A.G. Gancarski
On Tuesday, the Jacksonville City Council Recreation, Community Development, Public Health and Safety Committee approved $500,000 in overtime funding for the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office from the Jax Journey account.
The funding will alleviate pressure on the JSO’s overtime budget so it can focus on crime “hot spots” as Jacksonville deals with an upsurge in violent crime.
The allocation will be considered by a third and final Council committee, Rules, on Tuesday afternoon. It was approved by Finance Monday.
In other developments from RCDPHS:
- 2015-519, a bill to increase the value of property the city may donate to developers from $25,000 to $50,000, “appalled” committee member Reggie Brown, who cited that there were “conditions” agreed to in a public notice meeting that were not in the legislation. Brown was about to go into a longer discursion, but Acting Chairman Sam Newby deferred the bill, which has been gestating now since July.
- Brown, after the meeting, brought up the disparate effect of the legislation, saying that it would bring “independent living houses” and “rental properties” to his and other minority-access districts, allowing properties to be auctioned off. A “more depressed community” allows developers to “make money from the state” using these mechanisms. Brown proposed an “overlay” to “protect these depressed communities,” and he added that “I’m just a little bit offended by the direction this morning.” Matt Schellenberg, referencing Brown’s repeated contention that such a thing wouldn’t happen in Mandarin, noted that Brown “used to be a Mandarin resident, but you left us.”
- The committee joined Finance in approving a restrictive covenant with the Jacksonville Zoological Society that would allow it to get a $500,000 grant from the Florida Division of Cultural Affairs for a manatee critical care facility.
- $180,696 was approved for funding from the sheriff’s office current fund balance for a JSO “violence reduction initiative,” in which the sheriff’s office will share data with other agencies, using the John Jay College of Criminal Justice as a conduit, for crime reduction. Finance had approved that Monday.
- 2016-156 authorized funding for the Bob Hayes Track Meet, providing forgiveness for budget irregularities from a previous fiscal year. Florida Politics readers first became aware of the issue when FloridaPolitics.com reported an email from CAO Sam Mousa, alerting city staff to the issue. With the meet scheduled for March 19, time is of the essence for this high-profile meet.
