JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Preparing for a new mayor and administration in Jacksonville -- transition teams are starting to meet to discuss how to better the city. Mayor-elect Donna Deegan takes the oath of office on Saturday, taking over for outgoing Mayor Lenny Curry. Wednesday – we sat in on the first infrastructure committee meeting – it’s a group that covers everything from potholes to police.
Jacksonville has the largest urban park system in the country – and city leaders recently put $50 million more into improvements -- but Mayor-elect Deegan’s team is inheriting problems too.
For example, there are 23,000 failing septic tanks which will cost $1.5 billion to fix. Roads have potholes, sidewalks are failing, there are flooding issue during storms and many public pools are shut down this summer, needing repairs and lifeguards.
“Identifying the issues, and all the neighborhoods. Infrastructure -- that includes not just drainage issues, but pavements, sidewalks, meeting people where they are -- garbage pick up,” District 14 councilwoman Randy DeFoor said.
There are nearly 500 neighborhoods throughout Jacksonville and committee members say some of them need to get more attention than others. Carla Jones wants to see a focus on underserved communities.
“Do you think right now every neighborhood gets the same treatment? No. It’s unfortunate and that’s why we want to analyze why is that happening? So we can target where the issues are. We are here to make recommendations, and we all have a hand in these neighborhoods,” Jones said.
“I don’t believe her neighborhood has gotten a fair shake for a number of reasons. Sometimes it could be systemic, it can also be just that people are lazy so it doesn’t get to the people that it needs to get to,” Diallo-Sekou Seabrooks said.
The team of volunteers comes from a wide range of backgrounds -- from former city officials to construction, banking, nonprofit and public relations executives.
“My friend Bob Broward, the great architect, once said that Jacksonville was the greatest potential of any city on earth. Maybe second only to Paris, France, we have the river, the ocean, the climate, but we haven’t had the leadership that has shown us how to get there,” Wayne Wood said.
The goal is to build a plan for the city to move forward with a new administration – to listen to residents – and spend tax dollars responsibly. The group will meet weekly until September – pushing for what they say will be a better River City.