An election will be held in December to fill Tommy Hazouri’s seat on the Jacksonville City Council, a date the Council decided on Tuesday. The former Jacksonville Mayor died on Saturday following complications from a lung transplant last year.
Councilwoman Brenda Priestly Jackson said during Tuesday’s Council meeting that she expects no shortage of candidates vying for the open at-large Group 3 seat.
“Unfortunately, some people, when Tommy got his lung transplants, started planning,” she said. “That's the reality, and so I think that there will not be any issue with viable candidates.”
The at-large Group 3 seat covers Mandarin south of Baymeadows Road and parts of the Southside. At-large council members must live in the area they represent, but are elected countywide.
Potential candidates have from noon on Monday, Sept. 27 until noon on Oct. 1 to qualify for the election, which will be held Tuesday, Dec. 7, with a potential run-off on Feb. 22, 2022.
Meanwhile, legislation to rename the council chambers after Hazouri is still on the table, but sponsoring Councilman Matt Carlucci told WJCT News he did not introduce it Tuesday it as an emergency measure, at the request of Hazouri’s family. Instead, the proposal will go through the usual Council process.
