A.G. Gancarski
The last Rules Committee meeting of the Jacksonville City Council in August had an appointment-heavy agenda, yet there was room also to address two major issues.
Included on the agenda: 2015-508, which increases fines on unlicensed contractors to bring it in line with state recommendations; and 2015-522, a bill addressing emergency roadway clearance and post-disaster debris removal by Public Works.
— Bill Scheu interviewed regarding the PFPF Board of Trustees opening, leading off the agenda. He views his role “transitional,” and ideally, “things that need to happen” in the short term for effective fund management would happen in the next few months, once he’s appointed.
Scheu was part of seventeen meetings on the pension task force, which formulated the current pension deal. Rules Committee members spoke fondly of his vast history, which went back to the Tommy Hazouri administration in the late 1980s, in public service.
“I thought long and hard about this appointment, and I could not find someone more qualified to take us into a new phase regarding what we’re going to do with the Police and Fire Pension Fund,” added Council President Greg Anderson.
— 2015-508, boosting fines from $250 to $1000 for unlicensed contractors, occasioned some discussion. Councilman Doyle Carter mentioned that licensed contractors thought there wasn’t enough done to protect their interests; Carter said this was a good bill.
Unlicensed contractors, it turns out, don’t want to be found. To find them, there are stings and other attempts to corral the scofflaws. There is a deterrent effect, to a point, for enforcement of contractor licenses. Still, there are repeat offenders.
The bill sailed through committee, 7-0.
— 2015-522 occasioned discussion.
John Crescimbeni again voiced objections to this measure, saying that “common sense” would compel these communities to open their gates for debris removal.
“I’m just kind of hung up on this need to get into an agreement,” Crescimbeni continued, calling it “unnecessary paperwork.”
A Public Works representative contended that local governments, however, need to have “right of entry” to neigborhoods to qualify for 75% federal reimbursement.
Permission is to be granted before the declaration of emergency.
This bill was deferred, pending more information from Public Works.
Hazouri pointed out that the original amendment “gutted” the bill, which led Schellenberg to suggest that a complete rewrite may be in order. Hazouri later on discussed withdrawing the bill, which led a Public Works rep to describe the Cat 3 or 4 storm scenario that would require “going in for health or safety to protect people.”
Public Works said they had gotten almost a uniformly positive response for the initiative.
