Mayor Julian Castro, San Antonio, TX attends JCCI's Annual Meeting

On Friday, September 9, JCCI hosted its 36th Annual Meeting, featuring Keynote Speaker Mayor Julian Castro of San Antonio, Texas. The event drew nearly 350 community leaders and JCCI members.

Castro is the youngest mayor of a Top 50 American city, leading San Antonio at just 37  years old. He shared with the crowd the strengths and weaknesses of San Antonio and discussed SA2020, a visioning process completed for the community and facilitated by JCCI’s Ben Warner and staff.

“San Antonio is a big city and has big city challenges,” he said, referring to a high school dropout rate of about 40 percent; child and adult obesity rates at twice the national average; and a senior population quality of life “under what it should be.”

“It’s still a place with a fundamental sense of community and great character,” he said. In bringing Mayor Castro to the Annual Meeting, JCCI hoped to share the importance of a visioning process to a community and its impact on the community as a whole.

During the meeting, JCCI also inducted its new President & CEO, Ben Warner, along with the 2011-2012 Board of Directors.

For more information about Mayor Castro and SA2020, visit www.sa2020.org.


Watch some of Mayor Castro's Speech here:

http://www.jcci.org/jcciwebsite/images/castro2011.wmv 

JCCI Announces New CEO

JCCI V.P. Ben Warner to be

next JCCI President & CEO

-Warner hired to replace retiring JCCI President Skip Cramer -

Jacksonville, Fla. - (August 19, 2011)- Jacksonville Community Council Inc. (JCCI) Board of Directors Chair William C. Mason announced the selection of long-time JCCI deputy and vice president J. Benjamin Warner as its new President & CEO.  “I could not be happier with Ben’s selection for this vital leadership position.  His credentials, locally, nationally and internationally, are impeccable,” said Mason.

Warner will take over officially on September 1^st, relieving Skip Cramer, who held the post for the past seven years. Cramer plans to remain in the area and stay active in the community as a volunteer and consultant.

Warner joined JCCI in September 1998 as a senior Community Planner and rose quickly to Deputy Director – the #2 position on the JCCI staff.  As a result of board and staff title changes in 2011, Warner became Vice President.  

“We conducted a thorough nationwide search for our new CEO and found the perfect person right here,” said Search Committee and incoming JCCI Board Chair, John Hirabayashi.  More than 70 national and local candidates were screened using detailed criteria developed by the committee.  “As incoming Board Chairman, I am delighted to be working with Ben.  He has the intellect, experience, energy and reputation to take this organization to the next level,” commented Hirabayashi.

Warner was graduated from Brigham Young University and received his Master’s in Social Work from Florida State University.  He is the past Chair of the National Association of Planning Councils and the international Community Indicators Consortium.  He is a graduate of the Class of 2005 of the Northeast Florida Regional Leadership Academy and Leadership Jacksonville’s Class of 2008. Warner has represented JCCI nationally and internationally in the areas of community indicators, citizen engagement, and community visioning.  He is the recipient of the National Association of Planning Council’s 2010 Distinguished Service Award and the 1997 Michael R. Wilson Social Justice Award of the National Association of Social Workers. 

Warner will be introduced officially at JCCI’s 36^th Annual Meeting Luncheon on September 9^th at the Schultz Center for Teaching and Leadership.  The annual meeting features guest speaker Mayor Julián Castro of San Antonio, Texas, with whom Warner worked in 2010-11, creating a community vision for San Antonio in the year 2020.

Please visit www.jcci.org for more information about JCCI. For questions regarding this release, please contact Amanda Gazaleh at the information above.

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Jacksonville Community Council Inc - JCCI is a nonprofit civic organization that seeks to improve the quality of life in Northeast Florida. Since 1975, JCCI has convened diverse groups of citizens each year to identify significant community issues for in-depth study. Its goal is to increase public awareness and promote positive action. JCCI’s study process and indicator reports have served as models for hundreds of communities around the world.  For more information, visit the JCCI web site at www.jcci.org.

Iraqi Delegation visits JCCI

A delegation of Iraqi leaders visited JCCI last week as part of “Transparency in Government,” a program administered by the Meridian International Center and sponsored by GlobalJax and the Office of International Visitors.

