Email Exchange with Mayor John Peyton

It all started when Mercury Falling submitted an idea to the Mayor's "Great Ideas Grow Great Cities" program (which is, itself, a great idea). Here's what Mercury Falling posted...

Jacksonville has the highest emissions of mercury in the state of Florida, almost all of which comes from city-owned JEA, according to Florida Public Interest Research Group. Mercury is a dangerous neurotoxin, especially to pregnant mothers and children, and could even hurt literacy efforts and school performance. The great idea is to get JEA to agree to lower mercury emissions by the same amount it raises rates. Necessity is the mother of invention, and this restriction on JEA is sure to lead to a cleaner, more efficient utility. Since JEA has no competition, city action is the only thing that will change our utility for the better. For more info, please visit mercuryfallingjax.blogspot.com

The mayor's reply:

Thank you for taking the time to share your great idea! As you may know, JEA is an independent entity not under my purview as mayor; however, by copy of this e-mail I have forwarded your suggestion to the attention of Mr. Jim Dickenson, managing director of JEA, for his consideration and review.

Again, thanks for writing; I hope you will consider contacting me with your suggestions in the future. Great ideas grow great cities and I sincerely appreciate your feedback!

Best,
John Peyton
Mayor

Mercury Falling's response:

Mr. Mayor,
Thank you for your reply. Do I have permission to post our e-mail exchange on Mercury Falling - mercuryfallingjax.blogspot.com?

Also, thank you for forwarding the idea to Mr. Dickenson. But I must say, to me it seems a little like passing the buck. Even though JEA is an independent entity, you, as mayor, appoint the Board of Directors. Also, JEA is community-owned (not a private, for-profit company), so I can't help but think that you have a large amount of leverage over its operations.

Great cities are run by great leaders. Up until now I think you have done a good job of running Jacksonville, but if we are to become a truly great city, and that's a bold statement, it will take committed leadership to improve our city on every level. Our state-leading mercury emissions, a black eye on our city, is one place where you truly can step in and make a difference. Please do. Just think of the impact. Mercury is a dangerous neurotoxin to children, how does it affect test scores, literacy and education? It pollutes our waterways so we can't eat our fish, how does that hurt our economy - both for recreation and professional fishermen?

You can also visit mercuryfallingjax.blogspot.com to see what other cities are doing to become great cities - leaders in efficiency and cleanliness.

Thank you for your time,

And, just so you know that Mercury Falling is not trying to play a game of "gotcha" with any city official, here is Mayor Peyton's approval to post this exchange on this blog:

I appreciate your reply. All e-mail communication from my office is a matter of public record and you have my permission to post our exchange on your blog.

Again, thank you for weighing in on matters affecting our city.

Best,
John Peyton
Mayor