QuoteBy BETH KORMANIK,
The Times-Union
The idea coming into Wednesday's special Jacksonville City Council meeting was to try to cut the city's budget and possibly avoid adding three new fees Mayor John Peyton proposed.
But council members worked past 11 p.m. without a single vote on the fees. Instead they cut $1 million - including the entire budget for the city's faith-based office - which is not the kind of cuts needed to pay for eliminating or reducing the fees, which are expected to raise more than $26 million.
Council members also decided to put off a decision on funding an ethics officer, another of Peyton's priorities, until they find a way to ensure the position's independence.
The biggest winner Wednesday was the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office. The council voted to spend $3.6 million for police officer overtime to support Operation Safe Streets, which Sheriff John Rutherford said targets the city's most dangerous neighborhoods.
"If given these additional resources, I want the council to know what we can do with it," Rutherford said. "We can save lives."
Councilman Art Shad said he proposed the measure because of the city's high murder rate and that the city's per capita spending on police is the lowest among Florida's largest cities.
"It makes me think that we are paying a price for that, and it's a human price," he said.
Shad proposed spending $3.9 million, with much of that money coming from contingency funds. But $644,800 would come from cutting three positions from the Special Events Office and funding for other events including the city's jazz festival, and $327,230 from the Duval County Extension Service.
The council approved the cuts to special events but spared the extension service.
Later, the council gave the Sheriff's Office another $280,320 for five correction officers to supervise an inmate work detail that picks up trash.
Councilwoman Glorious Johnson proposed cutting funding for the faith-based office. She said she found out employees there were working on other initiatives, such as the mayor's Seeds of Change program that targets neighborhood improvements. That move saved nearly $380,000.
Another $600,000 in savings came from requiring city departments except the police and fire departments to keep some vacancies open longer.
The final savings came from council voting eliminate their own raises. That means the council members would stay at their current salaries of $44,579. The move saves $35,151.
Initially, Councilman Richard Clark tried to stop all raises for elected, appointed and non-union employees to save about $1.4 million.
"I don't know anybody in the private sector that is guaranteed a pay raise," he said.
The council passed his proposal 10-9, but Councilman Johnny Gaffney later changed his mind and asked for a new vote. Clark's proposal then failed 11-8.
Council President Daniel Davis cut off debate a little after 11 p.m. and set another special meeting for Monday.
"I'm encouraged by the creativity you have brought to the table," he said. "Now you have a little more time to be a little more creative."
The council must pass a balanced budget by Oct. 1.
beth.kormanik@jacksonville.com
(904) 359-4619
This story can be found on Jacksonville.com at http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/092007/met_201120283.shtml.