Rick Mullaney: A History of the Consolidation Movement

[Rick Mullaney]

Good afternoon everyone. This is my first live blog and I want to thank Metro Jacksonville for giving me this chance to participate in this discussion of consolidation. And I want to thank the readers.

There have been some very good questions and comments on yesterday's article on the history of consolidation and today's article on understanding consolidation.

I will try to address these questions as best I can. Please feel free to follow up or ask additional questions:

(1) Has it worked? What would Jacksonville look like today without consolidation? Very fair questions. I don't think it will surprise you, given what I told the Charter Review Commission, for me to say I believe has worked and dramatically so. Over the last forty years, as I told the Commission, Jacksonville has undergone, in my opinion, a transformational change. There are many reasons for that change, but one of the fundamental reasons is consolidated government. Structurally, it allows us to approach public policy differently. It allows us to speak with one voice as a community, leverage our assets countywide, and pursue bold public policy objectives. It puts us in position to transform our community. This is part of the answer as to how such a small community was able to get an NFL team, acquire over 50,000 acres for the preservation project (the largest such program in the state), replace tolls with a half cent sales tax, pass a Better Jacksonville Plan, and move forward with Jacksonville Journey. Make no mistake. Structure does not create policy. It takes people and leadership. But in other parts of the state, and country, there are structural barriers and impediments to bold public policy and our form of government puts us in position to succeed. I will addresss this more, as reader like. In short, I believe consolidated government has been part of the foundation for our transform over the last 40 years and I think it is unlikely we would have the Jaguars, the Preservation Project, or the Better Jacksonville Plan without consolidated government.

(2) JEDC, Chamber, and economic development: how do prospects respond to consolidated government? Great question. Imagine you wanted to do business in Palm Beach and had to deal with a county government, 38 municipalities, and an assortment of other public entities? Or Miami-Dade and 35 muncipalities? Marshal Criser, at a health care symposium last year, described the municipalities in Palm Beach as engaging in "Afghan tribal warfare" in competition with each other for tech companies. So the companies went elsewhere. Also, imagine the overlapping jurisdictions when trying to do business in those and similar counties? In short: it is an enormous economic development advantage to have consolidated government and prospects respond very favorably to our structure.

(3) What happened to the Ethics Guidelines in the original charter? It is my understanding that the original Ethics Code in the Charter was moved to the ordinance code in 1972. It appears this was part of an overall reorganization. Let me also say that the original Code was very limited. In 1996, as Chief of Staff to former Mayor Delaney, I led a comprehensive re-write of the Code and asked Carla Miller, a good friend of mine from law school and a former federal prosecutor, to volunteer to help, as well as John Jolly, Steve Durden (now a professor at Florida Coastal) and others. It took us a while, but in 1999 a new, comprehensive Code of Ethics was passed. It was much more extensive than the original Code, brought all ethics provisions to one place, created an Ethics Officer and Ethics Officer system (for the first time), and gave specific responsibilities to the Ethics Commission. It was a major step in the right direction. Carla Miller, in particular, deserves great credit for the time and energy she has devoted to this effort.

(4) JTA: how seperate road building and mass transit into seperate legal entities? Is the Charter Revision Commission the right place for a discussion on the structure and role of JTA? Is is an independent authority under consolidated governemnt?

There are eight independent authorities under our consolidated government and the JTA is one of them. However, JTA is very independent, a state agency and a creature of state statute. JTA can only be reorganized by state statute. Uniquely, unlike JEA, JAA, JPA, etc. they do not have to use the General Counsel's Office for legal services. The Charter Revision Commission is an appropriate forum form any structural discussion of consolidated government, including the role of the JTA.

I hope this is helpful and provides some preliminary answers to most of the questions so far.

I am looking forward to the discussion. Thanks. Rick Mullaney.

[Rick Mullaney]

The "leveraging of assets" is what former Mayor Ed Austin sometimes describes as the "clout" Jacksonville has when it puts the entire community  ---- the business community, the civic community, the public sector, the media   --- and our nearly 900,000 people, behind a public policy initiative. He was describing the NFL effort in particular, but this applies beyond football. John Delaney took the point and leveraged available community assets (financial, political, media, public, etc) to pass the Better Jacksonville Plan. Mayor John Peyton did the same on Jacksonville Journey. This may seem straightforward, but in other communities divisiveness and fragmented political power makes it difficult and sometimes impossible.

[untarded]

Mr. Mullaney,  

Thank you for taking part in this discussion.

