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 for Improvement, page 2.)

The commission embarked on fifteen months of intense research by eighty-plus citizens.  Fifty commission members were named by the Duval County legislative delegation, consisting of men and women of note in the county.  Another thirty-plus members were nominated as an advisory committee by twenty-eight community organizations specified in the enabling act.  This group divided itself into six working task forces of ten to fifteen members each.  Each was assigned an aspect of local government to study and propose recommendations concerning solving the city's and the county's problems.(Blueprint, page 5)

 In the front matter of the report, the committee addressed the citizens of Duval County, inside and outside the city limits: "We ask you to measure the recommended plan against the local government we now have; we believe you will find the recommended plan a clear improvement. . . . We regard our only real enemy as an uninformed and apathetic citizenry."(Blueprint, page 5)

The commission gave a rundown of the general problems and needs facing the city and county:

1. Rapid population growth

2. Confusion and complexity of jurisdictional authority unrelated to total community needs, resulting in an imbalance in tax burden between city and county, and in the arbitrary disenfranchisement of voters.

3. An apathetic electorate unable to determine if they should take their concerns to the city or the county, or which agencies within those two entities were responsible.

4. Both the city and the county without clear legal authority to meet community needs.

5. Inadequate urban services.

6. Inefficient and costly duplication of services.

7. Inadequate planning for present and future needs.

8. Rising taxes.

In the next part of this series, I'll examine specific problems and needs under this umbrella of general concerns. 

Duval County (Florida), Local Government Study Commission, Blueprint for Improvement, 1966. (Jacksonville: No publisher, 1966).  Online resource of the George W. Simons, Jr., Planning Collection, University of North Florida Thomas G. Carpenter Library, Special Collections and Archives.  UNF Digital Commons: https://digitalcommons.unf.edu/simonsflorida/8/.

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