James Gardner announces write-in candidacy for Gainesville City Commission, District 3
Press release from James Gardner, Candidate for City Commission District 3
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – My name is James Gardner.
I am a 4th-generation Floridian, born and raised in Jacksonville, Florida. My ancestors came to the “new world” around 1700, escaping religious persecution, originally from Scotland. My ancestors participated in the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, WW1 and WW2, Korea and Vietnam. I’m proud of my heritage.
In 1974, I joined the United States Coast Guard shortly after graduating from high school and was enlisted from 1974 to 1979. After getting out of the USCG, I moved to Gainesville in 1982. My plan was to be closer to my parents, who had retired to live in Johnson, about 25 miles east of Gainesville, and attend college at what was then Sante Fe Junior College.
I had to work to support myself, so I took what was to be a part-time job, as a cook, at the first Calico Jacks (CJ’s) at Archer Road and 34th street. Within a month or so, the general manager got fired, and I replaced him as GM and went to work full-time. This was the start of a career in the hospitality industry, which was a perfect fit for me at that time.
I worked at CJ’s, Ah Shucks, Amici’s, Rockefellers, Brown Derby, Dubs, El Toro, and Snuffy’s. Gainesville was such a different place then, and it was a blast to live and work here.
Between 1985 and 1988, I lost both my parents to “natural causes.” That was a very traumatic time for me, and in 1993, I decided to leave the hospitality industry and explore other options. My new field of endeavor was in retail at Target. Then I went to Lowes. I bought my first and current home in Gainesville in 1996. What those two retail jobs revealed to me was that I did not want to work in retail. I left that field with a high level of empathy with anyone in that business. Be nice to retail workers, it’s hard work with very few rewards.
My next gig (1997) was to work with “at risk youth” at the Gainesville/Ocala Marine Institute (GOMI) as the school’s Captain. I taught the kids seamanship skills on a 22-foot Maco, Deep V hull, and fell in love with both the kids and the company, the Associated Marine Institutes (AMI). It was rewarding and meaningful work. It was God’s work and where He had led me. I transferred to Saint Petersburg to be the team leader at the Pinellas Marine Institute’s (PMI) Island program and was also the Director of Case Management for three programs there. As rewarding (and difficult) as the job was, you don’t make very much money in that business, and I needed to start building a retirement. So, after five years there I reluctantly decided to go back to sea.
I joined the Military Sealift Command (Dept of the Navy) in 2002, in response to 9/11. My very first ship was deployed to the Persian Gulf. I stayed with MSC for the next 13 years (18 years total of federal service). I started off as an Able Seaman in the deck department and advanced to 2nd Officer (3rd in command on ships). I was still spending a lot of time in the Persian Gulf and was proud to serve during Iraqi Freedom and the War on Terror. I retired in 2016 and returned home full-time to Gainesville.
Gainesville was now a very different place than I had experienced over the years here. “Developers” had entrenched themselves in my neighborhood of Robbinswood, across from Butler Plaza, and were taking control of our neighborhood to the total disbelief and resistance of those that lived here. This near-total takeover of this neighborhood is still “in progress,” and the City has let us down in so many ways that you can’t even comprehend something like this happening to your homestead of 30 years. But that was just the start of the madness this City would force upon me. In 2020, I called GPD to assist me in an ongoing problem with a neighborhood drug house. “See something, say something” was the biggest mistake of my life. After getting severely beat down by a resident of that drug house, the GPD arrested me because of a very immature and incompetent patrol officer who was angry at me because I “screamed at him” for not doing his job. This same officer would go on to arrest another Gainesville “neighbor” for running a stop sign where no stop sign existed and that defendant lost an eye, due to a police department that was out of control, and the City just stood by and went deaf, dumb, and blind to my pleas for intervention. I will share much more about this in the very near future.
These incidents have led me to run for the City Commission as the new Commissioner of District 3 in this year’s elections. Casey Willits is not the right man for the job, and he has done nothing for the residents of District 3 in his nearly four years in office. DeJeon Cain is also running, but he is just more of the same fabric. Politics in Gainesville shouldn’t be about national political talking points and promises they can’t keep. We need local transparency, accountability, and a return to home rule that is functional and citizen-centered.
