Neighborhoods, Community Services, Public Health and Safety Committee Meeting - June 1, 2026
Neighborhoods, Community Services, Public Health and Safety Committee Meeting - June 1, 2026
The Neighborhoods, Community Services, Public Health and Safety Committee of the Jacksonville City Council met on Monday, June 1, 2026, from 9:30 AM to 10:54 AM in the Council Chamber. The meeting was chaired by Mike Gay and attended by members Randy White, Ron Salem, Ken Amaro, and Michael Boylan; Chris Miller and Tyrona Clark-Murray were excused. The committee took action on numerous ordinances, including authorizing a major waste-hauler contract amendment, approving a below-appraised-value sale of the former JEA headquarters, and advancing summer youth employment programs.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Carnell Oliver spoke on agenda items 2026-0452 and 2026-0451, criticizing city spending on developers and NGOs and expressing support for Governor DeSantis’s proposed tax exemption, claiming it would curb frivolous spending.
- John Nooney commented on multiple agenda items (2024-966, 2026-358, 2026-364, 2026-377, 2026-378, 2026-382, 2026-388, 2026-391, 2026-396, and 2026-450), making three donations to trust funds and questioning the use of Environmental Protection Fund dollars for a “party” and the Jacksonville University College of Law loan forgiveness.
Discussion Items
- 2026-0377 – Downtown Entertainment District Report (Deferred): Council Member Johnson introduced a bill requiring the Council Secretary to prepare a comprehensive report on the extended hours of operation (2–3 a.m. vs. other hours) in the Downtown Entertainment District, using data from JFRD, JSO, ride-share usage, noise complaints, and pedestrian counts. Council Secretary Jason Teal argued this was outside his office’s expertise and resources, while Council Member Johnson stated the Northeast Florida Regional Council had agreed to produce the report and that the Secretary would only shepherd it. After extensive debate, an amendment by Council Member White to change “prepare” to “distribute” was withdrawn, and the bill was deferred to allow reworking of language.
- 2026-0452 – Goodwill Summer Youth Works Program (Substitute approved): Council Member Gaffney Jr. initially proposed appropriating $75,000 from the District 8 Traffic Calming account for the program. Committee members expressed strong concerns about using safety funds for non-safety purposes, leading to a substitute motion by Council Member Boylan to instead fund the program at $150,000 from the General Fund Operating Reserves, with an expectation that Gaffney would introduce separate legislation to replenish reserves from the traffic calming account. The substitute also changed oversight from Kids Hope Alliance (KHA) to Grants and Contract Compliance, removed KHA waivers, and added a waiver of Section 118.107. The substitute was approved unanimously.
- 2026-0388 – JEA Former Headquarters Sale: The committee debated the sale of the JEA Tower, Customer Center, and Adair Building (appraised at $14,975,000) to Jewel at 21 West, LLC for $1 million—a 93% discount. JEA representative Jordan Pope stated the only other bid was $0, reflecting the property’s complexity and required capital investment. Developer Paul Bertozzi said his firm would spend $2–3.5 million on due diligence. Council Member Salem and others expressed reservations but supported it after learning the developer bears evaluation costs. No clawback provisions exist if the developer flips the property, but JEA would save ~$1 million per year in maintenance. Approved 5-0.
- 2026-0387 – School Board Millage Referendum: The committee debated a bill to place a referendum on continuing the existing one-mill ad valorem tax for school operations on the November 3, 2026 ballot. Council Member Boylan noted a pending state bill that may remove this requirement. Council Member Salem voted against, citing a potential tax increase; others emphasized it was a ministerial obligation and would let voters decide. Approved 4-1 (Salem nay).
- 2026-0335 – Meridian Waste Contract Amendment: The committee approved a first amendment to extend the Service Area I (Westside) contract through 9/30/32, with an 8.8% per-premise rate increase from $20.26 to $22.05 for FY 2026/27. Assistant Council Auditor Peterson noted the increase equates to ~$1.1 million per year over a calculated CPI and ~$7 million over the remaining term. The amendment also included a $75,000 Community Partnership Investment, capped CPI adjustments at 5% with no downward adjustment, and established an extraordinary rate adjustment process requiring Council approval. Approved 5-0.
- 2026-0451 – LISC Small Business Grant Term Sheet: Emergency action approved an amendment to extend the grant term to 12/31/26 and expand eligibility to businesses with up to $750,000 in annual revenue (up from $400,000). Council Member Gaffney said many small businesses exceeded the previous cap; Council Member Amaro requested more data on anticipated beneficiaries. Approved 5-0.
Key Outcomes
- Actions Taken (all approved 5-0 unless noted):
- 2026-0335 – Meridian Waste contract amendment (with amendment).
- 2026-0378 – Amendment to Chapter 250 (permit suspension/revocation) shifting authority to Special Magistrate.
