JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – After months of back-and-forth, the Jacksonville City Council Finance Committee could be changing how $40 million in community benefits funding tied to the Jaguars’ stadium deal would be managed.
The key vote moved the tens of millions of dollars promised to Jacksonville’s Eastside closer to being spent.
Recommended Videos
The shift comes after concerns from the city’s Inspector General — and it could affect who controls the money meant for housing, jobs, and homelessness services in the Eastside.
Originally, the CBA 2.0 Committee chose to use a Cultural Council-style model with a nonprofit managing the funds.
But warnings from the Inspector General and city auditors raised concerns about oversight.
On Monday, two City Council committees unanimously backed a substitute ordinance introduced by Councilman Ron Salem, recommending the city oversee the CBA.
“These are taxpayer dollars, and I felt like we needed a lot more control over those dollars to make sure they’re used effectively,” Salem explained. “The Opioid model, as we’re calling it, is based in government here. So the employees will be hired through the city, and the auditors, the inspector general, and all those people will have a lot more accessibility to the process by it being in government.”
Some Eastside residents say voting to switch to the opioid model shows council members are listening.
“It gives us more confidence because now it’s gonna be a fair and competitive process, and also the good thing about the city taking over this process is that ... the loss prevention is there,” said Latavia Harris, vice president of the Together Eastside Coalition Inc.
Nigelle Kohn said she favored the Cultural Council model because it emphasized community input in decisions affecting Eastside residents and businesses.
“It’s a little disappointing, however, I believe that, um, any of those models will continue to work for the East Side, explained Kohn. ”I think we wanted to make sure that the community really had a voice in the decisions that were going to be made for the East side and for the businesses and for the residents of the East Side. I’m not sure if the opioid model will give the voice that we want it to give, but either way, I think the community’s going to be okay, and I think the model will work.”
The proposal still needs to be presented to the full City Council at the next council meeting.
If approved, the city would begin appointing board members and staff, finally allowing the funding to roll out.
Some Eastside residents are hoping this final vote turns long-promised dollars into real change.