Mayor Alvin Brown will ask City Council to take up legislation to reorganize City departments, divisions, activities and functions as part of "continuous process improvement," according to a white paper.
The goal is to improve the quality of services delivered, increase transparency, measure accountability and fulfill City priorities using appropriate resources, the paper says.
Legislation has been drafted, but has not been filed.
The changes that will require legislation include:
• Renaming the Parks & Recreation Division to the Parks, Recreation & Preservation, with all divisions merging into a JaxParks name. The contract compliance function for Public Service Grants and others is shifted to Intra-Governmental Services, which will then create an Office of Grants and Contract Compliance.
• The Mosquito Control and Environmental Quality divisions shift from Neighborhoods to Public Works. The Behavioral & Human Services Division would transfer to Neighborhoods and the Special Services Division would be repealed.
• The Development Services and Community Planning division would merge into the Planning Services Division. The division has two offices: One for community planning, a former division, and one for review, which formerly was development services. Each has its own functions. The division is one of three within the Planning & Development Department, with the other two being Land Use Zoning and Building.
• Under Public Works, divisions for environmental and infrastructure are established.
• Intra-Governmental Services also reacquires the Equal Business Opportunity/Jacksonville Small & Emerging Business Office, while the Administrative Services Division is repealed.
In addition, the legislation establishes a liaison relationship between the intra-governmental services director and the Duval County Department of Health, Jacksonville Children's Commission, Jacksonville Human Rights Commission, Jacksonville Public Library and the Medical Examiner's Office.
While not included in the legislation, the white paper also notes the administration is pursing the privatization of the medical examiner's office as well as outsourcing of email — for reasons of data recovery and increased server capacity — and vehicle parts.
The legislation portion of the reform could be added tonight as an addendum to the Council agenda if the request is approved by Council President Bill Bishop in a meeting this morning.
(904) 356-2466