TALLAHASSEE - State legislation needed to allow Jacksonville to shutter the Jacksonville Economic Development Commission took its first step Monday.

Because the JEDC is in the city’s charter, it requires the Legislature to pass a bill to change or eliminate the commission. The bill unanimously passed the House Community and Military Affairs Subcommittee with no debate among committee members.

Mario Rubio, the city’s Tallahassee lobbyist, said the bill is only the first step in giving City Hall control over the JEDC.

“It would still have to go before [the] City Council and there would be public hearings,” he said.

Rubio said Mayor Alvin Brown has no concrete plans but wants the increased flexibility as part of his sweeping reorganization plan.

The bill “just gives us the ability to, once we finalize our reorganization, to bring it in and do what we need to do,” he said.

Brown has tapped a task force with taking a close look at the JEDC and to provide recommendations with how to move forward.

The House committee’s 15 members from across the state were given a less-than-stellar impression of Jacksonville’s chief economic development organization. A staff analysis given to each member when considering the bill highlighted an auditor general report blasting the commission’s lack of oversight. Auditors found the JEDC improperly paid hundreds of thousands of do... in incentives to companies who pledged to create local jobs.

“The report found that the lack of basic internal controls and procedures has resulted in financial losses for the City of Jacksonville,” the analysis read.

The analysis did hand the bill a tough-to-get endorsement from Capitol gadfly Brian Pitts. He often testifies on legislation, but it’s rarely positive.

“With that information that was given on that report I would say, ‘Here is the deal. It is going under the city. End of story,’ ” Pitts said.

The bill will now go to another House panel. It has no companion in the Senate.

Read more at Jacksonville.com: http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2012-02-13/story/bill-end-jedc-p...