Former Mayor John Delaney, who created the Jacksonville Economic Development Commission in 1996-97, said this morning that recreating the Downtown Development Authority “is the right move.”
“Downtown is essential to Jacksonville, and we need a structure that keeps that focus despite changes in mayoral administrations,” said Delaney, president of the University of North Florida.
Delaney said he hasn’t closely followed the specifics of the legislation introduced Tuesday at City Council to restructure the City’s economic development procedures.
In addition to a new Downtown Investment Authority, the two ordinances also call for a quicker Council approval process for economic development incentives.
“I also think that the economic process needed to be streamlined. It seems that the current Council is willing to give broad authority to this revamped vehicle,” Delaney said.
“That has never happened before, but I think it is a good thing. We have lost deals because of the prolonged and often bitter City Council process,” he said.
Delaney said the City lost a deal, not during his term, for “500 high-paying financial services jobs because the company didn’t want to be publicly beat up, and was able to get nearly as much money from another state with approval of an economic development commission only.”
Delaney said he moved the former DDA into the commission and the DDA chair became a voting member of the JEDC.
Delaney served from 1995-2003, followed by Mayor John Peyton from 2003-2011.
Mayor Alvin Brown took office July 1.
Delaney said Peyton dissolved the DDA completely.
“All in all we need a focus on Downtown and a streamlined incentive process. If this does that, then great,” Delaney
said.
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