Once the youngest person to be elected a city commissioner, Andrew Gillum now faces scores of challenges in his new role as mayor of Tallahassee. He enters office on the heels of a slew of issues, some of which he supports, like the “Ban the Box” initiative, which would eliminate the need for new applicants to initially divulge their criminal histories when applying for city jobs.
Gillum says that, although there are still issues to be ironed out, that the positives outweigh the negatives, such as employment keeping former felons on the right track.
“We also know,” Gillum said in an interview on WFSU’s Perspectives program, “based on the data that the highest yield in reducing recidivism, which is people going on to recommit other crimes, is a job.”
Other issues he’s not so keen on, such as proposed legislation to allow students to carry guns on college campuses. As he explained to Tom Flanigan on Perspectives, he doesn’t see the initiative making campuses safer. He also alluded to the shooting on Florida State University’s campus a few months ago, which he knows is still fresh in many people’s minds.
“Uh, it is also a concern shared by the students of Florida State University, and we know why,” he said without hesitation. “They’re just coming out of a very difficult 2014 where they confronted guns and violence on campus in a very real and dangerous way.”
Smaller issues, such as noise ordinance policies, and the issue of illegally placed signage causing clutter, were also brought to the Mayor’s attention during the interview by callers.
