All right, let's call this meeting the order.

I think it is.

Oh, we got a minute.

Mike, we're on time.

No, we're gonna be out real quick.

No, I don't think we'll go that long at all.

You got a notice meeting at three?

Uh, I'm meeting news for Jacks.

Gotcha.

And boom, let's call this meeting to order uh with Chairman Lane and Introductions, Rockland Johnson, District 14.

Will Lane and District 3.

Mr.

Chair, thank you for coming to meet with me.

This meeting, of course, is about leadership.

Um, there was uh, you know, this is as you know in the speech I gave uh about moving into this space, uh, I think it's important that we have conversations with our colleagues, and this is something we don't get to do often.

Um, and so I would like to you know be able to do it.

So the question for you, I guess first question um what do you think it takes, or what do what would you be looking for?

And I hope we see you in the space um to be, you know, I'm I'm big fan of yours, you know, as one of your committee members.

Um, and and of course, your fiscal accountability and responsibility.

A lot of us defer to you, and I don't know what other councils did because they didn't have a Will Lannon on their council.

But what do you think is needed at this time for the number two?

Yeah, sure.

And and and first, just to uh you mentioned me in that space one day.

I feel like I have been from the beginning.

Yes.

In fact, uh I was one of the first, I think it was the only year one vice chair of neighborhoods, and then I've been a chair every other year, um, including VAB chair if you count that.

I think we count that.

Uh yeah.

Also floor leader, and then I've been uh I've been very clear that uh I only want to do this job for two terms, no aspirations after that.

And my highest political ambition is to be the finance chair, maybe even a couple of times.

So I hope that's coming uh uh sooner rather than later.

Because that's really uh, as you know, that's the part of our government function I've been most involved in.

And so kind of what I'm looking for in the next couple of years is uh really two things, less drama and more numbers and less words, because again, like I view that as our most important function.

People ask me like three years in now, uh, tell me about the job, and I say, well, it's 90% about the budget, uh, five percent about land use and zoning, and five percent noise.

And that's really how I feel about the because it's uh again, like the budget is the big piece of our responsibility.

It's making sure we're taking in enough revenue and that our expenses we are really only spending that revenue on what is required to run a city of a million dollars.

Uh and then LUZ, yours may be different.

I can tell you district three, I have one item on the agenda tonight, and that's a rarity.

You have your what's the best way to put this?

I'm kind of a more uh settled district.

You're more of a growing district, I believe.

Um, and so I think that means you have it may be 80, 15.5 for you, whereas it's 95.5 for me is kind of how I describe that.

So again, that's really kind of what I'm hoping.

Uh I just want to see uh uh stable leadership to where we're focused on the real priorities uh of the city going forward because uh we only I mean at most we do this.

Uh there's a couple special election council members, so they may do it for nine or ten years, but most of us are gonna do this for eight years, so I want to make sure that uh every year counts.

And it's interesting you say that while I'm not gonna commit to saying I'm only gonna do this, because I don't know.

I don't know what the future holds.

I'll tell you, interestingly enough, the question I get all the time is like, what are you gonna do next?

Absolutely.

I guess all the I got that year one.

I'm like, I'm gonna be a council member.

I'm gonna do this to the best of my ability.

Yeah, but where I live, the district that I live in, there's not a lot of other opportunities for service.

While I may, when I leave this council space, be on a board or a commission or something like that.

I do hope to be a part of the brain trust of this community.

I like you, we're we're homegrown boys.

We love this city, and so I do want to be a part of the brain trust that moves the city forward, but I am not in any way saying like, oh, I'm setting up this to be the this or two.

Yeah, and I think you see a lot of us like we were very involved in different things.

This is one part I consider it part of my continued community service, and I'll do things after this.

Really, the only big difference with this one is it is more time intensive, but we also get paid a little for it, or a lot, however, you want to look at it.

We get paid for it, right?

Um, so again, I think uh my mindset is just this is a continued part of my public service that I'll have and uh excited to see what I do in my what do we want to call that?

The the retirement from paid public office.

Maybe that's what we call it, kind of see what we do because it'll be here before we know it.

I mean, it's uh we're we're five years away from uh from retirement.

Hopefully, hopefully we're five years away from uh being uh out of the year.

Retired, yeah, yeah.

I like the way that said.

Um let's I do want to your perspective, thank you.

Your perspective on leadership.

What do obviously you have a really different perspective than many because of your military service, and thank you for that, your service to this country.

Um, but what do you the qualities while we did talk about what it looks like?

Like, are there specific things that you're saying?

While I and I do, you know, of course, I'm gonna disagree with you a little bit on the finance because I've been on LUZ for the last three years, and I have done so much work and research to to understand land use and the fair land use and making sure that property owners that are residential property owners, but also commercial and business property owners that the rights of both of those are protected.

And and I I don't struggle with it.

I I because it's a quasi-judicial committee and there is that competent substantial evidence mandate, I look at the law and I evaluate based on it.

So that's for me, LUZ has just been my bailiwick.

