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.

JCCI learns about Holistic Health

Did you know your poop should be the consistency of toothpaste to constitute a healthy body? Elaine Pace, president of Sonaviv Medical institute, presented yesterday at the JCCI Issues and Answers lunchtime event about the benefits of combining traditional and holistic medical practices as well as how to recognize and correct indicators of poor health.

"The plop-plops are not good, people,” Pace said. “Don’t teach your children to count the plops!”

And we are not just pooping incorrectly. Most people don’t know how to chew their food, or even breathe properly.

On average, a person chews one bite of food five to seven times. According to Pace, each bite should be chewed between 20 and 30 times. “The enzymes in your saliva are strong enough to kill the HIV virus,” Pace said.

Why wouldn’t you want to keep that chip or that piece of sandwich in your mouth infusing it with HIV-killing saliva? The longer you keep food in your mouth by chewing, the cleaner that food will be when it enters your stomach and is absorbed into your system. Chewing saves the stomach the trouble of having to sort through solid pieces of miscellaneous unchewed food.

After the group was about halfway through their lunches, Pace gestured at her lower belly, leaning back so that it would stick out. “This is your omentum. It takes a lot of momentum to lose your omentum,” she said bouncing up and down.

Everyone knows that exercise is the best way to lose weight and the only way to get rid of a jiggling omentum. But did you know that movement is the only thing that allows fluid called lymph to take toxins out of your blood and replenish it with proteins? 

“If your heart is the blood-pump, movement is the lymph-pump,” Pace said. Exercise not only shrinks that wobbly omentum, but it also cleans your blood.   

However, there are times when you want your omentum to protrude, such as when you breathe. Most people think they can handle breathing – inhale, exhale, and repeat. So simple, even babies are born knowing how to do it! But the majority of people breathe shallowly, keeping the breath in their chest. “Babies fill up their bellies with air,” Pace said. Shallow breathing prevents a full, healthy dose of oxygen from entering the body and a full load of toxins from exiting the body.

“I am not the guru of holistic health,” said Pace. “I am a conduit for sharing information.” Implementing even one of Pace’s tips could make a big difference in your overall health.

As a summary, Pace’s tips for living a healthier lifestyle include:

• Breathe
• Chew
• Move
• And always examine your poop 

Know what is going on with your body so that treatment or therapy can be implemented before a condition becomes terminal – whether that treatment is holistic, traditional, or a combination of the two. 

JCCI provided chips, sodas, and other snacks to guests who attended the event – only as examples of toxins that should be avoided in our world. ;) 

JCCI Attends 42nd Annual Eve Awards

The staff of JCCI attended The Florida Times Union’s 42^nd Annual EVE Awards luncheon on June 3, 2011. Since 1969 the Times Union has been recognizing women for their accomplishments in areas of Education, Volunteer service, and Employment.

EVE winners have shown true commitment to improving the Northeast Florida area by furthering community initiatives, identifying problems, and creating solutions for positive change.

Four women were selected as winners and honored along with 12 finalists by a crowd of nearly 500 people. As attendants munched on their crisp salads, juicy chicken, and blackberry tarts, Rear Admiral Marsha J. Evans kicked off the awards ceremony with her keynote “Who Are You Now…Who Do You Want To Be?” speech.

“Not failure, but low aim is the crime,” Evans said, encouraging the crowd to aim for bigger goals. Evans’ distinguished career has combined both military service and leadership of the nation’s premier non-profit organizations.

It only takes a little bit of commitment to help to make a greater change and making a commitment to change for the better offers the community hope, Evans said. 

These four women are beacons of hope:

Dale Regan, head of schools at Episcopal High Schools, received an EVE golden apple for her accomplishments in the Education field. The addition of two $4 million academic halls on Episcopal High School’s campus, equipped with up to date teaching technology, are the first addition since the school’s founding in 1966.

Jeri Millard, founder of In the Pink, received an EVE golden apple for her accomplishments in the field of Volunteer Service.  In the Pink is a boutique for women living with cancer. The non-profit shop and salon is dedicated to helping women heal and survive the physical and emotional effects of all types of cancer.

Maureen Burnett, owner of Key Auto Company, received an EVE golden apple for her accomplishments in Employment. Burnett is one of a tiny minority of women owners of auto dealerships. In the face of unstable economic times, Burnett saw combined sales increases of 45.5%.  

Edith A. Perez, M.D. received the Arnolta J. "Mama" Williams Lifetime Achievement Award for her commitment to finding a cure for breast cancer.

To learn more about the EVE awards or to view past EVE winners, visit The Florida Times Union Online. 

For more information about JCCI events visit MY JCCI

Go to the prom with us?!

JCCI Forward is celebrating its 10^th Anniversary in the heart of Riverside! And it’s one you won’t want to miss! Join us Saturday, June 11, 2011 at the The Hall at 1100 Stockton Street to celebrate ten years of success—PROM STYLE at It’s Your Prom!

JCCI Forward is an initiative of JCCI that seeks to engage men and women ages 25-45 in civic involvement. They provide opportunities for these men and women to interact with city leaders, develop community leadership, and to build a network of friends and associates who all share the common goal of improving our community. Forward also provides trainings, forums, networking opportunities, and leadership development workshops to countless Jacksonville citizens.

The Forward program seeks to empower emerging leaders and community-minded individuals to affect positive change in Northeast Florida through a platform of results-oriented issue forums and leadership development programs.

This party is a celebration of the efforts of these men and women. Come dressed for a prom from the past. It doesn’t matter if you went to your prom in the 70’s, 80’s, or 90’s. Tease your hair and and bust out the "Chucks". It’s going to be a night to remember as life-long friends and like-minded people dance the night away in celebration! 

Tickets are available to anyone who wants to join in the celebration! Tickets are $10 for JCCI members and $15 for non-members and include your drinks, food and tons of fun!

Visit MY JCCI to purchase your tickets today or contact Amanda Mousa Gazaleh with JCCI at amanda@jcci.org for more information.