A.G. Gancarski
Tuesday night’s Jacksonville City Council meeting has a few points worthy of note:
•Primary among them, a new councilman, Reggie Gaffney, will be sworn in ahead of schedule, to fill the empty seat his brother Johnny left when he resigned to run for state House against Reggie Fullwood. It will return the chamber to its full 19 votes.
When the council was at 18, the latest iteration of the pension deal was voted down 9-9 in March. If that 19th vote had been on council, it might have had a different outcome, and different messaging in the mayoral race on the pension.
•Resolution 2015-384 from Councilman Warren Jones will be introduced, which essentially requests that HUD/Section 8 money be cut for the Eureka Gardens Apartment Complex on the Westside. In the past decade, there have been 15 murders in the 400-unit complex, and the resolution seeks enhanced security measures by property management, such as perimeter fencing and “controlling vehicular and pedestrian access.”
•As well, Kim Daniels‘ Resolution 2015-348 will be discussed, which pressures the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office to enforce the Children’s Curfew that is already on the books. Curfews have been a popular topic as summer approaches.