And and then if there's something finance related, I said call Will Lane.

And I literally say that.

Um, but what are those qualities being that you served and you led troops?

Yeah.

What are the and again, it's a question I've probably answered 10 times now, because again, it's uh we've all done interviews in the past before we're in office, but now everybody wants you on this show or that show, that podcast, whatever.

And the story I tell is everybody thinks I'm gonna have some nugget of information they've never heard, but uh it goes back to one of my first captains on a submarine.

Um, that one of his standing orders was and be nice.

And if you think about it, you got 180 at the time it was men only.

There's now uh co-ed submarines out there, but 180 men in 500 something feet for three months at a time.

And his point was we gotta be nice and get along because it is just out here, just us out here in the middle of the ocean or closer to some countries than others.

And so I think that's a great leadership lesson for the 19 seats we have up on the dais.

It's like, hey, we can all be nice to each other, we can be civil when we attack these problems.

Um disagreements on issues, um, doesn't mean we can't be nice and civil about it.

Um, and then uh my big thing, which which you know, is I do 99% of my talking on the dais.

Um, there's no social media out there, nothing.

It's just if I have something to say, I want it to be a notice meeting.

And so transparency is a big thing for me.

Um, because I think sometimes the public thinks there's all these other meetings taking place.

With me, there certainly aren't.

I mean, I can tell you um anything I have to say, like I I'll script out sometimes what I plan on saying about a certain bill in a committee.

Um and uh it's uh I mean, news for Jacks, I saw you were on last week.

I've been on that a couple of times.

Uh every now and then if there's a special project, like I'm the the JLIA is on, so I got a meeting with News for Jacks.

They wanted uh some more information about that.

Uh, but I like to see us trying to every possible communication uh to be up on the dais.

Yeah, yeah.

I I while I do, you know, I just had a notice meeting with uh councilman um uh Boylan, and that's one of the things.

While I wish there were more opportunities like this for us to converse about so that I can know your priorities.

Yeah, right.

Obviously, there's not a lot in your district.

I was literally combing through if you notice every one of the leadership letters, and you may or may not know this, but every one of the letters that I sent out to all of you, all of my colleagues about leadership, had information about you and about your district.

You were, and I pointed out to Jamie, it was the first ever personalized leadership letter I got.

So I appreciate it.

And that's what I because I want to know what can I carry forward for because the Will Lane and carry forward is not gonna be the same as the Jacoby Pittman or what have you, right?

And that's important.

I want to be able to know that as I work through it.

Um, and I think that for me at least, looking at something that you said that was most key to me, is no drama.

Right.

And I want to have conversations, but I you know, it's no secret that philosophically that councilman uh diamond and I don't agree on a lot, but I will say the most wonderful thing that happened to me on council, it kind of goes back to what your captain said about be nice.

I was his seat mate for a year.

And I consider him a friend.

Yeah, you cannot sit next to someone for a year and not, you know, there was a night where we had a very tough vote and the police had to follow him home.

I called them.

Did you make it home?

Are you okay?

Right?

And it wasn't because it wasn't something public, it was because there was a human that was in a situation, and I just wanted to say I'm here for you.

And he is always very clear on where he stands.

Oh my goodness, I appreciate that.

I appreciate him being clear.

Yeah, and then he uh um I was hoping to catch up with him.

I don't think it's gonna happen on no votes on cash completion grants.

I think he has too big of a lead.

But he also stands by, he has set principles he always follows.

So he um again going back to we may not always agree on everything, um, but he has been consistent and he has been transparent, which is something we could ask uh that we should request from all of our uh colleagues as well.

Well, I will say this, um, and I appreciate you giving me your perspective.

Um I hope for the reason I have not specifically asked, and you'll be getting email from me coming up and the requests um while I do appreciate the the pledges of votes, and and I will be asking, and I hope you will um consider first, but then on May 26th, my 50th birthday, by the way.

Um I I learned that from News for Jazz.

Yeah, I which here's the thing.

I did I had it on my schedule as the first Tuesday, not the second Tuesday because of the Jazz Festival, and they're like, no, it's the the second Tuesday, and I looked and I'm like, wait a minute, that's my day.

So it's a it's a you know, fun side regardless of what happens.

I'm honored to be in this space, and I think the winning, at least for me, is just being in the arena, right?

I I feel like I've accomplished something because this is the first time in a long time that we've had a really a cadre of candidates, so I'm I'm told.

But the other thing that I was uh that was shared with me is that the pledge forms, while I do appreciate them, and I do hope you will you know give me your vote and and support me in my quest for leadership to to lead and be a part of moving the council forward, but in the end of the day, they mean nothing.

Right.

They you know, I was told by several former council members that they could meet, and the night of the council or the day of the council election, the person that they pledged they didn't very three years, right?

It was I don't want to say preordained, but you knew we had a I I guess it was a nearly consensus vice president the year before, so you knew who's gonna become the president, and then you just didn't have as many VP candidates, and so instead of March 10th being the deciding date, that's kind of begin in my mind that is when the auditions have begun, if that makes sense.

