A.G. Gancarski
Residents of Jacksonville City Council districts 7 and 10 will have a chance Thursday evening to speak with their elected representatives.
Councilmen Reggie Brown and Reggie Gaffney, both Democrats, have dueling meetings at 6 p.m.
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Gaffney will meet District 7 constituents Thursday evening at the Highlands Library on Dunn Avenue.
The topic: Jacksonville International Airport Community Redevelopment Area (JIA/CRA) tax increment funds.
Gaffney, as reported in the Jacksonville Daily Record last year, would like to see money in the pot moved over to other potential community development in the next couple of years.
The argument has been that the JIA CRA has succeeded; Gaffney would like to expand the boundaries.
At a meeting last year, passionate commentary abounded on the future of the CRA.
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Brown’s meeting is at the usual spot: the Legends Community Center at 5130 Soutel Drive.
“Departments from the City of Jacksonville and other outside independent agencies will be available to speak with the community. The purpose of the Town Hall Meeting is to bring the City of Jacksonville to the community,” reads the notice from Brown’s office.
Brown, in his second term representing District 10, which encompasses parts of NW Jacksonville, the Northside, and the Westside., is a proponent of town hall events, scheduling them as regularly as anyone on the council.
A legislative focus of his in recent months: ensuring that councilors have money for community events.
Despite initial resistance, he was successful in ensuring that councilors have a pot of money from which they can pay for incidental event-related costs, such as stage rental and public safety employees to handle potential emergencies.
Brown has also been turning his attention to block parties, with a bill slated for the council floor next week that would impose a moratorium on the gatherings, though Brown has said his preference is to find a way to amend current code language to make it easier to move the events to public parks.
