JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Two crises came to a head during the Jacksonville City Council's meeting Tuesday evening.
The debate centered on spending more than a million dollars on the opioid epidemic and spending $200,000 on swimming lessons for children to help with the rash of drownings in Jacksonville.
It ended with money going to both issues, but swimming lessons took a hit.
City Councilman Garrett Dennis believes a lot more children could have benefited if the Council had funded a $200,000 plan he had to enhance swimming lessons. He pointed to the high number of drownings this year for the reason.
"I wanted more (funding). We have a lot of kids and, think about it, there's a lot of water here in Jacksonville," Dennis told News4Jax on Wednesday.
What received the biggest share of the money Tuesday night was a nearly $1.5 million pilot program to help those who overdose on heroin or other opioids, which was backed by Councilman Bill Gulliford.
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"The issues are not the same. He tried to tie it to dying. I know there are young kids that have died in swimming accidents. But it pales in terms of numbers by comparison. We are talking about potentially 700 people dying from opioid drug overdose this year in Jacksonville," Gulliford said.
Dennis withdrew his request after he received something else -- a promise from the mayor.
"We will have in the proposed budget a citywide year-round swimming program," Mayor Lenny Curry said. "And I would stay tuned for details."
Dennis did get some funding -- $25,000 that will immediately go to helping 1,600 children get swimming lessons.
"He indicated that year-round swimming will be much more than I could've imagined with the $200,000," Dennis said. "I would love to see the details. We are all waiting on the details on that."
The details will more than likely come when the budget is introduced in mid-July.
But some see the debate as the beginning of a very interesting year for in the Council, with the mayor standing ground on his plan and Dennis, who will head the Finance Committee, standing his ground.