TV news vet Ken Amaro faces Realtor Alton McGriff in Jacksonville City Council race

Arlington voters picking a new Jacksonville City Council member will choose between a retired television reporter who spent decades “on your side” and a Realtor trying to become a political hot property.

First Coast News veteran Ken Amaro has a strong fundraising advantage over rival Alton McGriff in his bid to represent council District 1 in the first-ring suburban neighborhood where Amaro has lived for about 45 years.

The Republican also has support from politically active groups including police and firefighter unions, the JAX Chamber’s political arm, the Northeast Florida Association of Realtors and the Northeast Florida Builders Association.

But McGriff, a Democrat, is offering himself as an alternative, billing himself as a candidate “committed to preserving the unique character of Arlington, which we all love dearly.

“As a community, we cannot afford to let developers come in and change what we value most,” McGriff, 42, wrote in a brief email about his candidacy after declining to be interviewed.

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Amaro, 70, said he’d like to see “an increase in community pride” in his neighborhood, which has had pockets of decay as well as investment and new construction in other areas.

“I believe in this community,” Amaro said. “I’ve seen how it has transitioned, if you will, over the last four decades. I’m just hoping to bring some leadership that can kind of turn things around.”

The district has been represented since 2015 by Democrat Joyce Morgan, another former TV newscaster who is leaving office because of term limits.  Democrats significantly outnumber Republicans in the district but only represent about 43 percent of the voters, meaning support across party lines matters.

Amaro said he’s far more interested in nuts-and-bolts subjects like getting potholes repaired and garbage collected on schedule than political ideologies that might fit better at higher levels of government.

He said he wants to be a voice for ordinary people like the ones he used to interview as the longtime consumer reporter at First Coast News, where he retired in 2021 after 42 years. Borrowing a slogan from his TV career, his campaign website pledges to voters he'll be "on your side."

He admitted he doesn’t know details from the city’s services to the neighborhood, like the gas tax revenue going in and out of project funds, but says there’s time to learn and be ready.

“I’m not there yet,” he said.

Like Amaro, McGriff’s campaign material touches on weights subjects like public safety and infrastructure, but he may have to depend on in-person appearances to explain his plans.

McGriff scheduled time to talk with a reporter but later canceled, saying he was short on time due to campaigning. The interview “will have to wait ‘til after the election,” he said by email.

Amaro’s campaigning has been fairly simple, the candidate knocking on doors at times with his daughter, sometimes with an old friend from TV, another time with Nick Howland, a council member who didn’t face opposition in his own reelection and decided to help out.

As Amaro tells it, the motivations are simple too.

“I feel the urge to public service,” he said “ … I’m just trying to give back while I can.”

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: City Council race in Arlington pits TV news icon vs. real estate agent