Seven city council members have been chosen to sit on the Council Special Committee of Social Justice and Community Involvement. The committee’s role is to form a financial plan to help resolve racial disparities in Jacksonville.
At-Large Group 4 City Councilman Matt Carlucci spoke with us about his role as the chairman of the Finance Committee, what he hopes the social justice ommittee will accomplish, and several other subjects.
Related: Local, State, And National Coronavirus Coverage
30 Years Of The ADA
Sunday, July 26, marked the 30th anniversary of the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The ADA is an equal opportunity law modeled after the Civil Rights Act.
It protects people with physical or mental impairments, people who have a history of impairment, or who are perceived by others as having such impairments; from discrimination and preserves their rights to employment, purchase goods and services, and participate in state and local government programs.
Since its passage 30 years ago, the ADA has been expanded to include additional legislation including the 1991 and 2010 ADA Standards for Accessible Design, which requires new construction to be accessible to people with mobility impairments.
We spoke toJose Morales, who serves as the ADA Manager at Jacksonville’s Center for Independent Living, about the benefits of the ADA and what's still needed.
'Florida Times-Union' Investigates JEA
Over the weekend, WJCT News partner The Florida Times-Union published a deep dive into the history of thefailed attempt to privatize Jacksonville's city-owned utility, JEA. The Times-Union’s previous work on the topic helped spark a federal grand jury investigation into the failed sale, and on Monday, City Council investigative committee on JEA subpoenaed Tim Baker, Michael Munz, Alan Howard, Sam Mousa, and Kevin Hyde for sworn testimony,
We were joined by several members of the Florida Times-Union’s investigative team: Nate Monroe, David Bauerlein, and Mark Woods, who walked us through their investigation and what comes next.
'Edible Northeast Florida'
The votes are in fromEdible Northeast Florida’s “Reader’s Choice” survey and are available in the publication’s new print edition. We spoke with editorLauren Titus about the results, Edible’s return to print, the pandemic’s impact on Northeast Florida restaurants, and the editorial process for this issue, which began last year.
Katherine Hobbs can be reached at newsteam@wjct.org or on Twitter at @KatherineGHobbs.