Give me the chance to be heard, and I hope you will support my candidacy to help return Gainesville to a responsible, transparent, and community-first City Commission. I’ll need to know what you want, too. I would be delighted to meet each one of you and will happily meet with your neighborhood or individually at any time. We, you and me, need to stop the national political agenda and get our governance back to home rule. This current commission is a hindrance to who we really are and what we want and need for Gainesville. Please don’t fall for all the false promises and the election-year spending with money we don’t have. Let’s not wait another day to save Gainesville from continued decline. We deserve better, and this is the opportunity that many citizens have been asking for. We need maximum voter turnout. I am highly qualified for the task.
This is the time for all of District 3 to speak your mind at the ballot box and beyond to someone who will listen and be your ally in returning Gainesville to be all it can be. WE are a wonderful community that has been lied to, ignored, and manipulated long enough.
He has a lot of experience in serving. More than you can say for the other commissioners.
Business experience and 18 years of service to his country. More experience than all the incompetents on the commission, combined.
Commissioner Ed Book retired from the Gainesville Police Department and was the Santa Fe Community College Police Chief. I believe that he has a lot of experience as well.
Thank you for your comments. If you are interested in seeing what i did for the Military Sealit Command, I was on board the USNS Robert E. Peary as the ships Navigator when the Discovery Channel came on board to film.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=pm6RtoZkpAs
May I ask why you are running as a write in candidate? You really reduce your chances of winning going this route, especially against an incumbent who has the support of the DEC.
I’m not a politician or a talking head. I am willing to serve this community for four years as the ears, eyes and mouth of District 3. I am a doer, not a talker. I know how to get things done. It’s up to D3 voters who they elect. I’m here to offer them another choice. It is a nonpartisan election in theory but we all know who and what the commission really is. It’s up to the voters, so if they want a new committed representative that’s for them, all they have to do is write, “James Gardner” on the ballot form and fill in the bubble. I stand ready to serve but will go back into retirement.
We can win this thing in the primary if the people want it. Otherwise, Same As It Ever Was…
Still didn’t really answer the question. Why not just run with your name on the ballot instead of as a write-in? It’s much harder to run as a write-in than as someone whose name will appear on the ballot for all voters to see and choose from. Just wondering what your thought process was for this decision. Good luck!
My reasoning is this. I’m running in a small district and I will make contact with everyone that is interested in this election. That’s the beauty of social media and getting out there to the people in D3. I’m not asking for campaign contributions, it’s an honest grass roots effort. We all know that the politcal machine in Gainesville is very one sided, so attempting to overcome that obstacle imo, is futile. I don’t intend to run around repeating all the politcal talking points and false promises to the people. If the people haven’t learned of that trap, then I don’t want to serve. And honestly, they don’t want to vote. We have dismal turnout for elections because they have lacked a real choice to be heard. Once the election is over, the elected go back to national party politics to feed their careers and a national agenda. You will have no voice if you want things to be better, more citizen centered instead of party politics as usual. The people in D3 will decide their commissioner. Over the next several months I will be revealing what goes on in this city. Most voters have no clue except for the party base propaganda. I believe the people must be involved and participatory. I don’t want to sit on a dias that is bought and paid for and be the lone voice of reason. I’m retired. If the voters want a real voice to speak truth, then they only have one choice. If they want the status quo or just don’t care, I’m going fishing. I win either way.
James: I will write you in if you get the panhandlers out of the medians…
Will you do that?
The panhandlers should not be in any median less than 6 feet across. So much of the problem is enforcement and I don’t see much hope for GPD to enforce the code or the crazy, speed demons on Archer road. The city Manager (appointed by the city commission) does the will of the commission. Perhaps the city manager and the COP, should be elected officials. So not much 1 commissioner can do. There are some resources to help get some the panhandlers to stop. I would ensure that those resources are involved to reduce the problem. Doubt it will ever go away until people stop paying them to do it.
That is a valid realistic response. Another effective tactic is to cite any driver that hinders traffic to hand out money. It is a misdemeanor violation and can be issued a court date or arrested. We could end it easily if well meaning drivers were cited and charged with the violations. They are hurting those they fund more than they are helping. Give to vetted charities and not to pandhandlers!
I’ve often said if people would stop feeding the cats they would go away. I’ve also suggested those feeding the cats should be forced to do community service to clean up the waste left behind.
Unfortunately, like most matters beneficial to the community, those ideas fall on deaf ears.
Willets isn’t the right person for anything.
It appears your eyes have been opened to what has happened to Gainesville during the current ilk’s tenures; for that, you deserve an opportunity. By the same token — those complicit in support of Willets and his type will never give you, or anyone like you, that chance.
