City Commission Candidate Innovation Q&A

Gainesville's city commission elections prompted a run-off election to be held April 12, 2011. The run-off candidates are Todd Chase and Lauren Poe for District 2, and Susan Bottcher and Rob Zeller for District 3. Full details can be found here.

As a service to Gainesville's innovation community, we posed a set of innovation & entrepreneurship related questions to each of the candidates, requesting <100 word answers to each question by midnight April 3. Questions were emailed to their official campaign contact emails and their responses were received by email to gain.net.fl@gmail.com. Unfortunately, as of the time of this publishing, we have not received answers from Todd Chase or Rob Zeller. If we get their answers, we will update this post.

Please read these candidate answers and visit their websites (linked above) to learn more. Also, if their answers prompt a question or comment for you -- please share it here so we can all join the discussion before April 12. These races could be decided by <100 votes; meaning GAINnet's 800+ members could play a significant role in deciding how innovative Gainesville's government will be...so...VOTE!

Candidate answers below, in order received.

Susan Bottcher, City Commission District 3 Candidate

1) What does innovation mean to you and Gainesville?

Innovation is capitalizing on the creative intellectual and human resources of our community to develop new ideas, foster new industries and adopt fresh perspectives on traditional ideas. An innovation economy is a distinguishing characteristic of our country and Gainesville is leading the charge here and throughout the state.

We are preparing the next generation to be part of our innovation economy starting with programs for middle and high schools students. This includes the Academy of Technology (Howard Bishop Middle School), the Institute of Biotechnology (Santa Fe High School), and Loften High School’s Design and Technology and Environmental Engineering magnet programs.

These are the starting points that dovetail in with Santa Fe College’s Center for Innovation and Economic Development and the multitude of degree programs offered at the University of Florida.

Our focus on education and innovation means we are taking the natural talents and strengths of our community and channeling them towards the economic engines that will drive the 21st Century.

We need to nurture job growth while maintaining the quality of life components that have been the defining characteristics of Gainesville for decades. Through this we can control our economic destiny and fulfill the promise of prosperity for more of our citizens.

2) What from your background will help you serve the needs of inventors, entrepreneurs and startups?

Over the past 20 years I have volunteered with a variety of community groups, boards and non-profits in an effort to develop an understanding of the relationships between the many stakeholders in our community. This includes my time serving on the East Gainesville Development Task Force, the Chamber’s Leadership Gainesville (LG XXV) program, the Leadership 2000 Statewide Summit and Gainesville Citizens’ Academy.

My broader understanding of the relationships and connections between the various aspects that make up the private, public and citizen stakeholders in Gainesville is what I bring to the table. These stakeholders do not exist independent of each other but (should operate) in concert with one another. It is this attitude that can most effectively address the needs of entrepreneurs.

3) What do you believe is the #1 issue facing Gainesville entrepreneurs and how will you help?

Availability of start-up capital and incubation facilities. Government can help by collaborating with the private sector. We are fortunate the City has moved in the right direction to foster development of technology companies with GTEC, the Gainesville Technology Enterprise Center and the Innovation Zone. Also, if elected I will do what I can to encourage the Chamber’s Council for Economic Outreach’s Momentum 2015 and Innovation Gainesville (iG) collaborations succeed.

4) How much of the city's role in helping entrepreneurs should involve new programs versus clearing regulations?

I do not believe this is an either/or choice. The private sector is best positioned to identify its needs and thus be the creative factor in developing ideas for new programs. As for the regulatory component, the newly formed Community Development Review Committee sets up a process for the City and our business community to work together to sort through and identify those regulations that help and those that hinder development. By examining which regulations should be eliminated, which should be modernized and which should be left as they are we can streamline the development review process. Because membership of the CDRC is heavily represented by the private sector their interests will be heard and have direct influence on the work of that committee.

5) If you considered the city as a company and you were part of its leadership, how would you prioritize profitability versus growth, and how would that priority impact city expenses or taxes?

If we are to be in full control of our economic destiny we must let go of the old-fashioned mindset that business is in conflict with government. The private and public sectors both have important roles to fill and a collaborative philosophy is key.

Government’s “product” is providing high quality services for the citizens and taxpayers at the lowest cost possible, but certainly not “on the cheap”. These services need to be provided without sacrificing the quality of life metrics citizens want and deserve. To have a truly vibrant business sector local government provides the infrastructure that attracts investors and development. That investment will not occur if our roads are crumbling, our neighborhoods are in decline and the natural environment is degraded.

