The challenges facing Jacksonville range from aggravating trains to dying children — and a lot in between, according to City Council members who met Thursday to set strategic priorities for the next year, three years and five years.
Naturally, the divisive issue of Confederate monuments made the list. So did failing septic tanks. And health care for the poor. And downtown parks. And garbage collection. And more.
Here's the list developed by about half of the council members:
Five-year initiatives
- Phase out septic tanks.
- Reduce homelessness by 50%.
- Solve the issue of trains blocking vital intersections and school and community entrances.
- Improve health care access for the working poor.
- Reduce infant mortality rates.
The consolidated government has made phasing septic tanks a priority for the last number of years. Mayor Lenny Curry included $50 million for the program in his Capital Improvement Plan approved by the council earlier this year.
Councilman Aaron Bowman introduced the measure to address homelessness, suggesting the city look into partnering with local and national organizations to provide housing, as funding itself was not an issue.
"I work downtown quite frequently, and I've noticed an uptick in our homelessness population," Bowman said. "I've also seen a significant increase in the districts of vacant property of homeless camps setting up, and it's just wrong on so many accounts, I mean, to the dignity of the homeless population."
Council members Ju'Coby Pittman and Randy White noted the continued issue of trains presenting a nuisance to residents by blocking entrances to neighborhoods and schools and backing up traffic, sometimes for periods exceeding what's allowed in local ordinances.
Jacksonville has had the state's highest infant mortality rate for years and has been the subject of city initiatives previously.
Councilman Ron Salem, who chaired the strategic meeting and serves as the council's Finance Committee chair, also championed the cause as one that should be a city priority.
"We have more children that die before the age of 1 than anywhere else in the state," he said. The council's budget for the current fiscal year included $200,000 specifically to fight the trend.
"We were also Number 8 in the country," Council President Sam Newby said, describing the city when he first became involved in the council in 2015. "I think with our work we came down from Number 8 to probably Number 20, but it's something we really need to keep putting money in."
Newby asked for future funds to be diverted to more organizations, especially those that serve District 8 and District 7, two poorer districts in northwest Jacksonville and downtown.
"The scary part about it is it's really only two districts that's really driving that number," he said.
Some initiatives that didn't make the cut: retention pond safety and investing in nature preserves.
Three-year initiatives
- Increase after-school and summer programs.
- Develop riverfront parks downtown.
- Implement a pilot project for crime reduction.
- Update equipment in city parks.
- Review policies with the mayor's office on waste, including the workforce and landfills.
- Increase grants to address city blight and beautification.
"I would love for us to take a look at after-school and summer programming that we would consider," Council Vice President Terrance Freeman said. "Making sure they have the proper funding to help keep kids off the street, it will tie into literacy and financial literacy, mental health awareness, all those things wrapped into one component."
Until recently, Freeman was the CEO of Read USA, a nonprofit focused around child literacy and programs for students. During his tenure there, the organization secured a $100,000 no-bid grant.
Several members offered different initiatives for greening the city, beautifying streets, and addressing blight and abandoned homes.
"It's being said differently, but I think we're all kind of going in that same place," Councilman Al Ferraro said. "It could be worded differently, but it's basically trying to help our communities and our neighborhoods receive more funding and more help."
Salem made the decision to combine them into one initiative, which was the overwhelming favorite while ranking options.
The crime reduction pilot program, which operates through multiple organizations outside City Council, is situated in Durkeeville, Eastside, Newtown, Justina and Arlington.
Initiatives to focus on affordable and low-income housing to address Jacksonville's booming population did not make the cut, along with a nuisance abatement board and a campaign to establish grocery stores in food deserts.
One-year initiatives
- Restore recycling collection.
- Develop a comprehensive plan to remove, relocate or rename Confederate symbols.
- Fund workforce industrial training.
- Create a small-business corridor.
- Install public art in all 14 City Council districts.
- Establish a fair practice and diversity initiative for community grants.
The discussion of one-year plans focused pressing matters that council members wanted addressed immediately.
The discontinuation of the city's recycling service has been a hot-button issue for the council, with many citing it as a common complaint from constituents along with waste delays.
The council has also been in hot water for the failed effort to remove a Confederate monument in Springfield Park, formerly Confederate Park, during last week's meeting, when they decided to withdraw a bill rather than risk a no vote.
Bowman, who had emailed the council over the weekend that he would address the statue at Thursday's meeting, introduced the idea of a strategic plan to deal with all Confederate statues, markers and monuments that remained on public land.
"I think where we ended up last Tuesday is not where we've got to end. ... I look at our council that we've got probably greater than a 50% turnover in a year and a half, we've got a new mayor coming in, this council has to take control of this situation and look at the monuments and decide what we do," Bowman said.
"Nineteen of us voting for a million people on this is probably not where we need to go. We need to hear from the community. My phone's been ringing off the hook on the last few days on people volunteering and bringing ideas. So that's what this one is, is to take control of the monument issue, establish a plan and put this one behind us."
Bowman's suggestion became the top choice for one-year initiatives. It notably is not an initiative to address the statues within the year, but to have a plan to do so by next year before the council puts together a budget for the 2022-2023 fiscal year. The plan would also leave the possibility open for some Confederate symbols to remain.
Jeanne Miller, CEO of the Jacksonville Civic Council, a coalition of local business leaders, committed the organization's support to helping City Council develop the plan as well as providing private resources to resolve the controversy.
"It requires some time, but it is not insurmountable. And we believe it can be accomplished in the next year," she said.
Councilwoman Randy DeFoor advocated for the public art initiative, asking for the council to place $700,000 into the project. Roughly $50,000 would be given to each council district.
"There is significant data and I can give handout that shows public art really does make a difference in terms of reducing crime, helping people see their self differently in a positive manner," DeFoor said. "And it's beautiful."
An initiative from Council President Sam Newby to give another $200,000 to an industrial workforce program also made the cut.
Falling short of being included in this batch, yet again, were initiatives' to address food deserts and affordable housing.
What's next?
The Office of General Counsel will draft the one-, three- and five-year plans into a formal resolution to be voted on by the entire City Council.
It will go through the typical six-week process most bills and ordinances go through. It will be read at a council meeting, potentially as soon as Tuesday, before going through a cycle of committees where experts will testify to each initiative.
The resolution will likely be given a final vote in late December or early January, with opportunities for public comment in committee and at City Council meetings.