Having a friend in who's been in the Orange County fire dept and strongly supported consolidation in Orlando recently I can certainly appreciate the benefits of leveraging our assets.  One question that has been discussed on these boards in the past has been the effect of consolidation on our urban core.  There are many residents in these areas that may support higher taxes for more services, particularly light rail connecting downtown with the surrounding neighborhoods, however, when considering the entire city this type of project would likely have little support.  

Has consolidation stifled these types of interests in certain regions of the city?  How can they be overcome?

Thank you,
Erick Rasmussen

[Steve]

Rick - What was the process to split the Port into an airport and seaport authority?  I know it went to the state, but how did that happen?  Since JPA is a city agency, would that be the same process?

And Second (and completely unrelated):  I didn't see anything about the Beaches and Baldwin.  How did it come to be that they would be separate entities?

[stjr]

Rick, thanks for doing this.  I hope it is a big success and other public officials take on this approach to have unfiltered dialogue with the public they serve.

I raised the following comments and/or observations previously when it was revealed you were going to do this.  Your comments or thoughts, agree or disagree, on these subjects would be of interest.

The problem with the City Council structure is it is both the House (i.e. district reps) and Senate (i.e. the at-large reps) rolled into one body.  As such, those elected to look out for all of Jax (the at-large reps) can't control or veto the district projects approved through back room horse trading by the district reps who control a super majority of the council and tend to be more petty and backwards to placate their limited constituencies.

This has served to dilute the character of a consolidated government that is suppose to be more oriented toward the big picture for the good of the whole county, not specific districts.  This part of Jacksonville has not fulfilled its promise as a result and we are being held back by it.  It needs to top the list of changes.

While we are at it, we need to create an independent Parks, Preservation, Beautification, and Historical Commission with its own budget and enforcement powers (park police, litter patrols, historic code/restrictions enforcement, etc.).  Money could come from the city budget, park fees and rentals, and tax revenue derived from increased property values that result from its actions.

Also, please comment on elected versus appointed sheriff.

Can/should we restructure the Police and Fire Pension Fund structure, control, and relationships?

And , if there is an opportunity to address the structure of the school board and it's relationship with City government.

Thanks very much.

[stjr]

Other questions:

There have been several discussions on MJ about whether consolidation has helped or hurt the development of downtown by forcing the city to disperse its resources and efforts across the entire county.  And, as a consequence, if this has fostered excessive urban sprawl.  What do you think?

In a followup, if there has been a dilution in attention to the urban core, has this also weakened our efforts at historic preservation?  What can be done to better save the little that is left?

More thanks 

[Rick Mullaney]

Several questions and I hope this helps: (1) In the 1967 consolidation vote, the 3 beaches communities (Neptune, Atlantic, and Jacksonville Beach) and Baldwin had the option to retain their municipal status, which they did. As a result, the City of Jacksonville stands as a county government to these 4 municipalities and Jacksonville has a number of interlocal agreements with them; (2) The Port was split in 2001 into a seperate seaport authority (JPA) and Airport Authority (JAA) by an act of the Florida legislature, (3) One of the defining characteristics of consolidated government is a "strong mayor" form of government. This has nothing to do with the personality of the mayor, but the executive and administrative authority of the mayor. In over 90% of Florida's more than 400 municipalities, there is a "weak mayor" form of government. In other words, the mayor is usually one vote on the City Council and has no real executive authority. During the 40 years since consolidation, we have had 6 mayors and, for the most part, the urban core has been a significant priority and there have been significant financial investments in the urban core. There have been a number of approaches to downtown and the urban core, including the downtown development authority, JEDC, and the development of Tax Increment Districts downtown, and significant investment from the Better Jacksonville Plan, for example.  I do not believe consolidation has "stifled" the kinds of interests you are describing. As I said earlier, however, the structure does not create good public policy. It still takes good leadership.

[stjr]

One more issue regarding strengthening the competency of the Planning Commission and making it more independent of the people it regulates.  Please comment on my observations below previously posted on MJ:

Want to see an even more obvious extreme conflict of interests?  Investigate the makeup of the Planning Commission.  Because its totally unpaid and meets twice a month during the day, with little or no "prestige", they have a hard time filling positions by appointments.  This makes them heavily dependent on self-nominees/volunteers.

So who steps up?  Mainly people who consider it good for business and their career, especially by siding with developers, builders, movers and shakers.  I won't impeach everything the Planning Commission does, but there is the appearance of a heavy built-in bias and conflict of interest when it is heavily staffed by planners, architects, budding land-use attorneys looking for business, and other development dependent individuals.

The Planning Commission's lack of scrutiny is compounded when many remaining positions are filled by inexperienced and unqualified individuals who, lacking full time occupations, are looking for something to do during their spare time that adds a little excitement to their otherwise dull days.  These "commissioners" tend to follow like sheep those who seem to know more than they do because they are afraid to show signs of ignorance.

