Come Together: The Story of Jacksonville's Consolidation - Part 2

 

1968 was not the first time Jacksonville had considered consolidation.  There were two efforts before that year: a proposal in 1923 and another in 1933.

 The initial effort to effect a consolidation of the city and county governments was in 1923.  Lack of political effort doomed that move.  Proponents of consolidation failed to realize that they needed to mount a campaign of public education covering the entire state of Florida for the proposal to succeed. (Towers, 64)  A key element in that public education was that an amendment to the state constitution would be necessary for the city and county to consolidate.  People in the other counties in Florida who had no stake in events in Duval County would be hard-pressed to care, and may have been suspicious that "any movement started in one section of the State might spread and eventually include their county." (Towers, 64)  The specter of change often engenders resistance.

 Jacksonville’s city government was an "unorthodox" mixture unique among municipal governments in the United States, being a mayor-council-commission form. (Towers, 54)  In my class in local government at Florida State University in the spring of 1966, we discussed this unique form.  The conclusion of that discussion was that the form was difficult, if not downright absurd, having little to recommend it.  Consolidation, also part of the discussion. was seen to be a better form if for nothing else than for the elimination of massive and costly duplication. 

 One of the flaws of the particular version of the mayor-council-commission form of government was that the mayor was weak, having little authority.  William Towers, author of a thesis on consolidation (see source note, below) sees the mayor, under the old form, as "nothing but the 'glorified handshaker' for the city." (Towers 55)  However, he sees this as a positive element, seeing the mayor as more the public relations person for the city than anything else. 

 Control of the city's administration, and the greatest amount of power in city government, was in the City Commission.  Thus, the City Commission was the Executive Branch of the city's government.  The legislative branch was the City Council, which Towers described as having little actual power, characterizing the City Council as a stepping-stone to eventual election to the much more powerful City Commission. (Towers, 58)  One bit of power the City Council did have was the power of the purse, having the sole power to make the city’s budget.  The Commission spent the money, with the Council looking over their shoulders "as a check against overspending by the Commission." (Towers, 59)

 Duval County, on the other hand, had a County Commission, which constituted the county administration.  The main concerns of the County Commission were: building and maintenance of county roads and associated infrastructure, such as bridges;  the county prison farm; schools; the judiciary; elections; and policing by the County Sheriff's office.  Schools within the Jacksonville city limits, as well as those outside, were all administered by the Duval County School Board.  The County had jurisdiction over all of the area of the geographical county outside of the municipalities of Jacksonville, Jacksonville Beach, Atlantic Beach, Neptune Beach, and Baldwin. (Towers, 59)

 The existence of separate governments of Jacksonville and Duval County resulted in a great deal of duplication in several areas: general administration, finance, tax assessment and collection, policing, the judiciary, and legal representation for the county, the city, and various departments and their directors. (Towers, 60-62)  However, with all the advantages of elimination of all the duplication, consolidation in 1933 failed.  Towers attributes that to "selfish interests, opposed to consolidation," who "commanded so many votes that they were finally able to defeat this Movement." (Towers, 62)

 Source: 

Source:  Towers, William Benjamin, The Duval County-Jacksonville Experience: a Case Study of the Consolidation Movement in Local Government. (Original Publisher and date unknown [1947?]; typed manuscript of a thesis, not identified).  University of North Florida: UNF digital commons; stable URL https://digitalcommons.unf.edu/jaxdoc/7/ (Accessed 6 May 2025).

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