by Joe Wilhelm Jr.
Staff Writer
The time for research and speeches is drawing to a close for the City Council’s Charter Revision Commission. But before it debated the issues it will present to the Council in February it listened to Mayor John Peyton’s thoughts on the issues Thursday.
The Charter Revision Commission has hosted every constitutional officer, the mayor, City employees and a variety of experts as it reviews the rules that govern Jacksonville that are contained in the City’s Charter. According to that Charter, a commission is formed every 10 years to review rules and, if necessary, suggest changes to be made to Council.
The commission’s report is due in February and it has been interacting with various public and government experts on issues with the Charter that it identified as issues that may need change. The top five issues voted by the commission when it began its mission in August were the Duval County School Board and independent authorities (JEA, Jacksonville Aviation Authority, Jacksonville Port Authority and JTA, etc.) with six votes each (of 15 total votes), Office of General Counsel, the appointment of constitutional officers and ethics officer/commission each receiving five votes.
“As you do your work, I hope you will think big thoughts,” said Peyton, “that you will focus on large issues and you will stay at 50,000 feet. The changes you are suggesting should not be problems of the moment, they should be problems of the decade.
“Hopefully you will look back 40 years from now and say, ‘That was important work and it was important to our city as we strive to make our city better.’”
The mayor recognized the possibility that the Council could take no action after receiving the commission’s report, but urged them not to be dissuaded by that possibility.
“I really deem your work as an opportunity to facilitate conversation,” said Peyton. “And, often times, ballot initiatives do just that.”
The first issue the mayor addressed was pension reform. He explained to the commission that the current pension system was unsustainable and a cap on benefits needed to be considered.
“What we have here is an unsustainable condition that is affecting the very viability of our government,” said Peyton. “When I took office, the pension cost was about $40 million and that was in 2003. This year, that we just budgeted for, it’s at $110 million. If you had an expense like that in your business, certainly, you would try to do something about it. It has nothing to do with a lack of respect or appreciation for the men and women who serve this community and keep it safe.”
The mayor recommended considering language in the Charter that caps benefits unless they are 110 percent funded.
Another issue involving public safety was the discussion of creating an appointed sheriff in Jacksonville.
“The truth of the matter is that the voters have done a good job in seeking good sheriffs,” said Peyton. “I would have appointed Sheriffs (John) Rutherford, (Nat) Glover, (Jim) McMillan. This community deserves the conversation. The forefathers of Consolidation certainly intended for it to be an appointed position.”
Commissioner Geoff Youngblood was interested in the economics of such an appointment.
“Would there be a cost savings in having an appointed position as opposed to an elected position?” said Youngblood.
The mayor urged the commission to research the budget growth of cities with appointed and elected sheriffs and compare the two.
“There would be more control over the budget with an appointed position,” said Peyton. “What you have in an appointed position is more competition for the dollar. Everyone competes with an appointed position, but because you have a constitutional officer approved by the voters, they have the right to be indignant if they don’t get their way, and that’s their right.”
Other elected officials could be affected by the issue of changing the election cycle, which is being discussed by both the City Council and the commission. Council has debated two different changes to the election cycle. Council Vice President Jack Webb’s bill has been withdrawn, but it suggested election for local officials be moved from the spring to the fall, but they would not be held during gubernatorial elections.
Council member Don Redman’s bill suggested the City’s Charter be amended to allow the election of City officials and local constitutional officers be moved from the spring to coincide
with the state’s November gubernatorial election beginning in 2010. The commission has expressed support for the latter. The mayor chose to support the former.
“I know Council member Jack Webb has put a proposal on the table and he proposes basically keeping off-year elections, which I support,” said Peyton. “That would give the new mayor and the new Council a chance to understand and have their footprint on the budget which they were elected to understand and support. I do not support aligning with gubernatorial elections. I understand the savings, but I think Jacksonville is worthy of the investment to have our own air space, our own debate time and not get caught up in the partisan politics of statewide leaders.”
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