Serving the Common Good in Local Politics
St. Thomas More Church welcomed two guests the second Sunday of Lent. The first guest was Fr. Jurgen Wegner, U.S. District Superior of the SSPX. The second guest was Mr. Bill Gulliford, city commissioner of Jacksonville, who gave a conference on the duty of Catholics to serve the common good. Mr. Gulliford is a parishioner of the SSPX mission to St. Michael the Archangel in Jacksonville.
In his remarks, Mr. Gulliford talked about his own experience as Mayor of Atlanta Beach in 1988-1993 and his service as a member of the Jacksonville City Council for District 13 since 2011.
“Catholics should be involved in civic life on some level,” Mr. Gulliford said. “A small but organized group can have a great influence on the direction their elected leaders take.”
He went on to describe several levels of service. A basic type of service that is available to all Catholics is to vote – and to vote in a meaningful way by being aware of how our government operates. “There is a surprising level of ignorance in the population about how government works. I see it in the press as well, where reporters ask me questions about the operation of government that used to be considered common knowledge in a high school civics class.” He went on to describe how it is difficult to have much effect on a national scale, but it is possible to have an influence on local concerns.
Another factor aspect of service is to show up and participate in city council meetings and to call and write elected officials. “Believe it or not,” he said, “many officials are influenced by what they hear from members of the community.” He added that you can also request to meet with your mayor or city council member, and most of them will make time for you. Elected officials, mayors, councilmen, and commissioners all have the ability to either make or influence appointments to boards and commissions. Many times, these bodies have great influence on decision-making and sometimes even are decision-makers, like on planning commissions. Getting close to candidates and those elected can put you in a position to maybe become an appointee, where you can have greater influence for your community.
Standing for office is also a good avenue to consider, he continued. “A city council member can have great influence on what topics get taken up, and you can recommend candidates to the mayor for his appointments to boards and commissions.”
Mr. Gulliford said some of the challenges facing society that a good Catholic can help address. In recent years the opioid drug crisis is a problem that has affected untold numbers of families. “This is not a problem of drug users getting addicted,” he said. “These are people who received prescription painkillers that they got addicted to.” Hospital emergency rooms in Jacksonville were seeing a shocking increase in the number of overdoses, and more people were dying. Mr. Gulliford described a program he helped initiate that changed how hospitals responded to drug overdose cases, and as a result, the city saw a significant drop in the number of deaths.
On the other hand, there was the case of an onerous bill promoting bad same-sex policies that liberals in the city attempted to push through as legislation. Initially, the bill was defeated, but it came back a short time later and passed because city council did not persevere in the right course. It was a cautionary tale that illustrates how even a few motivated Catholics could have made a difference if they had remained aware and engaged in the local political scene.
After he finished his prepared remarks, Mr. Gulliford took questions from the audience. The gathering concluded with remarks from the prior, Fr. Marc Vernoy, who said that Catholics must do more than talk. “We cannot say that because the mayor or the council is liberal or Communist that we cannot talk to them,” Father said. “They have the power – we must be bold for Our Lord Jesus Christ and ask for what we want.”
Our guest speaker for the day at St. Thomas More Priory: Bill Gulliford.
Bill Gulliford has been a resident of Jacksonville and the Beaches community since 1954. He graduated from Bishop Kenny High School and then the University of Florida. After military service, he returned to Jacksonville and joined his father’s construction equipment business, Pilot Equipment Company. He acquired the business from his father and successfully grew it until 1996 when he sold the company. Since then he has started two other businesses involved in the sale of construction equipment and currently is a partner in Major Machinery & Equipment LLC, a company involved in exporting construction equipment.
In 1988 Bill was elected mayor of Atlantic Beach and served until 1993. Prior to that, he served on the Atlantic Beach city commission.
Bill was elected to the Jacksonville City Council in 2011, to represent District 13. In 2012, Bill was awarded the Charles D. Webb Award, for extraordinary commitment to public service. The members of the City Council unanimously elected Bill to serve as President for the 2013/2014 Council Year. Bill received the Mary L. Singleton Award for 2014-2015.
Bill and his wife, Harriet have four children as well as nine grandchildren. They have resided in Atlantic Beach since 1972.
Bill and Harriet attend St. Michael the Archangel Church in Jacksonville.
