Jeanna Mastrodicasa is not a commissioner who sits back and watches.
She strongly opposes the controversial Charter Amendment 1, and she was the driving force behind a recent bar ordinance that cracks down on underage drinking. She spends most of her day bustling between her jobs as UF's Director of Student Affairs and Gainesville City Commissioner.
Mastrodicasa, the incumbent for the Gainesville City Commission At Large seat, is running against four challengers in the March 24 city elections.
Her work to create taxi stands, formalize city relations with student organizations and keep bars open to underage locals displays her dedication to the students, she said.
"I think I made a mild set of changes that will only affect problem bars," she said about her work on a recent ordinance that tightens age restrictions on bars with excessive underage drinking violations. "I'm not perfect, and I don't make perfect decisions all the time," she said in her city hall office on Wednesday. "But I try."
She opposes Amendment 1 largely because of its proposed ban on the creation of new protected classes, such as veterans, pregnant women or obese people.
"It really flies in the face of local government," she said.
The amendment would nullify Chapter 8 of the Gainesville Code of Ordinances, titled "Discrimination."
In effect, this would remove protected status for transgender, lesbian, gay and bisexual Gainesville residents and loosen protections for other classes.
"This really goes against what Gainesville is about," she said.
