Eric Jaffe, Clay School Board District 1
Competitors, Lynn Martin, Alesia Ford-Burse, Janice Kerekes
ERIC JAFFE SCHOOL BOARD DISTRICT ONE
RUNNING AGAINST ALESIA FORD-BURSE, JANICE KEREKES, AND LYNN MARTIN
NOTE: There is a comment to this post from Mr. Jaffe which explains some of his views from his perspective.
This is a four-way, non-partisan, at large race. This means all voters will be able to vote on every open seat on the school board, regardless of that voter/s party or what district they live in. The first vote will take place during the August primary, and unless one candidate get 50% of the vote, the top two will be in a run-off in the general election in November. All four of these candidates are very accomplished and well spoken people, it is difficult to choose between them.
Jaffe is quite impressive and probably the most accomplished and well-rounded candidate for the district 1 seat. The slogan from his campaign leaflet is "A QUALIFIED LEADER WITH A HEART FOR THE COMMUNITY, THE NEXT GENERATION, AND OUR SCHOOLS." As you can see below he has had a corporate and small business background, a ministerial background, and leadership involvement in a number of social projects.
From clayelections.com
As a businessman with 20 years in an ever changing world of cutting edge technology, Eric Jaffe went from Jacksonville’s largest law firm “Rogers Towers” to owning Integrity Consulting. With a growing company employing leading edge people locally, Jaffe believes technology lies at the heart of our future education system. In addition to the experience Jaffe brings to the School Board, he also possesses a range of leadership abilities that make him uniquely qualified to serve our families and homeowners. As informed parents of 3 children (Matthew, Miranda and Molly) Eric and his wife of 21 years Mary Jo, are passionate supporters of public education. The Family’s devotion to ministry work has been a central part of the success of Journey Church. Jaffe’s education includes a Degree in Business Management from Florida International University (1993) and civic leadership programs such as Leadership Clay (2006 Graduate) and NE Florida Regional Leadership Program (2008 Graduate). In 2009 Jaffe was nominated Business Person of the Year by the Clay County Chamber of Commerce.
In addition, Jaffe's campaign pamphlet says that he was on the board of directors and a founding member of Clay County Victim's Services.
There are two things which make me leery of Jaffe. One is that he reminds me of past candidate for the county commission. This person is the founder of a local political/religious organization, as one of her supporters is Jaffe's treasurer, and her and Jaffe both utilized Reliant Advisors as their political consultants. It seems to be pretty much the same group of highly religious and Republicans; this makes me nervous because I consider such people to be highly anti-liberty and to believe in authoritarian government as long as the policies of such government coincide with their religious values.
The other aspect of Jaffe I question is that he has the endorsements of the realtor and builder associations. These are the lobbying/trade organizations of the local growth industry. They operate for their own profit, and as organizations and individuals they can throw a great deal of money into a campaign. Judging by the last election, in most cases the growth industry candidate is the winner and after the election they govern in a pro-growth manner. In reference to the county commission, this means eliminating transportation impact fees (this makes new construction cheaper), giving preferential treatment to home sellers in the sign ordinance, being favorable to growth in zoning and comprehensive plan changes, and some believe the construction of the First Coast Outer Beltway is also a builder scheme in that it will make areas of Clay more accesible for building.
In regards to the school board, the only reason I think the builders and realtors would support a candidate would be for the removal of education impact fees. This is a fee of several thousand dollars levied on new construction, the fees of course going with the education property taxes to fund the county schools. While eliminating the education impact fee would make it considerably cheaper to build and therefore create jobs and eventually ad valorum tax revenue, growth is a thorny issue that is not openly addressed in Clay County. Simply, the growth industry is very influential. They have great influence in the Chamber of Commerce, to differing extents every member of the county commission is pro-growth, and this industry has great influence in the local Republican Party. You do not get elected to office in Clay County by being anti-growth because you are unlikely to receive much money and you receive no support from the Clay Republicans. I was quite surprised at a recent school board candidate debate that most seemed supportive of new growth because it would create a larger tax base; that is insane. Somehow they were able to skate around the fact that a part of the reason our school budget has been decimated was rapid growth over the last several years has resulted in the costly construction of several new schools. At one point it was even mentioned that no school construction is planned for the next 5 years, giving the budget a break that would allow repairs to existing schools. As far as the growth industry is concerned, the problem is also the solution to all politicians, you just can't identify it as a problem or you will not be elected.