The delegation included: 

 Mr. Mushtaq Younus Ahmed Al-Azzawi – Director of the Commission on Integrity in Tikrit
Mr. Ayad Ali Ahmed Al-Karawi – Chair of the Legal and Human Rights Committee and part of the Diyala Provincial Council
Mr. Sleman Rasul Esmail Esmail – Manager of the American Society for Kurds (ASK)
Mr. Hayder Fadhil Faisal Faisal – Mayor of Ash-Shamiya, Qadissiyah
Mr. Hussein Ali Talab – Mayor of Siniyah
Mr. Abdulrahman Talib Tayeb Tayeb – Editor in Chief of Hawal Institution and political reporter for Hewal-owned Al Naba’a newspaper in Kirkuk 

Skip Cramer, CEO of JCCI, addressed the functions of JCCI as an organization and how JCCI operates within the constraints of the government to service the community. 

“Our mission is to convene diverse people to improve the quality of life in this region and beyond,” Cramer said. “The problems of the few are the responsibility of all.”

JCCI has three core functions and they are:  

1. To study the community and identify important issues. 
2. To identify possible implementation strategies that may lead to solutions.
3. To provide leadership programs in order to cultivate effective civic advocates within the community. 

The biggest concern among many in the delegation was how JCCI is able to execute these functions within the parameters of the local government. How do you get the government and the people to trust you as an organization? 

According to Cramer, the first step is to develop a sound process based entirely on facts and data. JCCI has the longest-standing continuous report of civic measurements with the data collected in its Community Indicators. Race Relation and Quality of Life reports, all available online, identify where the needs in the community are and take those issues from rhetoric to facts. 

“We don’t get criticism from the experts because we have the experts in the room,” Cramer said. 

The next step is to always remember who you are serving. “We do not own these issues,” Cramer said. A community-based visioning process and a volunteer-based implementation process are what allow JCCI to maintain civic trust and support.   

According to Cramer, public participation is the key to restoring and maintaining public trust and creating a transparent organization. It is also one way to create a more transparent government. 

However, public satisfaction with the quality elected officials spikes, according to the Quality of Life Progress report, during an election as the public is hopeful for new leadership and success and then declines the longer that person has been in office.   

“It is a thankless job to be an elected official in hard times. There’s a balance between streamlined, time-efficient government and its need to be inclusive of everyone,” Cramer said.

Community input and the Sunshine Law, which requires that local government be conducted in the open, contribute to the transparency of Florida’s local government. It is required that every meeting is announced, and media such as the Florida Times Union are watchful to make sure that these events are reported to the public. 

Cramer recognized that there is no common vision in Jacksonville and no one knows what services they want the government to provide. He stressed to the Iraqi delegation the importance of citizens and government working together towards a better vision of the future. 

Al-Karawi and Al-Azzawi furiously scratched notes into their notebooks throughout the presentation while translators tried to keep up with the exchange of many questions and answers.

JCCI's Katie Ross Interviews US Senator

Katie Ross, community planner at JCCI was granted the opportunity last Thursday to interview retired U.S. Senator Bob Graham on behalf of the League of Women Voters.

The interview focused on his new fiction novel, Keys to the Kingdom. Graham was one of the Senate's most respected authorities on national security, but he continues to give national commentary on intelligence issues. He was a two-term Governor of Florida, Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, a presidential candidate, and he is able to boast 18 years of service in the United States Senate.

Sen. Graham used his extensive background as an inspiration for the story. His book tells the fictional tale of retired U.S. Senator John Billington, a co-chair of the 9/11 Congressional Inquiry Commission who ignites protests when he implies in The New York Times that “The Kingdom” — Saudi Arabia – was behind the 9/11 terrorist attacks.  Billington is murdered. And the story continues as Billington’s daughter and Tony Ramos, an ex-Special Forces operative, team up to solve his murder and in the process discover hidden agendas that threaten the security of America and the rest of the world.

His concern for security and the condition of our country and particularly for the state of conditions in the state of Florida was evident. Sen. Graham is a native of South Florida. He said that the biggest issues facing the state are the consequences of our failure to diversify our economy.

