Councilman Rockmont Johnson convened a town hall meeting for Jacksonville's District 14 at Hillcrest Church. The meeting focused on budget updates, the Argyle sign replacement, the College Road sidewalk project, and the long-awaited Old Middleburg Road widening project (Phase 2A). Residents raised concerns about traffic safety, property access, and community amenities. The meeting began at 6:08 PM and included a presentation from the Public Works Department and a question-and-answer session.
Yeah. And now it's your turn. And with that, it is your turn. Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Come on, West Side, we can do better than that. Good afternoon. Thank you. The West Side is the best side. Plus, as someone told me, we're the closest district to the University of Florida. So what time for the kids? I don't know. I like Florida State. Don't be me up. I might agree or still on equal opportunity, but there it is. It's great to be here for those I don't know, or if you're new to the new to the district. My name is Rockmont Johnson. I'm a member of the Jacksonville City Council. I represent this district, which is District 14. I don't see any other elected officials in here, or I would recognize them, but I must recognize one of my predecessors who's become a dear friend, John Draper, Councilman Draper, somewhere. I saw him. Is he around? Where is the council? Okay, I'll make sure to recognize it when he comes back. But John Draper held this office uh about 20 years ago, but still a trusted advisor and great friend, so I always want to recognize him for being here. Also, uh, we're gonna have our agenda. Uh those of you who came in should have been able to pick it up. We do things a little bit different on the West Side, so that's a good thing. Uh you'll you'll be able to find digital access for this meeting, so you don't have to worry about sign and sheets, you can sign in digitally as well as you'll be able to use the QR codes. So you'll see those codes uh to my right and left and behind me uh and right here in front of me. Those QR codes will allow you to have comments. Usually they're comment cards by law, we have to have public comment cards, but I felt it was easier for you to do them digitally than any other other way. So uh I'm thankful for technology, and even if it fails, we do have a way to make sure you still have the comments. Uh I also, before we start uh officially and completely, uh we're calling the meeting to order at uh 608. Uh I want to thank the pastor, the staff, the team here at Hillcrest. Let's give them a round of applause, please. They have been amazing. We're trying to put this meeting together. There's so many moving parts. The list kept expanding as to what we're talking about. And by the way, uh councilman, I recognize you. Please raise your hand. Uh stand for us. That's John Draper. He was the former council member for this district and my friend and advisor. Thank you, John, for the work you continue to do. Um, but I thank everyone from this church because they worked so diligently to ensure that this meeting happens. So thank you, thank you, thank you. Um, and uh, if there's anything we could do on the city level for you, in fact, I have some ideas as I was walking around here earlier this morning, so uh we'll talk about that. Uh you had a chance to see before everything got started the budget video for the mayor of Jacksonville. This year, the good news about District 14 is that I'm on the finance committee this year, which is a really good thing.