>”that defendant lost an eye, due to a police department that was out of control”
Is the guy who lost an eye Terrell Bradley? The criminal who assaulted an officer, then ran because he had a loaded gun and illegal drugs in the car? The criminal who hid in the woods for 45 minutes while GPD warned him to come out or they would release the dogs? Everything that happened to him was his own fault.
https://alachuachronicle.com/investigations-conclude-that-gpd-officers-and-k-9-team-followed-all-policies-in-terrell-bradley-apprehension/
What is your response, James? It sounds like you are being dishonest.
>”We, you and me, need to stop the national political agenda and get our governance back to home rule. ”
What is your stance on GRUA, James? It sounds like you think the city should be in control of GRU.
Good morning GD,
Thank you for your questions.
First let me state that I am pro law enforcement and that GPD is mostly peopled by honest and dedicated staff. But there is always a small percentage of officers and staff that are not. That, to me, is even more important to the discussion as bad cops greatly affect the overall public view and can create a hostile work environment that fosters mistrust in the community and endangers the common good and the lives of first responders.
You accurately quoted me in stating “that the defendant lost an eye, due to a police department that was out of control” and then interjected a personal rant on the Bradley case and made the remark; “sounded like you are being dishonest”.
The quote is accurate and I stand by those remarks. The first part is simply a statement of fact and the conclusion is accurate in my personal observations and interactions with the city and GPD.
So, could you please clarify how I am sounding like I am being dishonest? I do not intend to debate the Bradley case, so please stay on task and clarify your derogatory statement about me. I pride myself on honesty and accountability in everything I do so I am greatly offended by your statement.
You then asked what my stance was on GRUA. You said “it sounds like you think the city should be in control of GRU”.
I do think the city should be in control of GRU, BUT, they are not, and rightly so. The city has not been good stewards of GRU by making excessive transfers of GRU operating funds when the utility was 1.7 billion dollars in debt. The state had to step in and took control of that situation in support of accountability of all the people that are customers of GRU, a regional utility. Many of which had no say in the city’s fiscal irresponsibility. The state had not only the right to step in as they have, but had an obligation to do so. The city responded with lawsuits and referendums that did nothing but spend more of our tax dollars on ill-fated lawsuits and the GRUA had to respond to those lawsuits resulting in even more taxpayer funds being wasted.
It is my hope that the city will one day have a city commission that is fiscally responsible enough to have the state return control under appropriate oversight. But this city commission is not that body. In their referendums the city stated that they would have “unlimited transfers” of GRU’s operating expenses even though GRU is saddled with 1.7 billion dollars of debt. That is a totally unsound response to the issues and shows that the city is not competent to run the utility or, imo, the city. In all fairness, it is the city’s national political agenda that has adversely infected the commissions’ sound judgement. That needs to change. We need elected officials that accept the fiscal responsibility of keeping GRU profitable so we can have a responsible transfer of funds without hampering GRU’s ability to operate. We need a commission that is focused on Gainesville and not national political talking points and special interests.
Now, GD, I have a couple of questions for you.
1) You know my real name so in support of honesty and accountability please provide your real name. I am at an unfair disadvantage for you to do otherwise.
2) Are you a registered voter in D3? I will be elected or not by the electorate of D3. So attacking me needs to be put in context. Do you have a personal motive for calling me dishonest?
Thank you for engaging me in those questions, honestly.
Just as I suspected, you are just another liberal wacko exactly the same as the people currently in office. You also sound like you need to take your meds.
The only one ranting here is you, chief–I called you out for your dishonest attempt to manipulate the events of the Bradley case. The fact that you “refuse to debate” this case proves why you are completely unfit for office.
Bradley was a drug dealer who assaulted police, fled from a traffic stop, and then lost an eye in a scuffle with a police K-9 after refusing to emerge from hiding for nearly an hour. It’s 100% his fault that he lost an eye, no one else’s.
The officers acted completely appropriately. The police are not and were not “out of control” then as you attempted to smear them. The people who are “out of control” are the liberal wannabes like yourself who think it’s your duty to get elected to local office so you can somehow “fight Trump.”
The city government works for the people. You are petitioning to be my employee. The fact that you can’t handle some basic questions again proves your unfitness for office.
You are so far off the mark here that to respond would be to feed your delusion. I’m a conservative and you don’t even have the courage to identify yourself. Stop the hate!