Two judges retiring, discussion of sewer system for Ortega
Have you ever wondered what life was like in Jacksonville half a century ago? It may have been a different era of history, culture and politics but there are often parallels between the kind of stories that made headlines then and today. As interesting as the differences may be, so are the similarities. These are some of the top stories from the week of Feb. 8-14, 1960. The items were compiled from the Jacksonville Public Library’s periodical archives by Staff Writer Max Marbut.
• The Fourth Judicial Circuit’s senior jurists, Bayard B. Shields and A.D. McNeill, both announced they would not seek re-election to the posts they had held without opposition since 1935.
McNeill said he planned to remain in office until the expiration of his six-year term in January, 1961. Shields, who would be 81 on Feb. 19, said he would retire before his term ended in January but not until his successor was chosen in the upcoming election.
The announcements made it definite that all six of the other incumbents would seek re-election. The incumbents were: Judge Charles A. Luckie, who was presiding judge of the circuit; Judge Edwin Jones, who held the judgeship created by a 1912 constitutional amendment and was designated the additional judge for the circuit; Judge William Stanly, who was appointed by Gov. Dan McCarty in 1953; Judge Albert Graessle Jr., who held one of two posts added to the circuit as a result of the population growth shown in the 1950 census and was a past president of the Jacksonville Bar Association; Judge William Maness, who was also appointed in 1957 and won an overwhelming vote of approval in the 1958 election; and Judge John McNatt, who succeeded Judge Claude Ogilvie in October after the latter retired.
Civil Court of Record Judge Roger Waybright, a veteran of 23 years as a member of the Jacksonville Bar Association and a member of the board of governors of the Florida Bar, said he would seek the post vacated by McNeill.
Juvenile Court Judge Marion Gooding, who had previously stated he would seek a post on the higher court but was reluctant to run against an incumbent, said he would seek Shields’ seat on the bench.
Small Claims Court Judge W. Shannon Linning, who had practiced law in Jacksonville since 1936 and had held the Small Claims Court judgeship since January, 1957 was another possible candidate.
• County Solicitor Lacy Mahon also announced he would not seek re-election. Edward Booth, Mahon’s chief assistant and a veteran of six years and two administrations in the county solicitor’s office, said he would be a candidate to succeed Mahon.
In making his announcement Mahon said, “While I will not be a candidate for the office of county solicitor in this election, I certainly intend to remain interested in Duval County politics. I have enjoyed serving the people of Duval County, both as a member of the Florida Legislature and as county solicitor. If I find the opportunity to be of further service, I will accept that responsibility.”
• Mayor Haydon Burns, who was a candidate for governor, said the State of Florida was headed for bankruptcy unless it got a businesslike administration.
Burns said he was not criticizing incumbent Gov. LeRoy Collins or his administration, but referred to the state’s tax system which Burns said had been allowed to become a “hodgepodge without any definite planning.”
He also said some new taxes would be required to provide essential services for Florida’s growing population and that tax laws should be changed to require new residents to pay a larger share of the cost.
Burns did, however, criticize the Collins administration’s operation of the state merit system.
“I think it is important we have a real merit system and not play cute with it like they are the present system,” he said, referring to what he called “the importing of out-of-state residents to take top jobs in some state agencies.” Burns said such jobs would be reserved for state residents under his concept of a real merit system.
He also charged that some of his “political enemies” were circulating false rumors about his views on integration and the moral climate in Jacksonville. Burns said he was a segregationist and that the U.S. Navy rated the moral climate in Jacksonville as excellent by reason of its recent plans for expansion of facilities here.
• A standing-room-only crowd appeared before the County Commission at the first public hearing on a proposed $1.5 million sanitary sewer district to serve the Venetia-Ortega area.
The majority of those present seemed to support the plan to provide the sewers from a public health standpoint but many protests were recorded about how the property owners would pay for the infrastructure improvement.
Commissioner Julian Warren, who acted as chair of the special meeting and in whose district the proposed project was located said, “The commission is not ramming anything down people’s throats. This is a public hearing. We are merely offering sewers to the people. If they want to increase the value of their property and protect their health, they can have sewers. If they don’t want sewers, they don’t have to have them.”
The hearing was held because the commission had to act to reject, modify or accept a preliminary report by engineers from Reynolds, Smith and Hills which was under discussion.
The firm’s representative, M.E. Dawkins, outlined the preliminary plan which called for an average assessment of $508 on each residential lot in the district to be paid over a five-year period. There would be an additional sewer service charge of $3.75 per month, or $45 per year, for operating costs and to pay the debt retirement on the bonds which would be issued for the project.
Some of the larger lots in the area would pay an assessment of up to $800 and smaller ones about $400. It was also brought out that property owners would have to pay for the installation of connecting lines from their homes to the sewer line.
• The new municipally-built nine-hole golf course at Jacksonville Beach was played on for the first time by a group of visiting golf professionals and links superintendents.
“It’s a good layout,” said Herb Greene, maintenance superintendent of the Brentwood course and the first to tee off. He and a number of other members of the Georgia-Florida Turf Grass Association made the rounds of the course with L.N. Clark, Jacksonville Beach Parks and Recreation director.
While the course was being played for the first time, Jacksonville Beach City Council member William Mabry Jr. announced the council would get a recommendation the following week on what to do with the layout. He chaired the Recreation Committee and said he would meet with fellow council member T.N. Abood and Webster Harrington before the meeting to decide whether the links should be operated by the City or leased.
Mabry said he favored City operation and that the committee would recommend to the council that construction start immediately on the second nine holes. Clark estimated the cost at less than $50,000 to develop the back nine since grounds for three of those holes had already been cleared and the remainder had been roughed out.
• A coroner’s jury ruled that an Arlington “woman attorney,” Alice Elaine Hardin, murdered her 8-year-old son and infant daughter before stabbing herself to death Feb. 2.
Duval County Chief Criminal Investigator J.C. Patrick told the jury there were no signs of a struggle at the Hardin home at 5325 Oak Forest Dr. He concluded that the 32-year-old woman had not moved after the death wound was inflicted but County Medical Examiner Carl Wells stated that she probably lived for several minutes after the stabbing.
He also testified that all five of the baby’s five wounds were mortal and that five of the son’s seven stab wounds could have been fatal. Hardin died from a single knife wound which punctured her heart. A hairline cut near the fatal wound was described by Wells as a “hesitation wound” often seen in suicides involving death through slashing or stabbing.