by Joe Wilhelm Jr.
Staff Writer
Members of the City Council Finance Committee on Tuesday granted the Ethics Commission more time to discuss amendments to a bill that would return the City’s ethics code to the City Charter.
“City Ethics Officer Carla Miller, on behalf of the Ethics Commission, has requested more time to meet with Charter Revision Commission members to discuss the amendments,” said committee chair Warren Jones.
He said the issue would be deferred.
Miller presented a resolution on behalf of the Ethics Commission stating:
“That the Jacksonville Ethics Commission opposes the Finance Committee’s amendment ... as currently worded. That the former Charter Revision Commission members and City Council members be invited to attend a meeting of the Ethics Commission to discuss the reasons the Ethics Commission opposes the amendment.”
While both committee and Ethics Commission members are wary of duplication of duties, the commission and council member Ronnie Fussell weren’t comfortable with the current wording of the amendment.
“Council member Ray Holt offered an amendment to my amendment that goes too far as far as I am concerned,” said Fussell.
Fussell said Holt added that “the Ethics Commission shall not duplicate any other board or agency of the local, state or federal government without going to that board or agency first.”
Fussell said he struck that in the latest amendment he submitted.
The meeting requested will give members of both the Ethics Commission and members of the Charter Revision Commission a chance to review all that has been submitted and present their comments on the bill.
In other news from the finance committee meeting:
• The committee also recommended approval of a measure that would approve $800,000 in funding for the Jacksonville Commitment Scholarship Program, which is part of the Jacksonville Journey. The Jacksonville Commitment provides college scholarship funding for City residents to attend one of the four local colleges (the University of North Florida, Jacksonville University, Edward Waters College and Florida State College at Jacksonville), providing four-year financial assistance to students who meet Pell Grant (low-income) eligibility requirements and who maintain a college GPA of 2.0.
Council members had questions about the funding and set it aside in a contingency account in the 2010-2011 budget until the questions were answered, said council member Michael Corrigan, who introduced the bill.
“We needed to get this passed because we have students that are counting on this funding,” said Corrigan. “If they don’t have the money, they are forced to either quit or try to continue their education through other means.”
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