Sparks fly in Jax NICE Committee

At Monday’s NICE Committee meeting, the ongoing public information campaign regarding blight was discussed. Seemed innocuous enough on its surface. In practice, though…

The city of Jacksonville’s Director of Blight, Denise Lee, presented the administration’s position regarding the importance of public information, even as committee members, such as Councilman Tommy Hazouri, wanted to know more about what the city is doing regarding enforcement and showing that the city “means business.”

Committee Chair Garrett Dennis observed that part of the way the city is showing its commitment to “letting people know we mean business” includes the city’s outreach at Eureka Gardens, undertaken last week in response to a searing letter from the Eureka Gardens Tenants Association, which pointed to myriad code issues throughout the complex.

Lee observed that “this administration has taken on blight as a priority” and that, regarding Eureka Gardens, the city has attempted to continue efforts that were undertaken in the past, as well as strengthening those efforts.

Lee mentioned former Councilman Warren Jones pushing a resolution to end Section 8 funding for Eureka Gardens earlier this year.

Things then got more interesting, as Chairman Dennis seemed to accuse the Lenny Curry administration with moving slowly on bills related to backing into driveways and other vehicle issues.

Lee asserted that “we want to make sure that we can implement and enforce” the legislation passed, and the process takes time.

Dennis stood his ground, saying “there are issues that we need to deal with,” and progress is occluded by going “round and round” on the same few bills.

Lee also stood her ground, citing the difficulty of enforcing certain legislation.

Hazouri stayed on the point, saying that the “enforcement piece” could be handled by General Counsel, and that there “are a zillion other issues” that could be dealt with instead of the same topics every meeting.

Lee is the previous chair of the Blight Committee, which Dennis renamed in his first meeting as chair. Some observers of this committee have noticed the demarcations between the Lee era and the Dennis era.

With each passing meeting, the demarcations become more apparent.