In the week since Mayor Lenny Curry said he wants Hemming Park back under city management, Bill Prescott has seen a change in the Downtown venue.
Not one for the better.
Prescott, interim CEO of Friends of Hemming Park, the nonprofit contracted by the city to manage the park, said word spread and “troublemakers” have come back to the park.
They are telling private security officers hired by Friends to patrol the park that they have no power, he said.
The security and the management group have been “fired,” –– according to some users of the park, Prescott reported to the Rules and Boundaries Subcommittee of the Hemming Park Special Committee.
The committee was established to consider the future of the park’s management when a city audit was critical of the nonprofit’s financial practices.
“Whatever progress we have made, it’s one step forward, two steps back,” he said.
The volatility, Prescott added, has not been helpful.
Sam Mousa, Curry’s chief administrative officer, last week informed the committee of the mayor’s intent to take back the park when the Friends’ contract expires March 31.
Prescott wants to hear Curry’s plan and have the opportunity to explain what he has seen since he joined the organization, first as a board member and then as interim CEO in late July, after the resignation of CEO Vince Cavin.
Prescott said if the plan remains to make Hemming an active park, elements like private security and ambassadors could be assets.
Despite Curry’s intent, Prescott would like to show the Friends could still be the answer for the park.
Prescott said he plans to attend a meeting with Curry, Mousa and Chief Administrative Officer Kerry Stewart scheduled for Nov. 28.
On another issue, the subcommittee formalized proposed legislation to expand the park’s boundaries to the curb along Hogan, Duval, Monroe and Laura streets.
Currently, when enforcement efforts remove people from the park, offenders merely move a few feet to the sidewalk and continue to cause issues.
With the updated boundaries, they’d be forced to go into or across the street.
Another issue discussed was the Jacksonville Transportation Authority’s Skyway platform at the park.
City Assistant General Counsel Peggy Sidman said JTA would accept the new boundary.
Additionally, case law would allow Skyway passengers cited for trespassing in the park to use the Skyway, but they could not get on or off at the Hemming stop, she said.
The subcommittee also recommends amending park rules to allow stronger enforcement.
“This is a benefit to whoever runs the park,” said council member Greg Anderson, chair of the Hemming committee, about the new rules and boundaries.
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