A.G. Gancarski
The Jacksonville City Council vented and debated about Mayor Lenny Curry‘s legacy legislation, meeting on Wednesday to consider amendments to “Jobs for Jax,” a plan to double the city’s local option gas tax, currently 6 cents a gallon.
By raising the tax to the full 12 cents a gallon allowed by state law, the Mayor’s Office proposes nearly a billion dollars in infrastructure spending.
But nearing year six of the administration, the bully pulpit has waned, and even formerly friendly Council members are breaking from the once-invincible Curry consensus as they look toward their political futures.
A major sticking point in the proposal and the principal drama of the 10 amendments offered: the proposal to spend nearly $379 million on a revamp and expansion of the 1980s era Skyway.
But the meeting was nearly two hours in before the first of those amendments was weighed, with the shambolic discussion often overshadowed by longstanding personal grievances and cutting remarks.
A Ron Salem amendment taking $132 million for the Skyway extension out of the $379 million total for the Skyway passed 16-2.
The language also added Council oversight and approval to the project list and was intended to set up a Matt Carlucci amendment moving that $132 million to the city’s Emerald Trail project. The Council ultimately will have to approve that one when they meet next Wednesday.
The Council also debated an amendment from Garrett Dennis mandating 30% of the jobs go to small and emerging businesses, but the members couldn’t agree whether that was a hard mandate or an aspirational goal. The meeting pushed past its 5 p.m. hard stop, but this matter will be decided when the Council convenes to discuss the legislation next Wednesday.
“Nothing seems to be easy on this Council,” Dennis said, in a moment of epic understatement after three largely fruitless hours from this fractious group of legislators.
The amendments came after extended debate, continuing second-term resistance for the Mayor’s push from an increasingly independent Council, many of whom are looking toward their political future.
Danny Becton, a Republican running for Property Appraiser, questioned the need to secure a funding source for the project work.
LeAnna Cumber, also a Republican, noted these projects are on the capital improvement plan, pointing out $343 million from the federal government that could be used for septic tank removal, negating the need for “raising taxes when we’re flush with cash.”
“Go to a gas station in your district,” Cumber advised, and canvas people about what an extra 6 cents a gallon would mean.
Republican Al Ferraro, who has raised $35,000 in his campaign for Mayor through two months as a candidate, said people don’t trust City Hall.
“The community is not supportive of this tax,” Ferraro said. “It’s not just my district. Everywhere I go, people are saying, ‘do not support this tax.'”
The Mayor’s Office and Council members are taking the case to town halls, and even these transparency roadshows are controversial in the Council chamber. Cumber, Becton, and others questioned the “perception” of the timing of these events, with Council President Tommy Hazouri saying it could set up amendments on May 25.
Expect this process to continue to be elastic as the optics and the politics seem to daunt those on the dais.
2 comments
Frankie M.
May 12, 2021 at 6:13 pm
I did my own informal polling on this issue and everyone who responded(including the voices in my head) were “all in” on the gas tax, Lot J, & anything else the syndicate wants to use the $$ for. In Urban we trust especially when Saint Tim is his right hand man.
Johny Rebel
May 14, 2021 at 1:42 pm
If the gas tax was used for roads and sidewalks, maybe it would be ok, but, nothing for the Skyway, which no one uses, been a waste for decades, and nothing for the Emerald Trail, again, the vast majority will not use it. Spend the money on projects that the majority will use, like roads and sidewalks.
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