Citizen Publius: Yet another Gainesville mayor re-imagines Gainesville

OPINION

Updated at 10:20 p.m.

An Alachua Chronicle reader writing under the historic nom-de-plume “Publius” submitted two letters to the editor last week, imagining, or re-imagining, 1) Mayor Harvey Ward’s Tuesday State of the City address and 2) his Thursday declations in support of a City Commission vote to revise upward by $700,000 the current year’s expenditures to advance the City’s Ten Year Plan to End Homelessness. We are publishing the letters together as satire. The words in the letters do not reflect the exact language Mayor Ward spoke on Tuesday and Thursday.

PART I – Re-imagining the city

Some haters hiding in dark places have been whispering:

“The Gainesville City Commission is out of control.

“City Hall has gone into tailspin before a crash.

“Mayor Ward has things all turned around and flipped backwards.”

(Boos)

Bear with me, neighbors and community builders.

Bear with me.

SOME folks are saying things like that.

SOME folks.

Not most folks.

Not all that many folks.

Not everyone.

But let’s be honest.

SOME folks are spreading lies and fake news.

I have a response to those folks.

Let me be perfectly clear.

Hear me well.

What I’M saying, as the mayor of one of the best cities in Florida,… as the mayor of THE best city in Florida,… no, as the mayor who speaks for the BEST PEOPLE in the best city in the State of Florida,… What THIS mayor is saying . . . and this mayor is saying it in the bright sunshine, right here, right now, loud and proud:

“Mayor Harvey Ward does NOT have things all turned around and backwards.”

And also:

“Mayor Harvey Ward knows exactly what he’s doing.”

Let me say that again:

“Mayor Harvey Ward knows what he’s doing.”

Let me say it one more time:

“Mayor. Harvey. Ward. Knows. Exactly. What. He. Is. Doing.”

(Applause)

Now, I understand, there may be some doubts out there.

That shouldn’t come as a surprise.

There are always doubts when a mayor is a progressive change agent.

It’s part of the job.

It comes with the territory.

Even at home.

I’ve had to deal with doubts at the family dinner table while I’m trying to eat food I picked up at Publix — sometimes it may be food from Whole Foods, or Trader Joe’s, or Ward’s.

My youngest daughter has said:

“My friends at school say their parents say people at City Hall, or GRU, or somewhere, are saying ‘Things have got all turned around and it’s all Mayor Ward’s fault!’ What do they mean?”

(Boos)

No. Don’t do that. No jeers; limited cheers please. It’s okay. Really.

She was just telling me what some folks are saying about what some other folks are saying some other folks are saying.

Some folks say.

Some folks do.

I knew what I was getting into when I agreed to be your mayor.

I wear big boy pants.

“What are they talking about, Mr. Mayor?” my youngest daughter asked me.

(Silence. Fumbling papers.)

Well… I’m trying to remember here.

Okay, my daughter doesn’t refer to me as “Mr. Mayor.”

Okay?

That would be pretty silly, right?

(Laughter)

So I told her:

“First of all, our city has a collaborative form of government. The mayor is first among equals. He or she has limited powers. Decisions are collectively made by seven individuals. I’m only one of them. I’m not responsible for anything.

“Second of all, you can tell your friends the people talking to your friends’ parents are right. It is absolutely true. Our team — the good guys — IS turning things around. That’s a good thing. A very good thing. It’s good for the most vulnerable among us. It’s good for our welcome guests. It’s good for our neighbors. It’s good for our community builders.

“Third”… why not?… “Third: We. Know. Damn. Well. What. We. Are. Doing.”

(Laughter and Applause)

Okay. Okay. I didn’t say “damn” in front of my daughter.

(Laughter)

Maybe “darn.”

(Laughter)

Or “durn.”

(Laughter)

But seriously, folks.

There has been some criticism out there.

I hear it.

You hear it.

Let’s be honest.

Consider the source.

Don’t let it bother you.

It doesn’t bother me.

I put it in perspective, and you should too.

