by J. Brooks Terry
Staff Writer
If the City Council makes it a law, city streets may soon be filled with chants of “Extra! Extra!”
Currently limited to downtown, the Council is reviewing legislation that would expand newspaper street sales citywide.
“This is a very interesting bill and it has merit,” said Council president Elaine Brown. Brown is co-sponsoring the bill with Council member Pat Lockett-Felder.
“What it does is expand what we currently have on the books,” she said.
Brown said newspaper sales policies were last amended in 1994.
“We do allow what’s called ‘hawking,’ but we limit the area in which you are authorized to do it,” said Brown.
Consultant Ginny Myrick helped draft the bill. Working on behalf of the Florida Times-Union, Myrick said sheriff’s office representatives have reviewed the pending legislation and given it their blessing.
“There are some safety precautions that we’ve included in the bill, based on their recommendations,” she said. “So there is a safety element to it as well.”
Among those precautions: salespersons must employed by or licensed through a “bonafide newspaper.”
They are also not allowed to, “bang, hit, tap, knock or touch the outside a motor vehicle,” being driven by a potential buyer.
“Basically, we just want to expand what we already have here in Jacksonville,” said Myrick. “In looking at other large and NFL cities, we felt it was something that could work. There’s no reason why it couldn’t.”
Myrick added, however, that no other cities served as a model for the local legislation.
“I like the idea of being able to pick up a paper while you’re stuck in traffic,” said Brown. “I expect the Council committees will review this further, but I think it will work fine.”