- 2026-0380 – Tax Collector lease extension (12961 North Main Street) through 9/30/27 with one additional optional year; monthly rent increases ~$1,100 to $15,100.
- 2026-0381 – Conveyance of 2.04 acres of city-owned property (parking lot) to University of Florida, reducing the city’s maximum indebtedness by $5 million.
- 2026-0382 – Appropriation of $45,000 from the Environmental Protection Fund for board education, food/beverage, travel, supplies, training, and dues.
- 2026-0383 – Authorization for DIA to impose regulatory fees for cost recovery (fee framework approved by DIA Board).
- 2026-0385 – $25,000 grant to Happy Brew, Inc. for the Art Force Vocational Training Program.
- 2026-0386 – $3.8 million development loan (1% interest, 20 years) for 108 affordable housing units across three sites (Tracy Road, Justina Court, Ricker Road); units reserved for households ≤60% AMI.
- 2026-0387 – School millage referendum placed on Nov. 3, 2026 ballot (vote 4-1).
- 2026-0388 – Sale of JEA former headquarters for $1 million (vote 5-0).
- 2026-0390 – Appropriation of $1,342,200.40 for traffic signal rebuilds at 21st St. East/Liberty St. North and 21st St. West/Boulevard St.
- 2026-0391 – Delegation agreement with FDEP for domestic wastewater program authority.
- 2026-0393 – $23,417.50 in state grant funds for mosquito control Tier II programs (with amendment).
- 2026-0394 – $350,000 FDOT grant for traffic signalization improvements (Monument & Regency area).
- 2026-0395 – UNF 2035 Campus Master Plan Development Agreement (public hearing opened/closed, no speakers).
- 2026-0396 – Amendment to Public Investment Policy adding endowment grants (up to $10,000 each) for the Jacksonville Fostering Filmmakers Grant Program.
- 2026-0451 – Emergency approval of LISC Small Business Employment Re-Grant term sheet amendment (revenue cap increased to $750,000).
- 2026-0452 – Emergency approval of $150,000 for Goodwill Summer Youth Works Program (via substitute from operating reserves; 50 youth served).
- 2026-0466 – Emergency approval of $125,000 for Vision for Excellence, Inc. Summer and After School Discovery Experience Program in Council District 14.
- Deferred Items: 2024-0966, 2025-0361, 2026-0227, 2026-0318, 2026-0320, 2026-0358, 2026-0364, 2026-0377, 2026-0418, and 2026-0319 (public hearing only, deferred for Council public hearing).
Meeting Transcript
Well good morning everyone welcome to our June 1st neighborhoods meeting. I'll call the meeting to order, and we'll go ahead and start with introductions to my left with Mr. Delaney. Good morning, y'all. Bill Delaney, Mayor's Office. Brandon Russell, Council Research. Mary Stephopolis, Office of General Counsel. Philip Peterson, Council's Office. Roman. Good morning, Michael Boyle, and happy Monday. Uh Kenamara, City Council, District 1. Brandy White, District 12. White Gay, District 2. Ron Salem, Group 2 at large. Ratman Johnson, District 14. Good morning. Just visiting. Good morning, Councilman. Reginald Gaffin and Julia just visiting District 8. Well, welcome, visiting Council members. Glad to have you here. Do we have any public comment cards? All right. We have two. The first speaker will be Cornell Oliver. Please come on down. You'll be given three minutes to speak directly to a specific item on our agenda and uh state your name and address or say it's on file for the record. Mr. Oliver, you have three minutes. Uh yes, my name is Carneg Oliver. Uh addresses on file. I want to speak to the KHA funding that has come in, being sponsored by uh Mr. Um Gabney Jr. And I also want to speak about the 700 something thousand dollars cap. When it comes down to city funding, I have my red light is coming on and on, because thing about it is that money a lot of money has been thrown to waste, and some of the biggest lessons that I've learned is through COVID 19 years. I will never forget the lessons that I learned because if properly, if this city was a good store with taxpayer dollars, we wouldn't be in the situation that we're in. And it leaves me to talk about what the Bible says. The old testament talks about discipline and personal responsibility, right? The new testament talks about forgiveness because somebody paid the ultimate cost for somebody else breaking a lot of furnace. At this point in time, you look at me like I'm homeless, right? Of course I am. You expect me to get off my butt, do my part. How do you expect me to be a productive member of society when the resources that y'all put out on the streets are not going to the ones that need it the most? Your line in pockets of NGOs, developers. I am one of the biggest supporters right now of Ron DeSante's $250,000 tax exempt because it'll cripple NGOs, it'll stop all this frivolous spending, and we can fire some of these crooked city employees. I'm at a breaking point right now with all the mass corruption, especially some of these rhinos on this city council. Too much furniture has got broken because of ignorance. I have told you plenty of times about moving fools, but you made this wrong choices, time after time after time, and everybody's paying for it. All right, thank you. Our next speaker will be Mr.
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