Comment

Comment by Debbie G on August 16, 2011 at 9:04am

Subject: City Budget – commission duplicate efforts

Council Member,

    Jacksonville, along with the rest of the nation's cities, is experiencing financial challenges due to both policy and economic factors.  The unemployment rate has delivered a two-fold negative blow to the fiscal health of Duval County in the decreased tax revenue base and the personal loss of economic freedom.  Attracting businesses to Duval is paramount in addressing this deficiency.  In addition, Duval citizens also desire a safe and equitable city that conveys an environment of opportunity void of any form of discrimination. 
    Jacksonville, not unlike many cities across the nation, has expanded local government under the auspice of effecting benevolence upon its citizens.   There exists a thin line between what motivates an individual to act or perform with selfless integrity, likewise, it is human nature to take the path of least resistance. Benjamin Franklin stated it quite succinctly when he noted the almost violent fervor in which European's pursued political office because they paid so well.  Madison and Franklin stated that serving in public office was established in the context of sacrifice for the good of the city/country and would inevitably be corrupt if it were to be accompanied by profit.
    City council is now faced with making difficult choices with regards to the budget and the path of least resistance may not be the best choice for the city and the future of Jacksonville.  A city willing to make the difficult decisions will both demonstrate responsibility and foresight to those seeking to invest in Jacksonville.  Perhaps the most difficult decision city council members will make is to begin to sever ties with grants and subsidies that extend from the federal level; always accompanied by requirements issued from Washington.  Duplication of efforts exists here in Jacksonville in many areas, but I am addressing two.  Specifically the Jacksonville Economic Development Commission and the Human Rights Commission.  
    The Jacksonville Economic Development Commission (JEDC) functions to increase job opportunity in Jacksonville.  However, the Jacksonville Regional Chamber of Commerce performs the same function.  The duplication of efforts would not be relevant if not for the fact that JEDC is supported by our tax dollars whilst the Chamber of Commerce is not.  This commission should be either severely reduced or entirely eliminated.
    The Jacksonville Human Rights Commission (JHRC) is another duplication of efforts, to a higher degree.  The state of Florida has the Florida Commission on Human Relations that functions with the duties of preventing discrimination in employment, housing, public accommodations, and to promote mutual respect among groups of people cited in Florida State Statute Chapter 760,  the same cited statute for the JHRC.  At the federal level; the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) functions to enforce civil rights laws prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, disability, age, sex, and religion in state and local social health service agencies.  In addition, the following agencies, Department of Education, Department of Housing and Urban Development, Department of Justice-Civil Rights Division, and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission also provide remedy to anyone seeking aid in violations of civil rights and human rights.
    In summary, when a family budget is in a deficit measures are taken to prioritize expenses.  The citizens of Duval are paying attention, following the money, reading U.S. Federal Codes relating to grants and subsidies, and monitoring the city council / committee meeting minutes. I respectfully ask that you take into serious consideration the statements in this correspondence and make the difficult decisions not because I ask, but because it is the right thing to do.

Respectfully,

Comment by Patricia M. McBride on August 13, 2011 at 9:16am

First part of letter:

 

Good afternoon,

I have just finished reading an article in the Times-Union about the finance committee meeting yesterday, and I wanted very much to weigh in and let you know my feeling on the matter of commissions and boards in our city.

First, I am in favor of disbanding many of the current commissions as they have and will continue to grow and grow and become more expensive and truly, I do not see a return on the taxpayer funding they receive.

I would start with the JEDC. I have carefully watched our city council members carefully vet and consider each and every bill before them for various organizations requesting special consideration for creating jobs in the downtown and moving into the Enterprise and Brownfield areas. I found it amazing, that we have a group who put together these agreements, but then, the city council basically does all the work a second time in order to determine whether the organization qualifies for consideration. It is my belief that the JEDC should be disbanded, and the Chamber of Commerce engaged in attracting new companies to move into our downtown with something like a finders fee or some consideration agreeable to them and the city. I believe since the council already does all the work a second time on the bills associated with these companies, eliminating the commission and its expense might provide a savings and make the whole process far more transparent.

I also favor elimination of the Human Rights Commission. I think the idea that people of this city are so different from folks in the rest of the state that we require our own personal human rights commission is a fallacy in its entirety. There is a state Human Rights Commission, and I believe anyone in need of that sort of assistance should be petitioning the state commission. I really object to funding a group that sits around and discusses problems of this nature, and I would question the few cases handled by this group warrant the large and getting larger budget they command.

