by Max Marbut
Staff Writer
After retiring as an executive with the Southern Bell Telephone Company, the late Lynwood Roberts turned his attention to public service. He began his second career in 1964 when he was elected to the Duval County Budget Commission which preceded his election to an At-large seat on the Duval County City Council in 1968. Roberts served as Council President an unprecedented three times and was one of the leaders of the movement to consolidate City government.
In 1979, he was elected to the office of Tax Collector and re-elected without opposition for five subsequent four-year terms.
At a ceremony Tuesday at City Hall, the “Renaissance Room” on the ground floor was renamed the “Lynwood Roberts Room” in recognition of his decades of service to Jacksonville and Duval County before Consolidation. Mayor John Peyton, former Mayors Jake Godbold and Ed Austin and several City Council members joined hundreds of Roberts’ family members, former colleagues and friends for the dedication.
City Council Vice President Ronnie Fussell said he first met Roberts in the 1980s and considered him a mentor and role model.
“He was just a blessing to me,” said Fussell.
He credited Godbold for the idea to remember Roberts by putting his name on the largest meeting room at City Hall other than Council Chambers.
“Lynwood Roberts was an At-large Councilman. This is a way to keep his memory in the minds of all of the citizens of Jacksonville,” said Fussell.
Godbold served on the Council with Roberts and shared some of his memories of the man.
“I don’t know what his greatest attribute was, but the thing I loved most about Lynwood was his personality,” said Godbold. “I close my eyes and I think about him running around with his cowboy hat on when he was a constable on the west side of town. That may have been his first elected office.
“Lynwood was one of the people who helped build the Westside Jaycees and worked on thousands of other projects. There’s no way to talk about all the things Lynwood was involved in. He loved Jacksonville.”
He also noted his belief that Roberts’ life would have been very different had he not chosen a post-retirement career in public service.
“If Lynwood would have spent as much time in his own business as he did in Jacksonville’s business, he would have been a rich man. But he wouldn’t have traded what he did to be a rich man,” added Godbold.
Lyn Watson, who was Roberts’ chief assistant Tax Collector, said he was proud to work with Roberts for 24 years and remembered something that happened that isn’t a major part of Jacksonville history, but important nonetheless.
“My father, Jim, was the City Agricultural Agent and Lynwood was the one who ramrodded the creation of the City canning kitchen,” said Watson. “After that he and dad were inseparable.”
Following the dedication, there was a catered reception where those gathered shared their memories of Lynwood Roberts and watched a presentation prepared by Council staff that included pictures and newspaper clipping from Roberts’ years in City service. Fussell pointed out that the reception and even the new letters that have been mounted above the double doors of the “Lynwood Roberts Room” were paid for through private donations.
Photo by Max Marbut