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Come Together: Jacksonville's Consolidation -- Part 9

With all the discussion of efficiency, economy of scale in centralizing purchasing and maintenance, and reduction of duplication to make city government more transparent, responsive, and accountable, there was the added impetus of the revelations of corruption that surfaced in the nearly two years preceding the vote on consolidation. In 1965, television station WJXT's news department began an investigation into reports of corruption.  A Washington Post-Newsweek station, WJXT prided itself on its investigative reporting.   Allegations arising out of this investigation involved purchase of luxury cars for officials without competitive bids; excessive insurance costs; lawsuits arising out of squabbles between the City Council and the City Commission, and more.[1] WJXT called for a grand jury investigation in February of 1966.  Criminal Court judge Marion W. Gooding impaneled a grand jury and instructed them to prove WJXT either right or wrong.  30 June 1966, the gr...
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Come Together: The Story of Jacksonville's Consolidation -- Part 8

The Duval County Local Government Study Commission continued its report with its definition of the purpose of government, that is: to meet the needs of the people, with responsiveness and adaptability.  Jacksonville's mayor-council-commission form had been designed around checks and balances, but the system had become unbalanced, and failed to serve that basic purpose of meeting the needs of the citizens.   The commission dissected the basic ills of county government, finding that the county in Florida was basically "an adjunct of the state."  The county had little authority to act independently, and was dependent solely on ad valorem taxes for revenue.  The failure of that arrangement was brought painfully home when the county's high schools were disaccredited for lack of funds for proper operation.   The city had more authority and more sources of revenue.  In addition to ad valorem taxes, there were license fees, cigarette-tax rebates from the state...
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Come Together: The Story of Jacksonville's Consolidation -- Part 7

 The Duval County Local Government Study Commission saw six needs that would have to be met by any form of government that was to replace the outmoded, cumbersome, and confusing Mayor-Council-Commission form that had not been able to deal with the problems faced by Jacksonville. (Blueprint, 6-7) 1.  A governmental structure that is responsive to all of the area's citizens. 2.  A governmental structure easily understood by the citizenry and that encourages citizen participation in the local government process. 3.  A structure that simplifies citizens' ability to discern where they needed to interact with the government to present their problems and grievances.  Such simplification would make the citizens' votes more meaningful and effective. 4.  Maximum service from government agencies and officials with a minimum taxpayer burden; a streamlined administrative structure that emphasizes economy and efficiency. 5.  A structure better suited, with capabilit...
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Come Together: The Story of Jacksonville's Consolidation -- Part 6

 Aside from the disaccreditation of the county's high schools, there were several other pressing problems facing Jacksonville and Duval County separately: 2.  A high degree of water and air pollution.  I can testify to this.  I was in Los Angeles with a group, and we were gathered on a hill in Hollywood looking out over the L.A. Basin at the smog.  Some of the members of the group commented on how awful it was.   "Take a sniff," I told them.  That was met with puzzled looks.  I repeated, "Take a sniff.  Smell the air." The group could detect no foul odors. "That's right," I said.  "Where I'm from, not only can you see the pollution in the air, you can smell it."  Then I explained to them that we had several very smelly industries in Jacksonville: Jefferson Smurfit, makers of cardboard boxes; St. Joe Paper Company, the product in the name; a couple other odor-generating companies the names of which I don't remember . . .   There...
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And now for something completely different: Rex, the big orange dinosaur

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 Jacksonville has what is probably the most quirky, offbeat, unique historical landmark around. It is 20 feet tall, holding a very large legbone with one hand.  It has red eyes that light up, short arms, a white belly, and a mouth full of sharp teeth.  It is located at 10150 Beach Boulevard, in front of an unprepossessing strip mall.  The mall used to be the site of a wacky entertainment called Goony Golf.  Goony Golf provided wonderful entertainment in the heyday of the miniature golf course craze.  Mini-golf was big fun; I played a lot of it when I was a kid, and I played some of it at Goony Golf. Goony Golf was the most fun, because there was this huge orange dinosaur, an ersatz Tyrannosaurus Rex, that everyone came to know as Rex.  Rex would lift the bone with his left hand and open a door in which your golf balls would be collected at the end of play.  Rex was a hit, and won the affection of Jacksonville citizens.  When Goony Golf was d...
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Come Together: The Story of Jacksonville's Consolidation - Part 5

 It came as no surprise to anyone that the first item in the Duval County Local Government Study Commission's list of specific problems requiring a rethinking of the form of government was the disaccreditation of the county's schools. I was a senior at Alfred I duPont Junior-Senior High School in Duval County in the 1964-1965 school year.  I and my college-bound classmates were anxious over our prospects of being accepted at the college of our choice.  Here's why: 10 November 1964, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools informed Duval County School Superintendent Ish Brant that, as of 30 November, Duval County's public schools would be stripped of their accreditation on the basis of inadequate financial support for the schools.(Marbut, Daily Record )  This inadequacy resulted from a determined and deliberate assessment of county properties for tax purposes at about 40% of the legally-mandated fair market value.(Walter v. Schuler, 81)  The resulting sho...
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Come Together: The Story of Jacksonville's Consolidation -- Part 4

 In 1966, problems and needs in Jacksonville had reached critical mass, and something had to be done to find solutions to these necessities.  Crime was high, the schools had been disaccredited, waste and corruption threatened the city and its population.  The Duval County Local Government Study Commission was created in 1966 to study the situation and provide recommendations.  In the letter of transmittal attached to the report, the commission suggested that the solution was to "abolish all existing local governments . . . [and] provide a modern redesigned governmental structure to meet the needs of our entire county."  Such a government would be "based on the traditional separation of powers . . . [with] strong emphasis placed on checks and balances."  The commission also promised delivery of a new city charter "on or before February 1, 1967," and recommended a vote by the electorate on the issue, suggesting the election be held in May of 1967.(Blueprint ...
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