And, lest you think I came to this conclusion by myself, be assured it's been confirmed over time by City officials close to the action.

[Jason]

Stephen, check out "Untarded"s post on the previous page.

Quote:

Has consolidation stifled these types of interests in certain regions of the city?  How can they be overcome?

His comment was regarding transit and rail projects I believe.

[fsu813]

If Jacksonville is looked upon jealously in thier consolidation, what other cities are trying to do something similar?

Thanks.

[untarded]

If Jacksonville is looked upon jealously in thier consolidation, what other cities are trying to do something similar?

Thanks.

Orlando recently tried and failed.

A good friend of mine has been part of the Orange County Fire Dept.  He tells me that Orange County and Orlando Fire Dept pass each other daily on calls and frequently they end up at locations that would have more efficiently served by the other department.  Imagine this overlap and inefficiency happening for all city/county services.

[thelakelander]

Buffalo and Pittsburgh are two that are considering consolidation.

[untarded]

Stephen, check out "Untarded"s post on the previous page.

Quote:

Has consolidation stifled these types of interests in certain regions of the city?  How can they be overcome?

His comment was regarding transit and rail projects I believe.

I used transit and rail in the urban core as an example.  Certainly other neighborhoods may have special needs/interests that if they were in their own municipality may get resolution more quickly than when placed in a pool of needs/interests of a number of areas of the city and decided upon by a consolidated government.

I'm wondering also if the massive sprawl of our city is a result of consolidation and if it places greater challenges on a consolidated government.


I use this example in particular because I work for a large company that is part of a large family of companies.  We continue to consolidate and share services across companies.  While we achieve large cost savings and efficiencies by negotiating as one voice individual companies often struggle with their ability to be dynamic in a rapidly changing global marketplace because an individual company's request for services must be weighed against the request of others.

[Rick Mullaney]

There have been some great questions and many are getting into technical issues that the Charter Revision Commission is reviewing (eg appointed versus elected sheriff, independent entity for parks, make up of city council, the police and fire pension fund, school board, etc).

When I was before the Commission, and for all of you, I want to stress not the specific issues of a particular entity or issue (although important), but a fundamental understanding of consolidated government. Of the 67 counties in the State of Florida, Jacksonville has the only consolidated government. It is truly unique. I get calls from all over the country, including an inquiry from Memphis yesterday, on our structure of government.

It sounds like a boring civics lesson, but we are one of the few local governments in the country that followed the most successful model in history: the federal model, founded in 1789, with its executive branch, legislative branch, and judicial branch and a system of checks and balances and seperation of power. Surprisingly, this is not the model for local governments around the state or country.

Before the Commission, I tried to stress some of the defining characteristics of this government, such as centralized budgetary authority, centralized legal services, a strong mayor form of government, checks and balances, seperation of power, and the sacrifice of some soverignity (ie authority and independence) of all entities of the consolidated government. These principles are important.

With these principles in mind, it is easier to see (I hope) how policy can be created with countywide applicability.
Instead of a county government in conflict with multiple municipalities, we have a system that allows  for countywide initiatives and public policy formation. This is not theory or an academic discussion. The Jaguars, BJP, Preservation Project, and Jacksonville Journey are just a few past examples. For the future, we are in a better position than other governments to address the financial crisis and restructure our finances, compete for stimulus money, invest in critical infrastructure, and shape our future.

In short, our structure allows us, as a city, to have a bold vision for the future and transform ourselves. We are limited, truly, only by our vision and imagination.

I tried to express this, as best I could, to the Commission.

I hope you enjoy this 3 part series by Metro Jacksonville.

[stjr]

There have been some great questions and many are getting into technical issues that the Charter Revision Commission is reviewing (eg appointed versus elected sheriff, independent entity for parks, make up of city council, the police and fire pension fund, school board, etc).

Rick, I guess you are saying that while under review you can't offer us your opinions.  I'll accept that (do I have a choice?  ) if these are items that are truly being scrutinized.

I hope, particularly, you and/or others will input to the Charter Commission a desire to better emulate more fully the "most successful" Federal system by pushing for either a bicameral legislative branch or one that gives countywide reps equal or majority control over district reps.  That may make our city government more focused on what's for the greater good of all our citizens.

I also would hope there is support for a parks commission and revamping the currently toothless Planning Commission.

Maybe at some point, you would be able to tell us what you really think about some of these issues without compromising your position.

By the way, are the Charter Commission minutes and/or hearings-discussions on line or broadcast?

Thanks for your time.

STJR