This past summer, the chamber announced its plan to launch a political action committee (PAC) to “independently advocate for business-friendly leadership at the local and state level on a non-partisan basis for the benefit of the greater Gainesville region and in support of the public policy agenda of the Gainesville chamber,” to quote Bryan Harrington, Chair of the Public Policy Committee of the Gainesville Chamber Board of Directors. By definition, a PAC is an organization that pools campaign contributions and donates or expends those funds to campaign for or against candidates, ballot initiatives or legislation. Most PACs represent business, labor or ideological interests, and have been around since the mid-1940s when the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) formed the first committee to raise money for the re-election of President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
In spite of what you may have read in the local newspaper or on social media over the past few weeks, PACs are nothing new to politics in Alachua County. Over the years, Alachua County has seen its fair share of PACs operating within our political environment to influence elections and initiatives. All of these entities have collected large sums of money from constituents on both sides of the political spectrum. Over the past eight years, one local philanthropist has given more than $500,000 to local, state and federal PACs, including tens of thousands of dollars to PACs like the Collaborative Community Caucus, which happens to be chaired by a former two-term Gainesville city commissioner, according to CampaignMoney.com, a website that aggregates public information from the Federal Election Commission.
Many of our elected officials both past and present, including the sitting mayor of Gainesville, have contributed to PACs. These are but a few examples where groups have used “big money” to “influence” outcomes. A reasonable person would reach the conclusion that PACs are well-used tools in local politics utilized by those on the right and the left.
So, why is the chamber’s recently launched committee coming under such scrutiny? For too long, the local business community’s voice has been stymied by fear of retribution from the media and the political establishment — fear that the opposition would make businesses out to be profiteering monsters and anti-environmentalists looking after only their own interests. Over the course of the past few weeks, those fears have been reaffirmed with condemnation coming from the press, stakeholders in the status quo and even from the dais, where business organizations are being stripped of long-standing roles on citizen boards.
Unlike past entries into local politics when the business community wilted under pressure, the Gainesville Regional Business PC (Biz PC) is here to stay. Our community needs the voice of business to be heard, and moreover, people need to know that it is a voice shouting for positive change throughout our community — change that brings opportunity for all.
To that end, the Biz PC will undertake an education campaign focused on sharing the Gainesville Area Chamber of Commerce’s long-term strategic plan for the community — a plan that seeks to create thousands of new jobs in our community over the coming years. With new jobs and opportunities, our community will be able to address many of the long-standing unanswered challenges we face, including a nationally recognized income gap, a limited tax base to support core government services like public safety and transportation infrastructure and a public education system that is failing too many students.
We will do so by executing a strategic plan focused on organizing a “get out the vote” effort, polling voters, establishing focus groups, conducting candidate forums and creating and distributing score cards for elected officials. We will also educate and train future leaders of our community, advocate for those leaders who will support economic growth and prosperity in our community and educate the electorate on issues that affect our community.
Gainesville Regional Business will continue to advocate for our community’s prosperity with facts and aboveboard messaging. To do so, we need people to rally and join this pioneering effort. If you want more information on how you can help, email us at [email protected].
ROBERT WALPOLE is Chair of the Board of Directors of Gainesville Regional Business PC Inc.