Come Together: The Story of Jacksonville's Consolidation - Part 3

 

Proponents of consolidation in 1933 took to heart the lessons of the failed 1923 effort, and enlisted the aid of the Jacksonville Bar Association in supporting consolidation.  The Bar Association signed on, and appointed a committee to study the idea. The committee reinforced the notion that a constitutional amendment was necessary to allow Jacksonville to consolidate with Duval County.  The committee also supported the contention that consolidation would save money and improve efficiency by eliminating duplication in many areas. (Towers, 67)

The Bar Association then wrote the text of a Joint Resolution to be proposed in the state legislature, that the state's constitution be amended to allow Jacksonville and Duval County to become one municipal entity, with proposed wording for such an amendment.  The resolution was passed in May of 1933, and signed by the Governor 25 May, 1933.  Then it was up to the voters of Duval County.

The final obstacle, passage of consolidation by the voters of Duval County was not cleared.  Towers attributes this second failure of consolidation to sabotage "by a well organized minority led by office-holders and professional politicians who were motivated solely by their own selfish interests rather than the good of the community in which they lived." (Towers, 81) Even with this defeat, Towers credits the 1933 consolidation effort with these improvements: laws introducing civil service qualifications and protecting employee pensions; laws intended to protect free and fair elections; reduction in the number of city council positions; and a law "requiring the city attorney to confine his practice solely to city business."  The civil service law also protected employees from being forced by their supervisors to engage in political activity, as happened with the 1933 anti-consolidation efforts. The 1933 movement also resulted in the amendment to the state constitution allowing Jacksonville and Duval County to merge should the voters express a desire to do so some time in the future. (Towers, 188)

What would have happened had consolidation passed in 1933?  Prognostication is always risky.  One thing that would have happened is a savings in the city's expenses.  In 1933, one estimate of the annual savings possible had consolidation passed put the figure at $351,300, which in 2024 money, using the inflation calculator at www.westegg.com/inflation, amounts to $8,666,133.34.  Such savings might have allowed the city to embark upon projects that would have resulted in greater progress toward the goal of making Jacksonville a more vibrant city with more opportunities to attract more businesses.  Even under the old system of government, Jacksonville managed to attract first-tier insurance companies such as Prudential and Independent Life.  How much more business would the city have attracted under consolidation passed in 1933?  The 1968 consolidation has been credited with making it possible for Jacksonville to become a medical hub, with expansion of two of its hospitals to first-tier status: Baptist Medical Center and St. Vincent's Medical Center (now Ascension St. Vincent's).  The city also attracted a Mayo Clinic in 1986.  Consolidation is said to have made it possible for the city to be granted an NFL football franchise with the establishment of the Jacksonville Jaguars.  The city also hosted Super Bowl XXXIX in 2005.

 Source:  Towers, William Benjamin, The Duval County-Jacksonville Experience: a Case Study of the Consolidation Movement in Local Government. (Original Publisher and date unknown; typed manuscript).  University of North Florida: UNF digital commons; stable URL https://digitalcommons.unf.edu/jaxdoc/7/ (Accessed 6 May 2025).

 

 

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