The big problem with growth is that it is taxpayer funded. There are infrastructure costs associated with new construction, some of which used to be funded by transportation impact fees. The cost to the county is still there, but the expense related to new construction is now spread out to existing property owners. The same applies to the education impact fee. The school cost will still be there, it will just be spread out to everyone else.
Here are some of Jaffe's statements and answers from a school board debate.
School funding from the state has been reduced. What are your plans to meet the cuts and balance the budget? Jaffe: Lobby Tallahassee and get creative with collective bargaining.
How will you bring old schools up to date? Jaffe: Partner with churches and businesses
Would you consider cutting one administrator at each school and at Green Cove Springs? Jaffe: Yes, and would cut school board salary.
Would you continue the zero tolerance drug use policy, the current penalty being a 10 day suspension? Jaffe: Try to help the individual.
How would you improve the graduation rate? Jaffe: Staffing
Jaffe webistes
Integrity Consulting http://www.integritycsg.com/
Executive Director of Impact Clay http://www.impactclay.org/
Director God First Business Network http://www.godfirstbusiness.com/
Pastor at Journey Church
facebook page http://www.facebook.com/electjaffe
campaign website http://www.electjaffe.com/
Check out the Republican Liberty Caucus of Northeast Florida at www.rlcnef.org. Join the Republican Liberty Caucus of Clay County at http://www.meetup.com/Republican-Liberty-Caucus-of-Clay-County/
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1 comment:
While I don't necessarily agree with all of your opinions, I wanted to thank you for taking the time to bring Clay County up to date with your views on the local political scene. It is imperative that citizens get involved, vote, and express their opinions.
Much of the stuff written in your post is not an accurate reflection of my views. The responses listed from the REC debate are rather incomplete and a bit biased as you know from being there my responses were well thought out and articulated well and 3 to 4 word summaries don't really do them justice!
With regards to your assumption about impact fees. I have no intention of eliminating them. But, we do need to review them and make sure they have some basis in reality. Especially in the current economic environment.
Growth - Yes it is coming. All indicators by North East Florida Regional Council predict that the region will double in size by as early as 2030-2050. If those statistics hold true we need to be ahead of the curve. We need to proactively plan for it instead of allowing for urban sprawl.
Yes I am endorsed by the realtors - not because of anything to do with impact fees, in fact that was not a question they even asked. They felt I would be the best candidate to quickly jump in and make an impact with legislators in Tallahassee.
The builders have not yet released their endorsement so as of this writing nobody knows who their district 1 candidate will be.
I am the only candidate with endorsements at the state level. I am endorsed by Senator Wise - Chair of the Education Sub-Committee in the Senate as well as Rep Charles VanZant.
As to the issues of being faith based. Yes - no doubt but it is not the primary motivator in my campaign. Student Achievement, Strong Fiscal Management, and the ability to lobby in Tallahassee for sustainable funding sources are!
I do live my life for Christ and seek to make a difference helping over 1000 students last year alone who did not have the school supplies needed to start school, providing a safe place for women and children who were physically or sexually abused in our community, helping those who are homeless, restoring marriages, helping families in financial need, and much more. You can expect the same kind of service when it comes to the School Board!
If you were referring to Diane Hutchings as the previous county commissioner candidate? I would be honored to be used in the same sentence as such a great woman who garnered I believe over 90% of the vote.
If you would like to get to the heart of my candidacy feel free to call me directly 904.483.6881, email me - ejaffe@integritycsg.com - or hit me up on facebook - facebook.com/electjaffe
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