West Jax Rotary

Wyman Duggan
Charter Revision Committee

Wyman Duggan is a shareholder at Rogers Towers, P.A. His practice includes land use law, growth management issues, property tax issues, and governmental relations. He is AV rated by Martindale-Hubbell. He is active in community affairs, having served as Chair of the 2009-2010 Charter Revision Commission; Chair of the Rotary Club of Jacksonville’s charitable grant committee; Chair of the Cornerstone Commercial/Industrial Development Task Force; and as a Board Member of JCCI; a board member of NAIOP of Northeast Florida, the commercial real estate development association; a member of the Leadership Jacksonville Class of 2009; and a member of the Vestry of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church. He received undergraduate degrees from The University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee and his law degree from William & Mary. He was born in Jacksonville and is married with three children.

Notes
Jim Kelly announced that Westside Rotary would be having a golf and tennis tournament at TCC on March 24th in lieu of the regular meeting.

John Bickerstaff announced that there will be a blood drive on March 10th. All members are encouraged to participate.

Drew Story reiterated that the Rotary Club of West Jacksonville will join with the City of Jacksonville for the 2010 Jacksonville-St. Johns Celebration and River Clean Up. Members with a canoe, kayak, johnboat or other personal water craft are to meet at Lamb’s Yacht Center on March 20th at 8:00a.m. Notify Drew if you are planning to participate. Speedo’s are optional.

Members were reminded that the Clay Shoot will be on April 22nd.

Bill Scheu introduced Former Mayor Jake Godbold as the guest speaker. Godbold was elected to the Jacksonville city council in 1967 and served until 1979; he was city council president from 1971 to 1978. When mayor Hans Tanzler announced he would be resigning his position to run for govenor of Florida in 1978, Godbold was appointed to take his place for the last six months of the term. He was elected in 1979 and re-elected in 1983. During his time as mayor Godbold initiated a number of “brick and mortar” projects to revitalize the city’s failing downtown. He inititated the efforts to secure an NFL team, started the Jacksonville Jazz Festival, initiated the construction of the Jacksonville Landing and the Southbank Riverwalk, and secured funds for public housing that had been taken away by the federal government. His creative use of bond financing meant eight years of capital construction projects by the city.

The former mayor spoke on his strong objections to having the Mayor of Jacksonville appoint School Board Members and the Sheriff. Currently, both the school board and Sheriff are elected by Jacksonville voters.

His remarks seem to stem from a report that the “Charter Revision Commission” has recommended dramatic changes to the Duval County school system, including how School Board members are selected.

Recently a report was released showing that a majority of the 15-member commission now supports proposals that could allow Jacksonville’s mayor to appoint one or more School Board members. The report said “the mayor should have the power to influence what is one of the main issues of concern to voters”.

Visiting Rotarians
John Noseworthy — Wilmington, DE
Charles Denny — Mandarin
Wyman Duggan — Downtown
Steve Rodesney — Orange Park
Chris Winsett — Orange Park Sunrise
Meg Folds — San Marco
Tommy Hazouri — San Jose
Martha Barrett — South Jax (she brought a guest, Greg Smith)

Rotary Guests
Dan Griffin — Guest of Jim Griffin
Herb Sellers — Guest of Jim Riggan
Frank Young — Guest of Jim Lanier
Gordon Boyer — Guest of Bill Scheu
Warren Alvarez — Guest of Bill Scheu
Mack Bissette — Guest of Alberta Hipps
Jim Roberts — Guest of Eric Schultz
Paul McLaughin — Guest of Bob Goodwin
Vicki Drake — Guest of Ed Pratt-Dannals
Mike Taft — Guest of Jim Overton
Greg Smith — Guest of Martha Barrett

Birthdays
Stew Irwin — March 1
Bill Schmidt — March 2
Bob Smith — March 2
Mark Frost — March 4
Tommy Platt — March 7
Dale Crisp - March 8

Next Meeting - March 10, 2010
Speaker: Noel Antonio, UNF Engineering Student
Greeters: Joe Myers and Marty Sack
Invocation: Scott Imray
Pledge: Ray Purvis
Four-Way Test: Veronica James

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Please review the 2009 - 2010 Duty Roster and mark your calendar with your responsibilities for the upcoming year.