JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – In January, the Jacksonville City Council is expected to take up the Lot J deal and possibly approve the plan that could cost taxpayers more than $233 million.
Two vocal community groups, OurJax and the NAACP, are now demanding the city rethink and scrap the multimillion dollar project outside TIAA Bank Field.
OurJax, a new group made up of business and community leaders, is questioning the way local government is making decisions regarding controversial issues.
Michael Ward of OurJax says the group is opposed to the way the Lot J deal was negotiated. He said OurJax believes it was done in a way to avoid all public policy and disregarded safeguards that are normally in place to protect taxpayers.
“I think that if the citizens step up and let their counsel people know we have an opportunity to get this deal redone or canceled, because it is not a good deal for our city,” Ward said.
The NAACP went a step further and fired off a letter to the NFL asking it to intervene and stop the Lot J deal. News4Jax asked Isaiah Rumlin, the president of the local chapter, about the argument that the Lot J project creates jobs and helps the community.
“We don’t buy that scenario,” Rumlin said. “I mean, the developer is going to make money. Shad Kahn is going to make money.”
The organization believes that the community payoff will be minimum wage jobs.
“This is just a bad deal for the citizens of Jacksonville and it’s no more than enriching billionaires that are owners of these professional franchises,” Rumlin said.
News4jax talked to businesses owners and people living in the community near the stadium.
Dawn Curling owns We Make The Shirt. It’s a small business just north of the stadium. She’s not sure what would happen with her business and the nearby community if Lot J is built up.
“This building (her business) has been standing here since the early 1900, so it means a lot for us to be on this business corridor,” Curling said. “I mean, we are a community. This this the eastside. There is a lot of love in this neighborhood, in this community with the businesses.
Suzanne Pickett is president of the Historic Eastside community group. She believes the project could take the neighborhood in either direction.
“If the project is inclusive of the community, especially the Eastside community, it could be a great project for our city,” Pickett said. “But if the project is exclusive of surrounding areas and neighborhoods, then I don’t see how that could benefit the community.”
That is why people living in the neighborhood, and the two citizen groups, say the City Council needs to weigh its in January next month very carefully.
Mayor Lenny Curry’s office had no comment in regard to the OurJax statement. No word from the Jaguars regarding the statements.