There’s hardly a day that goes by when someone doesn’t come up to me in Publix and tell me:

“Stand tall, Mr. Mayor.”

“We’re with you, Mr. Mayor.”

“Keep fighting the good fight, Mr. Mayor.” (emotional)

Folks, if there’s one thing I want you to take away from this year’s State of Your City celebration, it’s this:

Gainesville is a Great American City.

(Applause)

Now that I’m Mayor, there is no need to “Make Gainesville Great Again.”

(Applause)

Under my leadership, Gainesville is regarded by some around the nation as a nearly perfect city.

(Applause)

As your mayor, I intend to keep it that way.

(Applause)

Hate has no business here.

(Applause)

I won’t back down!

(Applause)

WE won’t back down!

(Loud Applause)

PART II: Re-imagining the city’s homeless  

Okay, folks, we’ve worked hard today to figure out a way to move limited money around to continue making progress toward addressing the problem of houselessness in Gainesville.

I get it that we haven’t satisfied all the stakeholders.

I understand that.

I understand that criticism is part of the job. 

But it hurts.

It hurts our community builders. 

It hurts our community. 

It hurts me a little, too.

I can handle it, but it hurts.

I hear voices all the time — when I’m walking to my car, driving, getting out of my car, trying to grab stuff from the BOGO displays at Publix — saying,

“Mayor Ward, there will always be the unrighteous who criticize the righteous.”

“Mr. Mayor, it’s so unfair you have to listen to that kind of criticism.”

I’m hearing that all the time. 

All the time.

I also hear other voices.

I hear them saying:

“There’s no mayor of a comparably-sized city who has sacrificed as much as you.”

“There’s no mayor of a comparably-sized city who is paid as little as you.”

“There’s no mayor of a comparably-sized city who has as few perks as you.”

“There’s no mayor of a comparably-sized city who has a smaller office than you.”

“There’s no mayor anywhere who works as hard as you.”

I hear voices telling me:

“Why do you keep at it, Mr. Mayor? Formulating policies that one day could begin the City of Gainesville moving in the direction of identifying best practices that may potentially make feasible a collaborative process aimed at making the lives of the most vulnerable among us a little less unfair is not easy.”

I hear those voices.

They have a right to be heard.

And they’re not wrong.

It’s not easy.

It’s hard. 

It can’t be done with intermittent focus.

It requires constant focus.

It’s not sufficiently appreciated. 

It’s under-appreciated.

But let me be clear, folks.

I also hear another voice saying:

“Not so fast Mayor Ward. 

“Not so fast. 

“Please don’t let this cup pass from you.

“If not you, Mr. Mayor, who? 

“If not now, Mr. Mayor, when?” 

And that is the voice that I hear loudest as the Season of Lent begins.

I realize there are some among us, some right here in Gainesville, and a whole lot more outside the city limits, who hate our neighbors of color and who think it’s peachy keen to keep oppressing historically oppressed minorities who have reported income of less than 80% of our city’s annual average income.

These haters embrace the hateful notion that the poor will always be with us.

There are some people who have historically held that view.

I’m not naming names, but I think you know who I’m talking about.

I reject that view. 

That wasn’t the view of the Buddha.

Okay. Okay. Well, Okay, sure, there may be differences of opinion about that.

I think I’m right.

But you may be partly right.

I haven’t spent that much time studying the teachings of Buddhism.

But what about Muhammad?

I’m pretty sure Muhammad did not advocate perpetual impoverishment for people living in his community.

I don’t think Muhammad was an Islamophobe.

I don’t think that was his view.

I’m not an Islamophobe either.

That’s not this Mayor’s view, either.

I don’t know about all my colleagues here on this dais, but that’s not my view.

I conclude my remarks.

Have at it.

(Leaves meeting.)

Publius, Gainesville

The opinions expressed by letter or opinion writers are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of AlachuaChronicle.com. Letters may be submitted to info@alachuachronicle.com and are published at the discretion of the editor.