Another pick for elimination would be the Journey program. The budget for this group also grows annually and even previous Mayor Peyton was willing to admit he didn't have any gauge for knowing if the program even worked. There are a other possibilities, other than Journey, for the diminished crime rate and they are JSO doing a better job of addressing crime, the economic conditions are effecting the crime rate since crime rates generally go down in bad economic times (amazingly) or we might credit the "hard on crime" approach taken by our state attorney's office under the guidance of Ms. Angela Corey, our state attorney.

Comment by Patricia M. McBride on August 13, 2011 at 9:16am

Here is part of the letter I sent.  I will post the top half in a second post since there are limits on what can be posted in a single comment:

I also believe our fine city council needs to take a hard look at the Children's Commission and their mode of operations. I think cuts need to be made in areas where the commission may be getting more money for some of their functions than may be needed. Perhaps the council might consider appointing someone to oversee operations of this commission with the objective of eliminating any charges to the city and taxpayers that could and should be eliminated. Personally, I would far rather see someone other than the city perform this function all together, but I already know there will be an uproar at the prospect of eliminating or looking for another venue of support for this group.

I know these are groups or commissions, but I definitely want to see the city get out of the "charitable giving" mode they seem to have gotten into. Why does the city give charitably with taxpayer money? I have looked at the folks the city sees fit to give money, and there are some I would NEVER donate to, so you can imagine the ire it raises that the city takes my taxpayer money and gives these folks part of it anyway. There is more to this for me, and I will write again about this, but I digress.

Having read today's Times Union, I was appalled that we are attempting to cut the size of government and the expenses to bring the outgo in line with what comes in from the taxpayers and various sources, and Mr. Brown wants to start 9 new commissions with appointed people and yet more budgets to fund them (after Mr. Brown clearly stated during his campaign that he might start 1 or 2 new committees or commissions but for us not to worry as they would not cost the taxpayers a dime as he planned to get volunteers for them............now I find out they will cost quite a bit more than a dime). But, the one that absolutely upset me the most was the "community" groups. Right now, I can say with unwavering certainty that I am adamantly apposed to the mayor putting together "neighborhood councils" and all these groups headed by a mayoral "appointee". Can anyone say "community organizing"? Such a group could easily become an organized political group to push a candidate or viewpoint that our elected "representative" does not advocate based on taxpayer input. We elect someone to speak for us and to whom we write and talk to about community and neighborhood concerns, and I do not think the mayor should be afforded a taxpayer funded group that might push for something a small group of his supporters in the communities claim is wanted or needed in our area. This should send red flags up all over town, and people need to stop any attempt to organize our city as the same framework could be used in a manner which we might find unacceptable in the very near future as well and the taxpayers would be forced to fund it.

 

I would also like to suggest budget ceilings and an end date for any and all new commissions and committees started if you can or that you revisit each of them annually.........so they do not continue on forever, if you can?

Sorry to be so long winded. Thank you all for the hard work you do and the many long, hard hours you put in. I want you to know I appreciate everything you do.

Comment by Patricia M. McBride on August 13, 2011 at 9:12am

I would also like to find someone who lives in the Tampa area to see if their new democartic mayor (they took that office the same way they took this one.........through huge donations from the National DNC, and tons of people from out of town targeting certain voter groups to get out to vote).  I wonder if the new mayor of Tampa is pushing for the same sorts of things?   If you follow?

Comment by Patricia M. McBride on August 13, 2011 at 9:10am

Rod, one of the articles about the dems taking this office indicated that Brown was to be a stepping stone to Obama taking north Florida.  You may rest assured that he and Hill (SEIU) will do everything possible to organize or city and put a structure in place to work the city in a manner that will not be impartial.  I, as a taxpayer, do not wish to have my tax dollars used in any way to give Obama any advantage in this city.  I do not like any of what I saw about the organizing period and he has as his right hand a union guy that is big on this sort of thing who is probably advising him on the steps needed.  This can not be allowed under any circumstances.

Comment by Rod Morrill on August 13, 2011 at 12:37am

Patricia,

 

 

I am very much in agreement with you in opposing "neighborhood councils" and Chris Hand's comment that the Mayor was going to "reorganize" city government with the comment that boards and commissions were not exempt from that, right after CM Yarborough's reference to CPAC's meeting the citizen involvement goal, sounded like it would be the mayor's committees instead CPAC, and that is a VERY dangerous implication.

Do you think we could get a reading from Yarborough as how he interpreted that comment?

What about contacting all the CPAC's since this may threaten all of their existance?

 

Rod

Comment by Theresa Pletcher on August 12, 2011 at 9:11pm

Isn't that why we elect City Council Reps?  I agree Community Organizing/Mayoral Czars!