OFFICIAL: COJ can't afford to cut it's own grass

[John P]

Brown got what he wanted. No more tax revenue. We get a city not worth living in?

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Jacksonville City Councilman Reggie Brown calls plans to drastically cut back mowing of roadsides an embarrassment for a city this size.

Councilman Clay Yarborough says the city would be shirking a core responsibility.

Despite those strong objections, Jacksonville is poised to mow medians and sides of city roads just four times a year when the next fiscal year starts Oct. 1. That would be a fraction of the frequency that some other Northeast Florida cities send mowers down their streets.

The view of overgrown medians will give motorists constant reminders of the stark financial choices Jacksonville has faced in assembling a 2012-13 budget. The reduction in grass-cutting along streets and in vacant lots will save about $1.5 million.

Yarborough, a member of the council’s Finance Committee, tried to restore at least $750,000 for citywide mowing in road rights-of-way. But he couldn’t win over support from other Finance Committee members because it would have required equal cuts somewhere else in a drum-tight budget.

“This is a core service,” Yarborough argued at the Aug. 31 budget hearing.

Brown, comparing the city to a lazy homeowner who gets complaints from neighbors for not mowing regularly, even suggested it might be time to tap the city’s emergency reserve to soften the blow of spending cuts on the Public Works Department.

“Let’s not do it on the back of the beautification of Jacksonville,” Brown said. “It’s not right.”

In the 2011 fiscal year, the city mowed medians and rights of way 12 times a year in urban areas, eight times in suburban locations, and four times in rural areas. That slipped to eight times annually in the current fiscal year for urban streets while the suburbs got mowing eight times and rural spots four times.

It will drop to four times annually in urban, suburban and rural areas starting Oct. 1, based on the budget proposed by Mayor Alvin Brown.

More story
http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2012-09-11/story/budget-cuts-will-mean-less-grass-cutting-jacksonvilles-medians-and

[thelakelander]

So we're basically trying to become Detroit South, excluding downtown Detroit, which that city is investing in.  Great.....







With that said, is code enforcement going away for property owners who only mow their land 4 times a year?

[Lunican]

[Charles Hunter]

You get what you pay for.  I think I would be very upset if I got cited for a "lawn violation" and the city right of way was in worse shape.  Ratty looking roadsides will be a great inducement for visiting company executives looking to relocate.

I'm all in favor of letting the roadsides look like crap - they will be the perfect symbol of the city.

[duvaldude08]

One good sign. Atleast the mayor knows thats a bullshit idea and actually spoke up about something for a change. The way it rains here during the summer, this city would look like a jungle very quickly.

[Ocklawaha]

"...Well, until a year ago, we called it I-10!"

This should be fun to watch, kikuyugrass grows rapidly through summer and early fall. Kikuyugrass is capable of sustained shoot growth rates exceeding 1 inch per day, and a patch can expand an average of 4 square feet per month when growing without competition. Several types bamboo grow at the astonishing rate of 2 inches an hour or around 24 inches a day. Milk weed 1 inch per day. Good old Kudzu, the vine that ate South Carolina grows at the rate of 1 foot per day! Many water plants and marsh plants which grow in our ditches have staggering growth rates.

Once the ditch plants spread, they tend to hold moisture in those same low areas which make ideal breeding grounds for mosquito's. The mosquito's that bite us typically don't fly more then a few hundred yards from where they are bred, and they typically don't breed in swamp water, rather they breed in large wet fallen leaves, old containers, tires, cups, plastic and any plant material that will hold a thimble of water. These are the vicious little pests that attack, and unmaintained right-of-ways should provide perfect habitat for their trade in West Nile Virus, Encephalitis, Dengue Fever, Malaria and Yellow Fever. So you see we'll all have something to look forward to!

Hey at least the  dandelions are edible and their iron and calcium content is phenomenal, greater than spinach. You also get vitamins B-1, B-2, B-5, B-6, B-12, C, E, P, and D, biotin, inositol, potassium, phosphorus, magnesium, and zinc. So while the city is going to look like absolute shit, at least we all have the opportunity to eat healthy... remember boys and girls pick the broadest young leaves BEFORE the dandelion flowers, and again after the first frost (which kills the plants protective bitterness). Dandelions go with most any meat and potatoes type American meal, so eat em up because we'll all probably die of some exotic tropical disease.

[Ocklawaha]

[peestandingup]

You get what you pay for.  I think I would be very upset if I got cited for a "lawn violation" and the city right of way was in worse shape.  Ratty looking roadsides will be a great inducement for visiting company executives looking to relocate.

I'm all in favor of letting the roadsides look like crap - they will be the perfect symbol of the city.

So am I. This is just one of the byproducts of sprawling unsustainable growth (while letting your town center & urban infrastructure go to shit) that eventually is going to bite the city (and lots of other people) in the ass. I'm all for it, maybe they'll finally learn their lesson & begin the painful process of the reversal to smart growth. And being one of the biggest footprints in the country (if not the biggest), they're in for one hell of a rude awaking.

If you follow other cities who have been down this road, I'd start to watch as other things begin getting cut back. Police forces, transportation, schools, roads being neglected, etc. Wait until gas prices eventually cross the threshold for the real fun to start.

Jacksonville (and places like it) are all cities of the damned.

[acme54321]

One good sign. Atleast the mayor knows thats a bullshit idea and actually spoke up about something for a change. The way it rains here during the summer, this city would look like a jungle very quickly.

Nope, it appears this was actually the mayor's idea, it came out of his budget.  The council seems to know it's not good.

Does the city have to follow code?  If so citizens can put in C.A.R.E. complaints against the city for mowing.  I've done it before and it generally happens within a week or two of the complaint.

[Captain Zissou]

I get the whole, "Great, now the city can see how horrible this idea is" sentiment, but it will make our city unsafe.  Imagine Southside blvd with medians and shoulders that are 3 feet tall.  Small cars won't be able to see over them and bikes will get mowed down more often than the grass.  Also, think about all the snakes that will be within a foot or two of sidewalks all over the southside.  I see them often enough now with the grass still short.  The southside is just a patchwork of development woven into a swampland, the animals in many cases are still there.  Lunican's picture is not funny, it's prophetic.

[finehoe]

Great opportunity to get rid of the grass and plant some low-growing native plants that don't need to mowed, or only mowed at the end of the growing season.

[fsujax]

Unfortunately I have been dealing with the City not maintaining its ROW in Springfield for years. I have to maintain my alley, if I didn't the weeds would be as tall as me! It is really sad our city can't do better. I sort of agree with Finehoe, plant palmetto and thaxahatchee grass in the medians and ROWs instead of grass that needs mowed.

[Captain Zissou]

Why do we not have the prisoners mow everything and landscape everything for us?  I feel like they are an untapped labor force that could be utilized to do a lot of the landscaping and maintenance projects throughout the core and the city.  Is this more expensive than I am imagining or is there a legality issue?

[mbwright]

jacksonville--bring your own goats!!

[avonjax]

Finally!
The tea party wins.
Their no tax increases at any cost worked.
Good for us.
And good for everyone.
We have become a society that can shrink the government and save money. Maybe soon we can fix our own roads and cut our own grass and clean up the parks on weekends.
YEA!!!!!
Brown won because he promised he wouldn't raise taxes. That is the only way ANY candidate will win office in this city. And it worked.
And he stuck to his word.
You can't blame him.