Florida Times-Union (Jacksonville, FL) May 02, 2003
Election 2003 The Mayor's Race
Military is local issue in this case Glover, Peyton will fight base closings
By Rachel Davis
As the Pentagon organizes a battle plan to close military installations in 2005, the two mayoral hopefuls are piecing together their plans to defend Jacksonville.
Democrat Nat Glover and Republican John Peyton both said the importance of Jacksonville's military presence is paramount to the city's economy, and both pledge to throw the weight of the mayor's office behind protecting the two area bases from closure. The military's presence in Jacksonville has a $ 7.5 billion impact on the local economy.
However, in a process that is designed to keep politics out, the candidates may find themselves on the sidelines cheering for the home team, say military and budget analysts.
During the next round of Base Realignment and Closure, or BRAC, scheduled for 2005, Defense officials will review each installation and recommend the future of the facility based on its military value. Readying itself for the next BRAC round, the city has already identified a series of consultants to package and present the city's position to the Pentagon. One of them is former congresswoman and Jacksonville military advocate Tillie Fowler.
The mayoral candidates have expressed their intentions to piggy-back on this idea.
Both candidates said they will ensure the military understands Jacksonville's strategic importance to the Navy as well as work with Florida's congressional delegation in their lobbying efforts.
'We've already lost one base and we cannot afford to lose another,' Glover said recently. 'It must be a bipartisan effort.'
Glover's spokeswoman, Robyn Sieron, said Glover pledged to look at what the city did during the last two rounds of base closures -- during one, Jacksonville lost Cecil Field -- and, 'take it to the next level.'
Glover could not be reached yesterday to provide more specifics.
Peyton also said he would go to work immediately assembling a group of military and business leaders to develop a strategy to 'make sure we stay off the BRAC list.'
One of his first priorities is to fill a vacant position on the Jacksonville Economic Development Commission, which will be a part of the city's plan to hold off another round of base closings. Peyton also said he plans to analyze what capabilities the Jacksonville Naval Air Depot has and how it fits in with the military's plans of a new joint strike fighter.
The depot, based at Jacksonville Naval Air Station, performs in-depth maintenance on Navy aircraft. It contributes about $ 192 million in payroll to the local economy.
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Army Gen. Henry Shelton, then-chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the House Armed Services Committee in July 2001 that the Pentagon maintained 25 percent more facilities than it needs. The excess military bases annually cost taxpayers an estimated $ 3.5 billion, according to GlobalSecurity.org, an online military think-tank.
Letting the Pentagon know Jacksonville wants to keep its military bases might not be as easy as stressing the important economic impact to the community, said Christopher Hellman, a senior research analyst at the Center for Defense Information. Many communities make the same argument when faced with BRAC action, but in the end the Defense Department's priorities lie with the future viability of the installation and the cost of closing it.
'There is very little, if anything at all, that politicians can do. But no politician is going to throw up their hands up in front of 5,000 people and say, I can't help you,' said Hellman, who studies the issue at the independent government think-tank. 'Nobody wants to say it, and nobody wants to hear it.'
Hellman said the role of politicians, particularly local leaders, should be making sure the local economy is sufficiently healthy to absorb a potential military pull-out. Washington leaders are more effective on the front end of an upcoming closure because of their ability to funnel military appropriations into local bases.
But Mayor John Delaney, working as chief of staff to then-mayor Ed Austin, remembers BRAC rounds in 1993 and 1995, when politics played a huge role in the closure of Cecil Field. Virginia Sen. John Warner lobbied for an expansion of Oceana Naval Air Station, and Jacksonville lost out when its fighter jets were sent north.
Delaney maintains the mayor must lead the push to keep the military in Jacksonville.
'The military . . . needs to know that the community wants it,' Delaney said. 'I've always said, if the Navy needs to close the base militarily, close it, but just don't let us get out-politicked.'
U.S. Rep. Ander Crenshaw, R-Fla., sits on the House Appropriations Committee and Military Construction subcommittee.
'Keeping an eye on BRAC has to be a top concern for every official for three reasons: jobs, jobs, jobs,' Crenshaw said. Staff writer Rachel Davis can be reached at (904) 359-4614 or racheldavis@jacksonville.com. PEYTON GETS NOD
Former Jacksonville mayors Lou Ritter, Ed Austin and Hans Tanzler threw their political support behind mayoral candidate John Peyton yesterday.
The men said they thought Peyton, a Republican, was the best qualified to lead the city through the next four years, including the Super Bowl in 2005 and continued implementation of the Better Jacksonville Plan. Austin and Tanzler are Republicans, though both were Democrats when in office. Ritter is a Democrat.
Former Mayor Jake Godbold, a Democrat, has already endorsed Peyton.
Democrat Tommy Hazouri, another former mayor, has endorsed Democrat Nat Glover.
The only elected mayor who hasn't made his opinion publicly known is sitting Mayor John Delaney, who has said he doesn't plan to endorse a candidate.
-- Mary Kelli Palka/staff
HOW THE BRAC PROCESS WORKS
Under the Base Realignment and Closure process, the Secretary of Defense makes recommendations about base closure and realignment to a presidential-nominated commission. The commission then reviews the recommendations, makes changes and submits a proposal to the president. The president then reviews the recommendation, either sends those back to the commission for additional work or forwards them, without changes, to Congress. Congress does not vote to approve the recommendations of the commission, but can disapprove by a joint resolution.
Copyright © 2003, The Florida Times-Union
