by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
And, now the hard part.
Thursday afternoon, the Steering Committee of Mayor John Peyton’s Jacksonville Journey anti-crime initiative approved $35 million worth of recommendations from five of its six subcommittees. Monday, the Funding subcommittee will figure out where the $35 million will come from and how much assistance the City can get from the State and federal sources.
“These recommendations have exceeded all of the expectations,” said Peyton, as the meeting was coming to a close.
Peyton’s Communications Chief Susie Wiles said members of the mayor’s office staff and the City’s finance department will meet over the weekend in an effort to determine what outside funds are available and where and how the City will fund the rest. It won’t be easy and Peyton knows it.
Already in the middle of a tough budget year and facing an even more difficult year, Peyton must also contend with a bill currently in the form of a state taxing commission that would cap property tax revenues. The bill needs the approval of nine of the commission’s members and would ultimately need voter approval. Peyton said he and his staff recently went to Tallahassee to lobby members of the commission.
“I would describe it as mass confusion,” said Peyton, adding the bill is “bad policy” and has gone from 19 to 26 amendments in recent weeks. “It was really a discouraging day and we all came back with a headache.”
Regardless, Peyton will have to find the money if he wants the Jacksonville Journey to be a successful, long-range commitment. Helping him craft the initiative, though, have been dozens of the most powerful and influential people in Jacksonville. Former mayors, state lawmakers and prominent business and civic leaders have formed the subcommittees that have spent over three months analyzing five areas where, with the proper funding and oversight, they believe Jacksonville’s crime and murder problem can be significantly altered for the better. Peyton said he isn’t seeking one-time money, but rather a dedicated funding source.
The following is a summary of each of the subcommittee’s recommendations.
Positive Youth Development
Chaired by Sulzbacher Center President and CEO Audrey Moran, this subcommittee focused on the issues Jacksonville children face and the things that can lead them to a life of crime.
“We came to very strong conclusions and recommendations,” said Moran. “These recommendations were very well thought out and, from my perspective, they are unanimous.”
According to Moran, the biggest issue facing kids, especially those in what the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office calls Zone 1 – and where a majority of the crime and murders are committed – is there isn’t anything for them to do after school and in the summer months. Moran said they start committing crimes at “an alarmingly young age” and that trend continues into adulthood. Her committee suggested a major push to increase the number of mentors in Jacksonville, expand after school programs, expand summer camps and implement an intramural sports program. Overall, the recommendations will cost just under $6 million.
The key, said Moran, is to “make sure the programs we are funding are working.”
Moran also said there are 45,000 kids in Jacksonville in need of a mentor with 16,000 of them in Zone 1.
Education, Truancy, Dropout & Literacy
Chaired by attorney W.C. Gentry, this subcommittee produced a dozen recommendations that if funded will cost $14.1 million, making it by far the most costly. Some, however, would argue that Gentry’s committee may have focused on the most important issues.
“We really do have the whole child approach,” he said, explaining that some of his subcommittee’s recommendations – as well as the entire group — may overlap to some extent. “Once they are all brought together, we will have the capacity to change the whole city. We can do this in 3-5 five years. I am absolutely sure of that.”
The recommendations include developing programs to lower the school suspension rate – Jacksonville has one of the highest in the state, although School Superintendent Ed Pratt-Dannals disputes the figures Gentry presented based primarily on the fact other parts of the state identify school offenses differently – to creating early learning centers.
“Much of what we looked at involved the school system either directly or indirectly,” said Gentry, adding school administrators were extremely cooperative in providing data. “The school system was not defensive, but rather responsive.”
Gentry said the data shows a direct correlation between out of school suspensions and crime. As an example, Gentry said data showed that at one point when about 50 kids were on suspension from Englewood High, there was a spike in break-ins and burglaries in the area around the school.
“It’s real. We’ve got a problem,” he said. “We have too many truant or kicked out of school kids roaming the streets.”
Law Enforcement & Deterrence
Chaired by Paul former United States Attorney for the Middle District of Florida Paul Perez, this subcommittee was divided into four working groups with four goals: increasing police presence, getting guns off the street, increasing school safety and reviewing the administration of justice. Three months later, the primary recommendation is supplementing the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office in the form of 101 additional patrol officers, 124 corrections officers and 38 civilian positions over the course of the next five years. The first year calls for 30 officers, 80 corrections officers and 15 civilian positions to the tune of $5.7 million.
Perez said Peyton charged his subcommittee with coming up with recommendations that could be immediately implemented.
“We took that seriously,” he said.
Overall, the subcommittee presented six broad recommendations that all work together in some capacity. Getting additional officers on the streets as soon as possible seems to be the subcommittee’s top priority.
“Research shows that proactive policing is an important element to crime prevention,” said Perez. “We think this (adding police officers) is reasonable and prudent based on our financial situation.”
Perez also said the high inmate population is putting a financial strain on the Sheriff’s Office budget and his subcommittee is urging the State Attorney’s Office, JSO and the judiciary to work together to reduce the number of pending trials.
“You probably have the toughest and most controversial committee,” said Steering Committee Co-chair John Rood. “We are all in this together and to reduce the crime and murders in Jacksonville, we need to work together to find the funds.”
Targeted Intervention & Rehabilitation
Chaired by contractor J.B. Coxwell, this subcommittee generated seven primary recommendations that would cost just under $3 million. Coxwell said one the first things that should be done is to create a “Camp Jacksonville” and model it after the successful “Camp Birmingham” in Alabama.
“(Former mayor) Jake Godbold brought this to us and we really liked it,” said Coxwell, adding it would be an effective way to use the county’s schools over the summer months.
Other recommendations include funding a juvenile assessment center and maintaining intervention and prevention programs, among others. Coxwell is convinced one of the best ways to reduce the crime rate in Jacksonville is to provide useful, meaningful and interesting programs for kids during the summer months. He also said better programs that help monitor and rehabilitate juvenile offenders are key.
“The State Attorney’s Office told us the only way to significantly reduce crime is to focus on juvenile justice and we agree,” said Coxwell.
Neighborhood Safety & Stability
Chaired by former Jaguar Tony Boselli, this subcommittee presented two basic recommendations that will cost about $2.3 million. They are to create a permanent Jacksonville Journey task force assigned to non-policy issues and identify and revive community assets.
Kerri Stewart, executive director of the City’s Sustainable Communities Department, spoke on behalf of Boselli who left for a speaking engagement in Waycross. Stewart said the subcommittee’s recommendations tie in closely with many of the programs the Jacksonville Children’s Commission offers.
“We should establish criteria and look at successful models,” said Stewart, adding if you asked people in struggling neighborhoods, they would agree that lowering crime will promote economic development. “They would all tell you that this is good, sound community development. The City support should be strategically focused in neighborhoods where the citizens are engaged.”