Jax Council passes Safety Officer cure legislation

Highlighting the Jacksonville City Council agenda on Tuesday was “cure legislation” to address safety officer salary allocations from the September budget.

The other looming issue was yet another round of public comment for the Human Rights Ordinance.

The agenda meeting addressed both.

Regarding the cure legislation, Garrett Dennis and Al Ferraro, during the agenda meeting, expressed concerns about the funding source coming from the drainage fund … even though the cure legislation simply reaffirms the Council vote for the current budget year.

Regarding the HRO public comment, there was discussion, led by Council President Greg Anderson, of how to best handle public comment, including truncating the allocation of three minutes per person to a more manageable amount of time, and including having Council members leave to eat dinner in shifts, so that all public commenters could be heard, albeit not by the entire Council.

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Before the first wave of non-HRO public comment, some legislation:

• 2015-422 and 2015-683 passed, 2015-422 would allow Police and Fire Pension Fund Board of Trustees employees to participate in the general employees retirement fund, eliminating any other option. 2015-683 addresses the same concept, with a Charter amendment codifying it and clearing up a loose end from the June pension agreement.
• Matt Schellenberg reiterated his withdrawal motion for his term-limits referendum. John Crescimbeni, running against him for Council vice president, urged that Schellenberg make his withdrawal permanent, leaving it to the public to force the issue via a peoples’ initiative.
• 2015-783, the safety officer salary cure legislation, got its hearing. Garrett Dennis noted the withdrawal from the drainage fund creating a “hole in the drainage fund,” and urged a two-week deferral “until we know exactly how we’re going to restore those drainage funds.” Tommy Hazouri stood in opposition to deferral, saying “we’re so far along in this process” and “we didn’t want to take it out of there,” but it was the only place to get it. Jacksonville’s CFO Mike Weinstein noted that the money will come out of recapture money allocated to the General Fund, via closed projects; at least $300,000, plus another $100,000. Weinstein made a “commitment” to replenish drainage funds. Lori Boyer noted that the proposed changes would push the bill back through the process again, occasioning a longer delay that would not accord with the settlement. Other Council members pushed to move the bill through, but Dennis stood his ground on the postponement, saying he wanted a “bill filed encumbering the $330,000.” Hazouri had, he said, given his word to Dennis that he’d support the postponement; however, he flipped, saying that he had to “trust” the mayor’s office and Vice President Boyer. Councilman Ferraro, calling himself “Mr. Drainage,” stood in opposition to the Dennis motion, which failed 3-16.
• After all that, 2015-783 passed unanimously.