Mayor John Peyton talks with Ernestine Moody Robinson, interim director of the Jacksonville Aviation Authority while City Council President Ronnie Fussell talks to Bill Mason, chair of Jacksonville Port Authority Monday before the mayor talked about the state of the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).
Jacksonville expects to receive between $10 million and $15 million for public safety, housing and community development or energy related projects through ARRA. “We’ve got 90 days,” said U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown. “We either use it or lose it.”
Peyton promised to use the funding for new opportunities to stimulate the local economy, and not just to plug a hole in the budget or “bridge the gap between budget years.” He equated participating in the stimulus bill to “riding a bike that you are still building.” Other funding is expected to be available directly to the City’s independent agencies — JTA, JEA, JAA and JPA — outside of what is available to Jacksonville.