self-made millionaire insurance mogul and part owner of the Jaguars.
Petway, who has been close to Bush for a number of years, has helped introduce Bush to Jacksonville's business community. Petway helped Bush become a part owner of the Jaguars and a director of Ideon Group, a credit card services company whose financial woes caused Bush a good deal of embarrassment during the campaign. Petway has been chairman of the powerful, Delaney-inspired Jacksonville Economic Development Commission since its inception two years ago. Petway could seek an appointment to the state's Board of Regents, a post he held in the 1980s.
Among Jacksonville's corporate players, those that could enjoy increased clout include both Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Florida, the big healthcare insurer, and CSX Transportation (CSXT), a major employer that is expected to add new jobs as a result of a merger with Conrail. Like most large companies, the railroad contributed handsomely to both parties, but some of its executives have close ties to Bush and Delaney. After last year's election, Marty Fiorentino, CSXT's communications chief, took a leave of absence to serve on Bush's transition team reviewing policy issues. Fiorentino, a native of Jacksonville, is no stranger to the Bushes, having worked in the U.S. Department of Transportation during the administration of President George Bush, Jeb's father. An early Jeb supporter, Fiorentino served as Bush's co-finance chairman for northeast Florida along with Petway. Meanwhile, Blue Cross's chief lobbyist, Michael Hightower, personally raised money for the Bush campaign throughout the state and enjoys close relations with both Bush and Delaney.
Jacksonville's expectations have grown lofty enough that some, including Thrasher, are warning city leaders not to expect the moon. Thrasher faces an interesting challenge: He must deliver the goods for Jacksonville while at the same time appearing to walk the Republican Party walk in favor of tax cuts and less spending.
While it's uncertain how successful the city will be in its bid for more money for roads and classrooms, Jacksonville will clearly be a force during Bush's administration. Thrasher says he's committed to making sure northeast Florida doesn't come away empty-handed. "It's our turn to look at things that heretofore have gone elsewhere," he says.