A.G. Gancarski
To get an idea of how deeply shaken Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry has been by the Eureka Gardens code problems, his letters to federal officials give a strong indication.
“While I have walked through the doors of my home for nearly 10 years, Friday evening’s entry was unlike any other, as I could not shake the images of mold, deteriorating stairwells, and other conditions that a few hours earlier, residents of Eureka Gardens – a community in the city I’m elected to lead – showed me they face every day,” Curry wrote to CD 4 U.S. Rep. Ander Crenshaw.
“I hope and pray that I never forget Ms. Dwan Wilson’s dining room table, covered with medication that she tearfully explained that her young children must take due to breathing issues they now suffer since moving into their apartment. This experience is a defining moment in my 98 days of mayoral administration, as I have made multiple visits to this same community, prior to and following my election, to address high incidents of violence that plague them, when, in fact, their homes and dwellings may also pose a threat to their safety,” Curry wrote.
“The local newspaper described my reaction to last week’s home visits as ‘heartbreaking.’ They are correct. I do share great concern and compassion for the families living in these conditions; however, I am as equally outraged,” Curry wrote.
He wrote a similar letter to U.S. Sens. Marco Rubio and Bill Nelson, and U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown. The clear implication is that Eureka Gardens, which has been cited for the very code violations that have been demanded for decades, requires meaningful action. Given that HUD funds have subsidized this and other such complexes that present hazards to residents, contacting federal officials is no accident.
For those who know Curry, they won’t be surprised by his deep concern. Curry, who spends as much time reading philosophy and theology as he can fit into his crowded schedule, clearly is moved by concerns that go beyond the corporeal.
For observers who don’t know him personally, but only through media constructs, they might be surprised. However, Curry, who declared during his inaugural address that “love can change this city,” has not deviated from that message.
Will it get him votes? He doesn’t seem to care about that. Obviously, Curry has a sophisticated grasp of politics: As a former RPOF chairman who started from the bottom of the polls and ended up on the top floor of the St. James Building, he’s proved that. However, it’s clear that what he has seen in Eureka Gardens shocks his conscience.
Jacksonville public officials have attempted to get action going on Eureka Gardens for some time. Just months ago, Councilman Warren Jones sponsored a resolution urging HUD to withdraw federal funds from the 400-unit blight zone on Jacksonville’s Westside.
However, for every action like that, there was a commensurate feel-good moment that attempted to paper over the squalor of the complex. Consider what Mayor Alvin Brown said in February.
“As a champion, these kids are promising to do their very best to help their communities, their families and themselves succeed,” Brown said at a Community Empowerment event. “It is great to see so many young people stepping forward to be good stewards of their neighborhood.”
Empowerment is great. But when children are choking on mold spores, how empowered can they actually be?
Jacksonville’s “deferred maintenance” problem has extended disproportionately to neighborhoods wrecked by the crack epidemic of the ’80s and subsequent mass incarceration thereafter. There are those in Jacksonville who say, regarding people languishing in these complexes, that they “should just move out.”
For those living check to check, who can’t get together three months rent for security deposit purposes, who can’t pass a credit check, it’s not that simple.
Curry, for reasons he knows better than anyone in the chattering class, has made a commitment to ensuring that these Section 8 complexes are turned around, or closed. The code inspectors are not there for show, and indeed, the city has finite resources for code inspection. The mayor is calling out the slumlords. And for that, he deserves real credit.
Eureka Gardens will be among the topics discussed on Friday’s First Coast Connect, hosted by Melissa Ross, at 9 a.m. Friday on WJCT FM
