Jacksonville prepares for state law banning sleeping on public property
By Michele Leivas The Jacksonville City Council passed a pair of bills Sept. 24 to ensure the city is prepared for a new state law prohibiting sleeping on public property that went into effect Oct. 1. Bill #0687 codifies the state law at the local level, prohibiting public camping, urination and defecation. It passed on […]
Hope rekindled for Laura Street Trio
By Michele Leivas A Philadelphia law firm will be brought in as outside counsel to assist the Jacksonville City Council in crafting legislation for a redevelopment agreement for the Laura Street Trio. The Personnel Committee voted Sept. 17 to retain Ballard Spahr at $625 an hour to help bring the redevelopment agreement across the finish […]
City Council rejects anti-hate crimes bill
By Michele Leivas The Jacksonville City Council rejected a bill that would have increased fines and penalties for city ordinance violations if they were deemed to be related to hate crimes. Bill #0334 was defeated on a 12-7 vote at the Aug. 13 city council meeting, with councilmembers Michael Boylan, Matt Carlucci, Tyrona Clark-Murray, Ju-Coby […]
Letters to the Editor: Communiqué from our Local Council Representative
The views and opinions expressed in the Letters to the Editor belong solely to the respective authors and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of this publication or its editorial team. On April 23rd, the Jacksonville City Council decided to approve a rezoning that allowed storage units on the Southbank, thus breaking the […]
Mayor’s Task Force Funding Approved
Mayor Donna Deegan held a signing ceremony at City Hall on Wednesday, Dec. 13 to enact the near $26 million legislation package for the Mayor’s Task Force. The evening before, at its regularly scheduled meeting, the Jacksonville City Council passed the funding through a series of votes. “This is a transformational moment for Jacksonville. In […]
Carlucci Sees Local Progress in City Budget
After hours of debate and discussion at its meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 26, the Jacksonville City Council approved the $1.75 billion budget for the fiscal year 2023-24 – a 14% increase from last year’s. This new budget went into effect on Oct. 1. Along with the new budget came a new Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) […]
City Council Approves Florida Blue Office Space for JSO
The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office’s (JSO) Homeland Security Division will soon be getting new office space in Brooklyn’s Florida Blue office tower. Currently, 135 of the division’s 205 employees are housed at a JSO facility at the intersection of Liberty and Beaver streets while the remaining officers are at additional off-site locations. At a Sept. 5 […]
City Council approves settlement agreement in redistricting lawsuit
At a May 9 meeting, the Jacksonville City Council voted 15-to-3 to approve a settlement to end the ongoing litigation regarding the redistricting of the city council and school board district map. The three dissenting votes were from Council Members LeAnna Cumber, Brenda Priestly Jackson and Reggie Gaffney, Jr. In May 2022, the Jacksonville branch […]
