A.G. Gancarski
The scene at the end of Tuesday night’s Jacksonville City Council meeting was interesting.
John Crescimbeni, who came within a few votes of being Jacksonville City Council President, was imploring the candidate who won — Anna Brosche — to hold public hearings on dredging the St. Johns River as JAXPORT wants.
Though no money has been needed from the city of Jacksonville yet, Councilors are bracing for an eventual impact to the city’s general fund. And the general feeling among many Councilors is that the port has been less than transparent.
Councilman Tommy Hazouri, who has been working behind the scenes to build a dialogue with more transparency, seconded Crescimbeni’s call.
Brosche didn’t commit to a position Tuesday evening, and on Wednesday she told us she was “considering” such a public hearing.
We asked for a more detailed accounting of the pros and cons regarding future budgets and potential ecological impacts, but did not get response as of an hour after texting the question.
Councilman Hazouri, in a conversation Wednesday that expanded on a previously-held conversation we had with him, urged Brosche to move forward with hearings — either in a special committee, or in Transportation, Energy, and Utilities — the committee that Hazouri believes is the most natural fit for such a discussion.
“I’ve been advocating this for months,” Hazouri told us. “Why wouldn’t [JAXPORT] want to come to Council?”
A pending lawsuit from the St. Johns Riverkeeper is one reason; Hazouri suggested that “they’re afraid their words will get twisted in court.’
Hazouri did get a commitment from JAXPORT CEO Eric Green for quarterly reports on the progress of the project, but that doesn’t satisfy the need for real dialogue on the issue.
Hazouri, noting the city’s commitment to waterway activation that includes everything from new docks to remediation, is “concerned about how all of this is going to be impacted” by the dredge.
“They said they’ve been transparent,” Hazouri said about JAXPORT, but the “public doesn’t know.”
“It’s incumbent on Council to know what’s going on,” Hazouri added.
Hazouri’s comments continue a drumbeat of concern from Council’s old guard, highlighted in the press earlier this week.
Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry, meanwhile, thinks the time for debate is over and the time for decision is nigh.
“We’ve had eight years of debate, community discussion, port board meetings, public hearings,” Curry told us Wednesday morning, noting that the previous Mayor had a task force and the dredging debate was central two years ago when he ran for Mayor.
The time for “dialoguing” regarding the dredge, Curry said, is over.
“Are you for it or against it,” Curry asked regarding dredging. “I’m for it.”
There is, said Curry, a sense of urgency.
“Other ports have moved on,” Curry said, “while we debate.”
At stake: “an investment in the future and jobs.”
“We’re competing with the world,” Curry added.
Curry expressed confidence in the new team at JAXPORT, noting that they are now equipped with state and federal funding, and urged individual council members to spend time with the team to discuss their concerns.
