by Tammy Taylor
Staff Writer
Cecelia Jefferson is fighting the good fight for local consumers.
When Jefferson, the new chief of the City’s Consumer Affairs Division, applied for the job last summer, she didn’t think she would be appointed to the position.
“I was in the process of opening my own law firm because I hadn’t heard anything for two months,” said Jefferson. “Then the transition team called me for an interview and I didn’t hear anything for another month. I thought I didn’t get the job.”
A second call came in November and Jefferson was asked in for another interview. She began working for the City two weeks later.
The Consumer Affairs Division is a part of the City’s Regulatory and Environmental Services Department. It was established in 1969 to be the protector and advocate for consumers. The division investigates complaints regarding unfair, deceptive or illegal business practices, enforces City and State ordinances and educates consumers on their rights and responsibilities.
Jefferson approaches the mission with her staff of 10.
She says the division “runs the gamut” of consumer complaints. The most frequent are landlord/tenant disagreements, followed by automotive repair, retail transactions, Internet purchases and a small amount of credit card fraud complaints.
The division also enforces charitable solicitation permits by making sure non-profit and charity organizations have the proper permits to solicit donations. Jefferson said sometimes violations of City ordinances are pointed out to them.
“Like anything else,” she said, “people tell on each other.”
The division also ensures businesses provide the proper paper work to officially go out of business.
“We’ll see an ad,” said Jefferson, “so we go out and visit. People get offended when we tell them they have to have a permit to go out of business and they always say, ‘Why do I have to pay to close my business?’ ”
If businesses are in violation or receive complaints of unfair business practices, Consumer Affairs first issues a warning. If the practices do not change, a citation carrying a fine of no more than $500 is issued, or permits are suspended or revoked. If fraudulent practices continue, the General Counsel’s Office is called in to prosecute.
“We usually don’t have that problem,” said Jefferson, adding the division deals with an average of 50 complaints a month.
Jefferson became interested in consumer affairs when she served on the board of the North Florida Consumer Council while working with the State Attorney General’s Office as a criminal prosecutor. It was not too long before she decided to go down a different path.
“I left because I couldn’t deal with the drudgery of the criminal arena,” said Jefferson. “I was becoming cynical and untrusting. It was a never-ending cycle, and to me, I thought society was getting worse.”
After the Attorney General’s Office, Jefferson went to work for a private practice for nine months.
“It wasn’t the experience I was looking for,” she said. “I didn’t feel I was learning anything. I don’t like feeling like I’m wasting my time.”
After working in the private sector, she took an 18-month hiatus where she did freelance legal work and used her real estate license. She eventually ended up in consumer affairs.
“It is definitely a challenge here,” she said. “I’m learning how City government works and I enjoy helping consumers.”
Jefferson graduated from Florida State University with a bachelor’s degree in international affairs and later earned a law degree from FSU.
She has two children and one step-daughter and her husband, Darius, works with the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office. She is also a member of the D.W. Perkins Bar Association, Delta Sigma Theta and national professional organizations.
Jefferson is now considering getting a mortgage broker’s license.
“I like to have options. It keeps life interesting,” she said.