• The mayor’s office says the city will be one step closer to a new identity after an Aug. 13 meeting. According to Susie Wiles, one Mayor John Peyton’s top aides, “an exhaustive amount of research and focus group data has been compiled.” That information, she said, will help in the effort to “re-brand” the city.
• The Downtown Development Authority debated several names for a proposed entity that would consolidate authority for the City’s parking policy. But DDA chair Bob Rhodes thought up a catchy name for the current structure, which features shared authority among the City, the JTA, the Jaguars and several private investors: he suggested the hydra-headed monster.
• City planners think a revitalized LaVilla could become “the Harlem of the South.” But City Council member Glorious Johnson said she’s seen more demolition than construction and suggests a different moniker. “Don’t call it the ‘Harlem of the South,’ call it the ‘Vacant Lots of Downtown Jacksonville,” she said.
• There will soon be another Fine Shine car wash downtown. It should be open at the Center Square parking garage by the end of September.
• Motorists who travel Atlantic Boulevard from Monument Road to St. Johns Bluff will soon notice a much smoother ride. Road crews started a resurfacing project this week.
• Beaver Street Enterprise Center has welcomed three new tenants. They are Affordable Lending Source Inc., Jaguar Security Inc. and With a Touch of Elegance. Total tenant roster at the center is now up to 16 businesses.
• Jim Meyer of the Council Auditor’s Office will retire next month. A long-time City employee, Meyer said he plans to get in shape and take it easy after he calls it quits.
• The JEDC will unveil its new strategic plan for the City’s economic development at its Aug. 12 commission meeting, but Executive Director Kirk Wendland said some of the specifics will take longer to fill in. He said it would take 60 to 90 days to develop incentive policies that complement the objectives established by the JEDC’s two-month review.