Because approximately half of the properties in Gainesville are not on the tax rolls (i.e. university, government, and non-profit properties) we must grow our tax base, preferably through business development and job growth within the city limits. By working hand-in-hand with the private sector towards those ends we can minimize the impact on city expenses and the need to increase taxes.

6) What local innovative companies are you most excited about and why?

This is like asking me what my favorite flavor of ice cream is (“all of them”). There are so many; that in and of itself, is what I find exciting. Everything from biotech and health-related innovation, green energy technologies to computer programming and communications demonstrates the diversity in creativity we have right here in Gainesville/Alachua County. With the private-public partnership of GTEC, Innovation Hub, and iG fueled by the Chamber’s and CEO’s Momentum 2015 capital campaign I want local government to do what it can to stay focused on the process of bringing the broad array of innovative companies to fruition.

Lauren Poe, City Commission District 2 Candidate

1) What does innovation mean to you and Gainesville?

Innovation means pursuing the new, the different and the unknown. It means challenging ourselves to drive beyond our current understanding of our world and reaching for the unfamiliar. Innovation means finding ways to do things better, safer, more efficiently and more creatively. Gainesville has a comparative advantage in the innovation economy because of our concentration of talent, research funding and creative entrepreneurs. Innovation is quite simply the economic future of Gainesville.

2) What from your background will help you serve the needs of inventors, entrepreneurs and startup company service providers (legal, accounting, marketing, etc.) in the Gainesville area?

My background in education, particularly in economics and government, give me the ability to understand and appreciate the linkage between the education sector and job creation. Investors and start-ups will want to know that the educational community in Gainesville is capable of providing the employment base necessary for a diversity of firms. In addition, one of my roles as an elected official is to serve as an ambassador for Gainesville. Whether discussing the potential role of our municipally-owned telecommunications utility or the best place to grab a delicious bite and a pint of locally brewed ale, I can give one heck of an elevator speech to interested parties.

3) What do you believe is the #1 issue facing Gainesville entrepreneurs and how will you help?

I believe the largest issue facing local entrepreneurs is access to capital. This is why I have championed a locally controlled seed fund that will bring many of the community stakeholders together in an effort to help our creative producers move their ideas from inception to production.

4) How much of the city's role in helping entrepreneurs should involve new programs versus clearing regulations?

I do not believe that these are mutually exclusive roles. There is no doubt that the city needs to make our start-up process more user-friendly. Entrepreneurs need advocates to help them through a process that may be intimidating or frustrating start-ups. But we also must emerge from our traditional view of the role a city government plays in economic development. Just as I believe that we need to promote our innovative class in Gainesville, so too must the city government itself be innovative in our approach to encouraging economic development. Again, this is the impetus behind the development of a local seed fund to help emerging businesses.

5) If you considered the city as a company and you were part of its leadership, how would you prioritize profitability versus growth, and how would that priority impact city expenses or taxes?

Growth matters! For its part, the city can support private sector growth through investment in infrastructure, including transportation, telecommunications and connectivity. While these policy goals and somewhat costly, we can leverage relationships with UF, Santa Fe and the private development sector to pay for these mutually beneficial elements.

6) What local innovative companies are you most excited about and why?

I am excited about two companies. I am proud of Trendy Entertainment not only because they have the proven ability to create a product for which people have a demand, but they are working on exciting innovations involving motion detection that promises the potential to adapt to a variety of uses. I am also excited about the growth potential of Prioria. They have shown their adaptability as a firm by starting with a service delivery model and then transforming themselves to a manufacturing company. Their product shows great potential to adapt to a wide range of uses, including possible use as a municipal recon/search and rescue tool to replace traditional helicopter patrols! Of course, these are only two of many exciting local firms.

Tags: election, gainesville city commission, lauren poe, rob zeller, susan bottcher, todd chase

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Permalink Reply by GAIN on April 14, 2011 at 8:55am

UPDATE: Congratulations to Todd Chase (District 2) and Susan Bottcher (District 3), who won their respective run-off elections. That means we now have three City Commissioners who are also GAINnet members (Randy Wells, Jeanna Mastrodicasa & Todd Chase). Invites have now been sent to all city and county commissioners in hopes they'll join the innovation conversations here...