by Bradley Parsons
Staff Writer
A Florida Times-Union editorial criticizing the mayor’s leadership on the Duval County Courthouse project has prompted a stern cross examination from the president of the Jacksonville Bar Association.
Alan Pickert of Terrell, Hogan, Ellis and Yegelwel rebutted the Oct. 2 editorial’s assertion that Mayor John Peyton had passed the buck on oversight of the stalled construction project by proposing to give Duval County Chief Judge Don Moran veto power over design and funding aspects of a proposed criminal courts building.
Pickert said Peyton displayed wisdom and practicality in his willingness to defer to Moran and City Council President Kevin Hyde, also an attorney.
“Is not Mayor Peyton’s leadership further illustrated by the fact that he is humble enough to realize that there are others with more experience than himself on the day-to-day activities of the courthouse?” Pickert wrote in a letter to the editor sent last week. “I... applaud Mayor Peyton’s vision and willingness to have all three major branches of government working together as opposed to working against one another.”
Peyton’s proposal to get the Duval County Courthouse project untracked is to split the county’s court functions. His plan aims to keep the project’s budget within the $190 million set forth by the voter-approved Better Jacksonville Plan. Putting everything under one roof would have cost about $280 million on top of the $60 million already spent on previous designs and land purchases.
Peyton recently proposed giving Moran oversight of the $133 million in that plan set aside for construction of the criminal courthouse. Moran was a strong advocate for the previous all-inclusive design that Peyton deemed too expensive.
But Pickert said it made sense for Peyton to seek Moran’s and Hyde’s input on the project given their experience in Duval County’s legal community and governmental affairs.
“Chief Judge Moran is the individual with the most experience regarding what is needed in a courthouse,” said Pickert. “As President of the City Council, Kevin Hyde has important expertise on the legislative and fiscal aspects concerning the specifications and design of the courthouse.”