by J. Brooks Terry
Staff Writer
As updated designs for the new Duval County Courthouse continue to change, Clerk of the Courts Jim Fuller has remained largely silent.
Friday, that silence was broken when Fuller met with a handful of Council members to voice his concerns with the well-publicized project.
“I met with the Council to make sure they understand what we need,” said Fuller. “They’re the ones who have to approve this thing and, now that the designs are almost ready, I’m hopeful that we’ve been kept in mind.”
Council member Daniel Davis was the first to meet with Fuller.
“He has some general but very legitimate concerns,” said Davis. “I think, like many of us, he’s concerned about the budget of the project — specifically the cuts — and how his employees are going to be affected.
“As I understand it, he hasn’t been contacted by the mayor’s office about it and he just wants to be clear about what’s happening. He’s probably got more employees moving into that building than anybody.”
Over 400 employees from the clerk’s office are expected to relocate to the new courthouse when it opens in 2007.
Daniels and Council member Kevin Hyde said a Tuesday courthouse presentation by Mayor John Peyton has been pushed back.
“I was told they need more time, which is fine,” said Davis, “but I would like to see some kind of presentation before the Council in a few weeks so we’ll know what we have to work with.”
Hyde said that, apart from approving any potential budget allocations, courthouse policy will stay under Peyton’s charge.
“(Fuller) has valid concerns because his office is an integral part of the courthouse,” he said. “Space and dollars are limited and it’s just going to have to be a matter of making sure that they can affectively perform the functions they need to.
“We’ll be sure to ask the right questions and hopefully answer his concerns when we have that opportunity. However the Mayor’s office is in charge of administering that building.”
Fuller’s chief assistant Gordon Morgan said he’s confident that Peyton will properly guide the project.
“Of course we’ll have our concerns as the plans continue to change. We just need to get a better idea of what’s going to happen with that project,” he said. “The clerk’s office has hundreds of employees and we serve thousands of customers.”
Fuller agreed.
“At the end of the day, we just want to be sure that we can do what we have to do,” he said. “The tax payers are spending a lot of money on this and it should be something we can work with and be proud of.”