And so we have a lot of important uh votes coming up, and so I'll certainly be uh keeping an eye uh on all the candidates to see really who aligns uh best with uh how I think uh the votes best uh move our city forward.

Um and so and the other good thing too is uh I mean we we have four people that care deeply about Jacksonville running for city council vice president.

So there's there's no uh there's no one out there that I have great fears if that person uh wins uh versus the others.

And the the thing is, and we'll I I say this all the time, and some people look at me like I have a snake on my head.

We all genuinely like each other, yeah.

Like everybody on this council, there's no one that I can say I just don't deal with that person.

I genuinely look at us as a family, and and you know, whoever wins, I'm gonna support them and applaud them and and hopefully be a part of that leadership team.

Yeah, yeah, I I just hope May 26 on May 27th.

We have gotten around whoever it is, forget about if you didn't win this time, and let's just keep keep rolling forward.

Things are gonna get harder, not easier regardless of who is president, vice president, and and then the great thing about our body is there's 19 people whose votes all count the same.

So, yes, you get to uh decide who's on what committee, whatever, but for big votes, it is 10 votes are required.

Yeah, and there is no vote that is worth more or less than any other person's vote.

Thank you for that.

I hope I can count on your vote, and and I will be reaching out to you.

Thank you so much.

And with that, uh, we will before we adjourn, we do have one public comment card because of the time, and I know you have a meeting to go to, I'm gonna keep this to two minutes.

Um, and it is uh Mr.

John Nooney.

And he did tell me before the meeting that by allowing him to speak here, he will not speak on any bill tonight.

You sure did we get that on the record?

Well, my name is John J.

Jacksonville City Council Resolution 2130819, C Campson District 4, C PAC Planning District 3, School Board District 3.

And what I want to share with all of you, you know, this is the agenda from last night's CPAC 3 meeting, and what I want to share with you under staff reports.

We used to have JBA and JTA.

Not um and that should be a real concern considering what has been going on recently, and also what I want to just share with you is you know, with leadership, you know, whoever it is you know the public access on the waterways is probably the worst ever.

And I also want to say this.

You know, I went to an ethnicity, and I asked 16 representing the entire city of Jackson.

The mayor's disability and the council on the senior citizen.

Why is OGC, the Office of General Counsel, not represent at those meetings?

You know, the most vulnerable among them.

I'm going to my books rehabilitation.

And so last night, I just want to say I'm going to be CPACs.

And because OGC is not there, it's like the wilds when it comes to have any kind of quorum or anything moves for.

And with the Irving Corps CPAC, I'm in CPAC three.

You know, it's it's tough.

Last one I went to, 2026, 0024.

You know, that was a resign on Claire White machine.

And so what I want to say with that, you know, okay.

I'm gonna wrap it up.

Like, you know, JTA.

If there's a board, ride the skyway, ride the funds, get down and participate, where everyone is in the same boat.

You're talking about getting along with everybody.

Well, you know what?

We're all on that same train, we're all along that same skyway, and it's dropping you off at central because it's not coming over the river for two months, or things are broken down.

So anyway, when it comes to the leadership, you know, uh I I guess when I put that on the speaker calling, okay.

I'm wrapping it up.

Um all the best.

And uh bring back public participation, 2017-160 to the Jacksville City Council legislative process.

That was taken away by OGC in your interpretation, just bring it back.

I'll try to limit my speaker cards to number thank you, John.

And I will say, if I may, you do you want to share something?

Uh I was gonna say, uh, are you on rules, Councilmember Johnson?

Not this year.

Okay, first two years.

I will say John Nooney has brought up this point, and it's a good one.

There are a couple councils out there that don't have a council liaison.

Yeah, um, Elder Affairs, disability council, I think there's one or two others.

And uh, if you were on rules, I was gonna say maybe that's something because I think rules would be the appropriate place to bring that up, or or just telling the council president, uh, because it is kind of inconsistent who we have uh liaison responsibilities with and who we do not.

Mine was gonna be, and I appreciate that, and I will work to move that forward.

Mine was gonna be, I think, what what Mr.

Nuny said about uh the general counsel's office being at CPAC.

I'm literally just putting it on the record, I'm literally in conversation with the general counsel himself right now because having attended the CPAC and seeing the rules of order be just you know, they just kind of make it up as they go, and unfortunately, I can't put it on the neighborhood coordinator at the CPAC because that person is trying to run a Zoom, make sure sign-in sheets are done, give out agendas, and then they can't be like looking at did the because I was at a meeting and the chair seconded a motion, and I'm sitting like, what?

Like, you know, I can't, but obviously as a member, I didn't want to interrupt their process, but it was a pretty important vote.

So I think um that's something just putting it on the record, that's something I've been working on for uh about a month or so now, and so hopefully we'll be able to get some some lawyers at those meetings.

But thank you.

Thanks, Councilmember, thank you, Mr.

Nooney.

This meeting is adjourned.