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In both words and actions, Rubio has shown he will spend his remaining months on Capitol Hill with sleeves that are rolled up and a mind-set that’s focused on getting things done.
 
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SPEAKING UP ON EUREKA GARDEN
 
Rubio has done effective work on Jacksonville’s behalf by aggressively taking on the continuing mess at the Eureka Garden public housing complex.
 
Months after shameful and unsafe living conditions were revealed at Eureka, both its owner, Global Ministries, and the Department and Housing and Urban Development — which bizarrely provided Global Ministries with taxpayer dollars to acquire the 400-unit property — have made inconsistent progress toward solving the problems.
 
And Rubio’s response to this festering travesty has been admirable and proactive.
 
He has publicly turned up the heat on Global Ministries and HUD to remedy the ills at Eureka Garden by publicly chiding their partnership from the Senate floor and citing the Times-Union’s extensive reporting on the scandal.
 
Equally important, Rubio toiled behind the scenes to set the ground for Mayor Lenny Curry and City Councilman Garrett Dennis to visit Washington and meet with HUD Secretary Julian Castro about Eureka Garden — allowing the duo to press the city’s demands that Global Ministries be held fully accountable for poorly managing its properties in Jacksonville.
 
In short, Rubio has both spoken up and worked quietly to advance our city’s interests in resolving Eureka Garden’s woes and helping its impoverished residents.
 
NOTING PUERTO RICO’S TIES TO OUR CITY
 
Rubio also had our city’s back when he recently appealed to his fellow lawmakers to stop playing political games and begin seriously addressing Puerto Rico’s massive fiscal crisis because failing to do so could have a significant economic effect on Jacksonville, which has massive trade ties to the island through JaxPort,
 
How massive?
 
It’s estimated that as recently as 2009, about 75 percent of the goods arriving in or leaving from Puerto Rico went through JaxPort, and that activity had an economic impact of nearly $1 billion for our city.
 
As Rubio noted, Jacksonville will pay a heavy price if our government doesn’t come up with a sustainable plan to tackle Puerto Rico’s $70 billion debt and rebuild its economy.
 
“All of us need to realize that this is an American crisis,” Rubio said on the Senate floor, “(and it) will spread to cities like Jacksonville” if no action is taken quickly.
 
Rubio’s words were both sensible and powerful.
 
And they were the words of a public servant who may be taking off soon from Washington but won’t take his eye off the ball in the time he still has left in D.C. 
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But the manner in which Rubio is closing this chapter of his political life — with a graceful sense of purpose and an admirable desire to get as much done as he can for constituents — is certainly to his credit.
 
And it will only strengthen the level of goodwill Rubio has already developed across our city, our state and, yes, our country.
 
While Rubio is heading for the finish line as a U.S. senator, he’s giving every indication that he’ll cross it with his head held high.
 
Keep reading here.