Jabour Out, Blames Court For His Troubles – Forgets To Blame Self And Apologize For Wasting Everyone’s Time – Whines About His Mounting Legal Fees

Not even 24 hours after leaving office and the news is already old. Jabour is out, having stepped down “voluntarily” to avoid, in the most ignoble fashion, an appeal to the Florida Supreme Court (Um, Jay, procedurally, the FSC did not have jurisdiction to hear any appeal) which would have made things sticky down the road for his successor if his “appeal” was successful. Martyr.

Perhaps the saddest part about Jay’s farewell speech was his inability to accept any responsibility for causing this mess. No, the problem was created by Harms, who had to go and make a stink about things. And Judge Nachman, who unfairly applied the facts to the law and found that Jay had indeed violated City law. And don’t forget the First DCA who really screwed things up by agreeing with Nachman.

Jay’s farewell speech was pathetic and reading it makes me all the more elated that this man no longer represents this City.

Here are some highlights of what he said:

[H]aving lost at the ballot box, my opponent decided to try to negate the will of the people by filing suit to overturn the result based on questions of my legal residency. The courts obliged with what is in my and my attorney’s view, an unreasonable and narrow interpretation of the law, saying that because I did not spend 183 consecutive nights at my beach residence, I was therefore not qualified to run.

That begs the question – must a candidate sleep in the same bed for 183 consecutive nights in order to qualify to run for public office? How many of us have gone out of town over the course of six months to attend a funeral, a wedding, take a vacation, or to visit a sick relative? I was, in fact, away from home during this time for many of the reasons I just cited.

Nevertheless, I have always been open and honest about the fact that my head did not lie on the same pillow every night during the qualifying period. And I want to emphasize that never at any time did I purposely try to deny or hide this fact. Yet no lawsuit or serious challenge to my candidacy was brought against me by my opponent during the campaign.

While I strongly disagree with the courts’ decisions and am inclined to continue to fight in spite of the mounting personal and legal costs, the citizens of Jacksonville deserve a full-time representative on the city council.

If I were to file an appeal to the Florida Supreme Court, and it is accepted, and a favorable ruling is issued after a special election is held, my successor may find himself or herself in a situation where he or she could likewise be removed by the courts. It is for these reasons that I have decided not to further appeal my case.

I always will be gratified by the fact that in the election over 62% of Jacksonville voters chose me as the candidate most qualified to represent them. Although I am now being compelled to leave office, I want to assure my many friends and supporters that I will continue to care about and serve the people of the city I love.