Jacksonville City Councilwoman Lori Boyer says the city's current review of it's consolidated form of government has a simple purpose.
"How can we do a better job of providing local government services to our residents?" Boyer told First Coast Connect.
She says the 31-member task force is taking a hard look at specific topics that have arisen in the fact-finding process.
"I think most agree consolidation is a better form of government and works better than if we had a separate city-county government," says Boyer.
"Now the question is, are there things we can do better? Sure. And some of those things are becoming very apparent."
Boyer says the panel is reviewing whether to combine central service functions like information-technology, fleet vehicles, janitorial services and more. And she says, unexpected things have cropped up.
For example, "We do not really have a unified mission statement for the city, within which the independent authorities work. That's an interesting thing that has developed," she said.
"What we've found is that right now it's on no one's radar to install new water and sewer lines in existing neighborhoods. So it's a gap that has just evolved that we didn't know about," she added
The Consolidation Task Force is expected to issue recommendations next April. To give your feedback on the process, click here.
