The Trouble With Jacksonville - (Service Economy - The Corporate Launchpad to Asia) “abridged” In 1980, Jacksonville elected a new mayor with a new vision. Jake Goldbold’s legacy as a great figure, in Jacksonville politics of yore, is debateable, but there is no argument his policies did influence a string of mayors in manipulating the levers of power in favor of a few cliches, who even today have far better success at getting the city government to work in their favor, over the interest of the general public. Between 1985 and into the late 90’s, the landscape began to change in the predominantly wooded areas of South Jacksonville. Gone, or soon going, were the substantial pine forests and pastures, in the Baymeadows, Deerwood, and Southpoint areas to make room for the diaspora of corporations from the northeast lured in to build on cheap land, and with minimal property taxes, creating a boom of employment opportunities in a, then expanding, field of low wage jobs in the service sector. It was perhaps the closest time in the city’s history that it got anywhere near 95-to-97% employment capacity since earlier times when the area’s population was much smaller. These areas were the first to place emphasis, in terms of residential construction, first on the creation of apartment buildings rather than large tracts of newly constructed homes. For the first time sprawl was designed around the idea of a main road servicing the businesses and apartment complexes off the main roads and reasonable access directly in and out of the myriad of corporate complexes dotted along curved and angled roads within. For the worker around 1990 to 91, the average job at one of the many meat markets, known as call centers, offered employment anywhere between $3 to $4 above minimum wage($4.25 in 1991). A cottage industry of temporary employment agencies sprung up to provide a steady stream of labor to corporations looking to take optimum advantage of right to work laws and avoid any type of long term employment that might lead to dealing with unionization again. In examining the way outsourcing is now done in Asia, it is easy to establish the case that the techniques used were initially tested using the Jacksonville workforce and other places in the south during that era. Companies like AT&T led the way in development in the area, beginning in 1983 brokering a deal with Mayor Jake Godbold to build a center to manage divestiture called AT&T American Transtech. Offering cheap land and low property taxes, among other incentives, AT&T built a large, state of the art complex, that is used today by Convergys and a few other tenants occupying the once bustling buildings. Employing almost 4,700 local residents in contract work for AT&T services, and providing space for backend operations for several other corporations looking to minimize labor costs, the project was fed by labor provided by temporary agencies such as Accustaff and Olsten Temporary Services. Led by similar incentives, AT&T by 1990 expanded its presence in the area by opening a new business unit, AT&T Universal Card Services, cementing Jacksonville’s position as a leader in the then burgeoning call center industry. AT&T would, at the time, employ 10,000 people in their various centers, increasing the local standard of life throughout the 90’s. Within a fifteen year period, the area beginning in Southpoint, and down into the Baymeadows area, would see a boom in development. The pine forests and pastoral fields would become dotted along Southside Boulevard and I-95, becoming almost a city within a city. Anyplace a small office complex could be cut in to fit in the area would be there in short order. Companies would come and go but many of the buildings, fitted to accommodate a center could be reused within a reasonable matter of time. It seemed the prosperity of this era was limitless. It was limitless as long as the incentives agreed upon were in place or could be extended. By 1997, AT&T was ending its long run in Jacksonville and asked City Hall for an extension of incentives to stay in the area. Rightly John Delaney denied this request as AT&T threatened to drop its 10,000 employees back on to the Jacksonville labor market with talk of moving to the then newly constructed World Golf Village in St. John’s County to the south. Within a year after promising employees the opposite, AT&T began to do so selling off AT&T Universal Card Services to Citibank, AT&T American Transtech to Convergys, and leaving the city. Luckily at the time many of the positions were swallowed up within the many call center business units in the area. Before long many other companies came and went: Washington Mutual, Nissan, American Express, America Online and many others up until the present as back office jobs were outsourced to other low wage areas in the south and Asia. It was estimated that the growth of incomes during that period has risen as much as $3,600 a year above the poverty rate while, during the best parts of the boom, unemployment had dropped from an average of 5.4% in 1980, to 5.1% in 1990, and down to 4.6% by the turn of the decade. The poverty rate had dropped from 15.1% in 1979, to 11.8% in 1989, going down even further to 10.7% by 1999 according to the general average from the US Census figures. As the studies from the census before 2000 weren’t as detailed, and the city never kept reliable figures, it is reasonable to believe that the general reduction in overall poverty and unemployment rates, conservatively, at least an average of two to three points off of today’s figures per neighborhood. In comparison to the rest of the city Southpoint, Deerwood, and Baymeadows is still the place where the majority of people work or travel to go to work. In 32216 where Southpoint is the unemployment rate is 8.3%, yet the poverty rate is 14.9%. A trip outside the corporate centers reveals a many smaller run down neighborhoods inside the same zip code with mainly service type businesses such as restaurants and retail businesses that typically offer low wages. The risk of murder, rape, and robbery is respectively 123, 270, 266, comparable to the Operation Ceasefire targeted area within the 32209 zip code(186 murder, 379 rape, 254 robbery). In 32217, by comparison, is more of a residential neighborhood created in the fifties around the use of the automobile, yet the numbers are similar: unemployment is lower at 7.3%, along with the poverty rate at 12.4%, but the crime risks are similar: murder 183, rape 142, and robbery 263. Both zip code areas have experienced a significant growth of blight as a result of the shifting trends upward in poverty and unemployment. The Baymeadows area, just next door southward, fares a little better. Unemployment figures are a little bit closer to the odd number Mayor Alvin Brown quoted, 6.7% in 32256 and 7.3% in 32257, even he admitted that his figures dealt mainly with individuals with a four year degree. The poverty rates in the area are significantly lower than in most of the other zip codes in the city - 9.0% in 32256 and 8.0% in 32257. While these figures are low, it is instructive to note how much lower the risks of rape and robbery are as well: rape 42 in 32256 to 91 in 32257, and robbery 74 in 32256 to 58 in 32257. The incidents of rape and robbery appear to coincide nicely with the lower percentages of poverty and unemployment as it did in 32225 - mentioned in an earlier part of the series - along with the unusually high risk of murder: 217 in 32256 to 324 in 32257 - both numbers higher than the murder risk numbers for Operation Ceasefire’s targeted zone in the Northside. What this also establishes is a need for more fairness and equity in planning growth. As these areas grew due to investment taxpayer funds thirty-five years ago, other areas participating saw their areas, and services, diminish. Also in planning a local economy it is important to be selective in who a city brings in to employ their citizens and be part of the community. Equally as important, if not more so, City Hall should place emphasis on seeding every neighborhood in the city if possible, helping, or bringing in enterprise, that will stay there and be community pillars for years to come. That means City Hall placing the interests of the people above the interest of developers, investors, and corporations. Any city can bribe a corporation to come here and take advantage of low taxes and labor costs for the short term, but it takes a great city to look beyond that inwards, investing in its greatest resource, to grow its future: the people. - Robert Montgomerie
Posted on: Mon, 11 Aug 2014 04:52:06 +0000
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