Name: Reggie Gaffney
Family: Reggie Gaffney, Jr.
Occupation: Executive Director, CRC
Political/Government experience: Incumbent Councilman – District 7, Past Chair of JaxPort
Years lived in Jacksonville: My entire life.
Campaign website: http://www.reelectreggie.com
Why did you decide to run for office: Working at CRC I have learned how much the people in District 7 need a strong advocate. I know that I would go to work everyday to fight for the people in my district – and I have. We have many challenges that face our City. I want to be part of solving those challenges.
What is the biggest problem facing Jacksonville as a city overall, and how specifically would seek to address that: Duval County struggles to address our violent crime epidemic. As a City Councilman, I think my job is to continue to work with my fellow council members to create a plan to decrease crime in Jacksonville. As I'm sure you are well aware – the crime, homelessness and a lack of good high paying jobs affects the ability of all people to realize the American Dream.
One of the most important aspects of being an elected official is understanding who your district is. I think having built CRC I learned about the challenges of everyday people. I learned about their family struggles. Being there is what made me want to run for office, and its why I’m in office.
Second, I think we have started the important work of creating opportunities for people in the district to lift their lives up. We have worked very hard to improve infrastructure in District 7, which is important to changing the environment people live in. It affects their way of thinking. If they have pride where they live – they want to make it better.
Last, I want to continue to build on the progress we have already made in creating jobs. Over 6,000 in my district during my term in office.
What makes your constituents unique, and how would that influence your time in office: My constituents are the best in the whole city. I am so fortunate to have a variety of people from all walks of life. By having this mix of people from all different cultures and life experiences I get to see the big picture of what Jacksonville is all about. They help me shape my policy initiatives so that they benefit everyone.
What would be your main budget priority for the upcoming fiscal year: Two things stick out. We need more money to help fight crime in our city, and certainly money to ending the food deserts in Jacksonville.
How do you define what you hope Jacksonville will be ten years from now: I hope Jacksonville will have a strong housing market, more high paying, advanced manufacturing jobs and greatly reduced crime. We can need to do better. I hope I get to be part of that difference.
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EDITOR’S NOTE: WOKV asked all candidates in a race to answer the same questions, and the answers here are their unedited responses. WOKV has not independently verified information in these answers, nor is WOKV endorsing any candidates.
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