According to Graham, Florida failed to participate in the industrial revolution and continues to have an economic structure that hasn’t changed in the past 200 years. Florida needs to be able to attract high technology business as a way to create more high-paying jobs so that Floridians can have a better quality of life for their families.

The final issue facing Florida, according to Sen. Graham, is education. According to him, education is what will determine whether Florida has the opportunity to change its economic profile. A change that can’t be done by cutting funding to lower level schools in order to support solely higher education.

Sen. Graham’s concerns were in line with the results of Leadership Florida’s Sunshine State survey that concluded that the two main issues concerning Floridians are the economy, education, and lack of trust in government officials.

A lack of public trust is a national trend, according to Sen. Graham, but the lack of faith is particularly strong in Florida. 

JCCI indicators show that only 24% of citizens in Jacksonville, FL feel they have a great or moderate level of influence on local government and 32% of Jacksonville citizens feel that the elected leadership is good or excellent. 

According to a 2008 survey conducted by the U.S. Department of Justice, Florida is the number one state in the country for state and local officials convicted of some crime relative to the use of their office.

So it’s no wonder that public trust of elected officials is a large concern in the Sunshine State.

So are we getting better as a society in the United States?

According to Sen. Graham, six months ago Florida was the role model for the nation on how to organize to enhance environmental resources. Twenty million acres were purchased in order to protect resources such as the St. Johns River from pollution. There was a system of regional responsibility for managing water consumption.  We were “adding to the treasury of land held for the public interest,” Graham said. 

But now the plans have “zeroed” out. 

“I think we’re going to pay a heavy price if we continue this policy very long,” Graham said. “And I hate say negative things about the state but you have to be honest. But if you’ve got a stage tuberculosis, you do the following things you can to suppress it. The state needs to take on an aggressive role to get people more involved."

According to a civic involvement survey conducted by the National Conference on Citizenship, Florida ranks 46 out of the 50 states for civic participation.

Sen. Graham offered the following advice for a person interested in a career in public service:

1. Get a good education – It doesn’t matter what you study, but it’s important to gain knowledge in some of the key building blocks that make a good civic participant: economics, communication, history, and ethics. 
2.  Have an alternative to public service – Be able to work a job where you can be successful and financially support yourself. An individual should not be in public service to satisfy their need for money and self-validation. 

Sen. Graham retired in 2005, but he continues to serve his community. He established a center at the University of Florida to stimulate an interest in active civic participation from college students. Graham thinks it is important for people to play a role in their communities particularly young people, women, and minorities. 

Graham continues to serve on commissions, and when he is not writing or inspiring our future young leaders, he is playing with his 11 grandchildren.  

JCCI hears the results of the Sunshine State Survey

JCCI hosted Bruce Barcelo today for its monthly Issues and Answers lunchtime discussion, as he presented some of the fascinating results of the 5^th Annual Sunshine State Survey. The Sunshine State Survey polls 1,220 residents across the state to examine what and why these residents think the way they do in terms of the quality of Florida.

“Residents, residents, residents. Not necessarily voters,” Barcelo said. “We’re not just looking at the people who go to the polls on Election Day.”

And the results? 

Floridians are diverse. Florida is the most representatively American state in the North American continent. Most residents of Florida have migrated from other states including Michigan, Indiana, and North Carolina. However, this diversity gives Florida a lack of togetherness as a state both culturally and politically. According to Barcelo, there are actually two Floridas. 

Florida number one is mostly democratic, urban, and highly built. Florida number two is independent and suburban. 

But there is one thing residents of both Floridas agree on. 

There is no hope.

Forty-five percent of residents polled feel Florida is worse than it was five years ago and only 12 percent of residents polled feel that Florida will better in the next five years. 

“This is not a positive thinking population!” Barcelo said.  

Floridians are extremely pessimistic about quality of life improvements, they don’t agree with legislative policies. Floridians want to see that the state budget is allocated fairly between taxes and spending cuts, and that the elected officials they have put into office are human beings with integrity. 

To be a Floridian means to push for meaningful results.  Especially in areas concerning job growth and increasing teacher pay. 

