Mayor Peyton Presents the 2008 Budget to City Council

[Lunican]

Watch from your computer on Monday, July 14 at 10 a.m.!

Mayor John Peyton will present the city's Fiscal Year 2008-09 budget to the Jacksonville City Council on Monday, with an emphasis on his plans to turn the tide of violent crime in Jacksonville. You can watch the presentation from your desk by going to the streaming video link that will be provided here before the event. The mayor’s remarks begin at 10 a.m. Monday.

Don't forget that you will need to be on a computer with speakers to hear the presentation.

http://coj.net/

[Lunican]

The Florida Times-Union

July 14, 2008

City Council to take look at the books

By DAVID HUNT,
The Times-Union

There was talk about a tax increase, cutting spending by 10 percent, and simply getting by with less.

In the end, Jacksonville taxpayers are left with a $972.3 million budget that City Council will begin to review this morning.

Millions of dollars in new spending are aimed at public safety at a time when millions more essentially fell out of the city's revenue expectations as a result of statewide tax reform.

While city officials say negotiations to balance the numbers were not heated, other interested parties said negotiations were nonexistent.

Bill Scheu, who chairs Jacksonville Public Library's board of trustees, said his board had no input before $1 million was chopped from the library's book-buying fund.

Full Article:
http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/071408/met_303463404.shtml

[Lunican]

Video: http://media.coj.net/COJCouncil

Audio Only: http://media.coj.net/COJCouncil_Audio_Only

[Driven1]

"the bad guys put bullets into our children and kill the future of this city."


"we are going to show no mercy for those who wreak havoc on our streets"


bad kids will be put into "suspension centers".


"i want the bad guys to know this...we are coming after you...police will arrest you, prosecutors will take you to trial and judges will put you in jail."

[Driven1]

susie wiles has served three mayors, she's been a friend to all of us. thank you for your time, thank you for your service (clapping).


i endorsed all of the recommendations of the jax journey.  none are frivolous and all are necessary.  then i had to look at each one through a filter of what local govt can and should do.


we will focus on 3 primary areas...

increase police presence

keeping kids engaged

help ex-offenders stay away from a life of crime.



allocating $30 million in new officers now and $40 million for NEXT year.

$4mill in overtime patrol divisions now.

[Driven1]

last year, 17,000 students missed more than 20 days of school.  truancy is out of control.

50,000 out of school suspensions last year.

in some cases, they will add to the army opposing our police force.  i'm saddened when i hear the kids that should be out playing ball are carrying glocks and ak-47s.

[Driven1]

this budget includes another $13.5 million for after-school and summer programs for kids.

$1.5 million of out-of-school suspension centers

$600,000 for after school recreation for ages 13-17

[Driven1]

as for the jax journey recommendations not included in my budget...that money will come from...

school board investments
private sector funding for mentoring
state and federal grants

[Driven1]

"take back our town"

recommending that these funds go under the oversight of jax journey to ensure dollars go straight into winning the war and not funding a beaurocracy.


future funding based on performance and measurable results.

i want to leave this very clear message...

soccer moms, sr citizens, builders, teachers, children...

we are in a war against criminals and we are taking back our town.

we are in this war as a community together.

council, i am asking you to join me in this fight.

jax is a city destined for greatness.

it is our obligation and responsibility to remove those barriers holding us back.

[Driven1]

with you and with me, we can win this war on crime.

invest to save both the soul and future of this city.

may God bless the people of this city and may God bless Jacksonville.

end.

[Radio Talk Show Host]

are you quoting Mayor Peyton?

with you and with me, we can win this war on crime.

invest to save both the soul and future of this city.

may God bless the people of this city and may God bless Jacksonville.

end.

[thelakelander]

Yes, he was quoting Peyton, probably from the live video and audio streams earlier this morning.

[Driven1]

Yes, he was quoting Peyton, probably from the live video and audio streams earlier this morning.

that is correct.

[brainstormer]

I haven't had a chance to listen to the mayor's speech yet.  Can anyone tell me if he talked about parental responsibility?  There are so many parents in this city who are not taking their number 1 job of parenting seriously.  We can't save the children on our own.

[Driven1]

I haven't had a chance to listen to the mayor's speech yet.  Can anyone tell me if he talked about parental responsibility?  There are so many parents in this city who are not taking their number 1 job of parenting seriously.  We can't save the children on our own.

just curious (cause i don't know the answer - i caught and partially transcribed the middle to end parts) - what if he did mention it?  him mentioning it - or even throwing money at the problem - would not fix this right?  just curious.