“$8 million allocated doesn’t mean anything to these people,” Barcelo said. “But show them a new high school curriculum, a good teacher in a classroom; these are things that make sense. Politic words don’t work.” 

Floridians know they’re not getting what they want, but there is a huge rift between Floridian public opinion and Floridian public policy. Residents are skeptical that their tax dollars are being spent correctly, and they don’t know how to push for policies that will “get it done.” 

Most Floridians disagree on what the best course of action is to arrive to the vision of a better Florida. The key is to come together to work toward a common goal. Diverse opinion is the spark that leads to great ideas. 

“Florida is a great state,” said Barcelo.

JCCI was honored to have Bruce Barcelo share his data over the lunchtime hour on his birthday. A surprise birthday cookie was constructed for him by JCCI CEO Skip Cramer who drilled a candle successfully through a chocolate chip cookie.  The group sang “Happy Birthday” to Barcelo as he munched on his cookie and thanked him for joining us today. 

To learn more about Issues and Answers visit MY JCCI

JCCI Presents 2011 Study - Recession, Recovery, and Beyond

JCCI Study Committee chair, Elaine Brown, held audiences captivated yesterday afternoon at a lunchtime meeting at the Hyatt Regency Jacksonville Riverfront. Elaine was  presenting the findings of nearly 4 months of research.

The Recession, Recovery…and Beyond study was the 71^st JCCI community study conducted to discover where and how new jobs could be created to help the Northeast Florida area recover from the devastating blow of the recession. 

What the Study Committee found was that there is immense opportunity in Northeast Florida for job growth with Duval County as the economic driver.

The recommendations in the study included growing and attracting small businesses, providing better education to future members of the workforce, and nurturing the valuable industries already in place in the area.

According to Brown, Northeast Florida holds tremendous business opportunities in the following fields: port logistics, health and medical sciences, and associated industries, aviation/aerospace and defense contracting, and financial services. 

However, the lack of consistent leadership in the region makes it difficult to implement lasting policies and therefore, to foster sustainable growth. Northeast Florida needs to develop a consistent shared vision and support proactive leaders who think regionally when developing and implementing public policy.

Elaine Brown took the wheel with regards to steering the Study Committee. She started the journey not knowing where the research would lead her. For her extraordinary leadership, Elaine Brown was awarded with an antique captain’s wheel. 

As Brown stood behind the podium, she urged the community leaders and elected officials from the seven different counties in the region to do what she had demonstrated could be done. 

The seven counties of Northeast Florida need to come together to support standardized leadership and to unify the region under one common goal – recovering from and moving beyond the effects of the recession.

To learn more about JCCI’s recommendations or to join the committee’s Implementation Task Force, contact Steve Rankin, at 904.396.3052 or steve@jcci.org. 

   

JCCI Forward Prom was a Blast!

You never get another chance to go to the prom! Since the beginning of time, parents and teachers have been sending the same cryptic message to high school students to convince them to dress up and dance the night away in a dark gymnasium with their peers.

This past Saturday JCCI Forward and friends of JCCI proved them all wrong at Forward’s 10^th Anniversary Celebration, It’s Your Prom!  hosted in the heart of Riverside.

Friends and family gathered together to travel back in time to the glory days of their prom. They entered through a small hallway lit only by the flash of the prom photographer’s camera. It was a literal “blast form the past” as JCCI Forward celebrated their anniversary by honoring the most monumental decades of this past century.

Prom goers arrived in their 70s, 80s, and 90s best. The punch was spiked. The disco ball shone bright on the dancers, side ponytails whipping through the air, as they attempted to execute time-honored dance moves such as the sprinkler and running man.

At the end of the night, staff at the reception hall was reluctant to let JCCI take down the prom decorations. The décor was left pinned to the walls and halls so that other groups could bask in the afterglow of the festivities.

JCCI and JCCI Forward want to thank all of those who attended and for honoring the 10 years of commitment and accomplishments that JCCI Forward has demonstrated. It was a night that will never be forgotten.

If you missed it, well…you never get another chance to go to your prom.

For more about JCCI and JCCIForward Events, visit My JCCI.