by David Chapman
Staff Writer
Six bills were submitted to the Duval Legislative Delegation office before the noon Thursday deadline.
The bills, referred to locally as J-Bills, are legislation designed to operate specifically within one area of state and result in local laws when passed by the Florida Legislature and not vetoed by the governor.
They can be initiated by a number of sources, including a member of the local legislative body, county or municipal governing body, local elected official and members of the public, among others.
Parties affected by the submitted bills, including independent agencies, are notified of the pending bills that will be voted upon by members of the Duval Delegation during a meeting in January.
The meeting will be scheduled following the November election when Florida House and Senate committee assignments and times are decided.
Here’s what was filed:
J-1
Withdrawn and replaced as a proposed ordinance to City Council. The language, in both the prior J-Bill and subsequent ordinance, would amend Article 1 of the City Charter to add an additional chapter relating to the establishment of an ethics policy and authorize the establishment of an ethics code and ethics commission. The ethics code would apply to City employees, constitutional officers and independent agencies and school districts, regardless of the position being elected or appointed, paid or unpaid.
J-2
Relates to the general powers of the Jacksonville Police and Fire Pension Fund board of trustees. If passed, the local law would allow the board the authority to raise investments in fixed real estate assets to 25 percent of the assets of the pension plan, at cost, which would be up from the 10 percent currently allowed. Similar J-Bills have been filed by Pension Fund officials several times with no success.
J-3
Would amend the charter to create a special “Urban Transition Area” of Riverside that would provide exceptions for space and seating requirements for liquor licenses for restaurants. It would take the current requirements from 150 seats and 2,500 square feet of service area and replace them with 100 seats and 1,800 square feet of service area for restaurants within the zone. The minimum gross income per year that could be derived from liquor sales would remain at 49 percent with the other 51 percent coming from food sales. The licenses would still be subject to local zoning requirements between other liquor-serving establishments and churches and schools. The new area would be: Margaret Street to the west, Dellwood Avenue and I-95 to the north and northeast and the St. Johns River to the east and south. There currently are similar zones in Northside West, Northside East and the Southbank.
J-4
A wide-ranging piece of legistation that would amend the charter to add a policy regarding government transparency by establishing requirements related to waivers of the ordinance code, public contracts, public hearings and voting procedures.
Under the “Bill of Transparency,” council could only waive the ordinance code with at least 15 members of council approving the measure. As for contracts, council nor any committee of council would be able to approve or recommend approval of a contract that isn’t first presented before council and the public.
As for contracts themselves, council would have to approve all contracts for goods and services that exceed expenditures of $1 million or more. Inquiries, studies and analysis that cost $50,000 or more would also need council approval.
As for contracts that require a public hearing on the day of council approval, noticed and advertised public hearings would also be required on all ordinances for contracts of City expenditures of $500,000 or more.
In addition, a noticed and advertised public hearing would be required on the day of enactment for any ordinance approving expenditure of funds or amending the ordinance code, if an ordinance has been pending for 90 days or longer since being introduced. It would also require an additional day of public comment on the day prior to the adoption of a new millage rate and City budget approval.
Under the J-Bill, no ordinance could be enacted on the day an amendment is offered unless the amendment has been filed in writing with the council secretary no later than two business days prior to the enactment.
As for the voter accountability portion, all council votes on procedure, substitutes, ordinances and resolutions would be required to be electronically recorded or in writing to preserve the voter’s identity.
J-5
Relates to the veto power of the mayor. The measure would amend the charter to require the mayor to issue a veto within five business days of receipt of approved ordinances or resolutions. A council two-thirds super majority would be required to override a mayor’s line item budget or appropriation veto.
J-6
Similar to J-1 regarding the creation of an ethics policy and authorizing the establishment of an ethics code and ethics commission. The ethics code would apply to City employees, constitutional officers and independent agencies and school districts, regardless of the position being elected or appointed, paid or unpaid.
The independent ethics commission would have numerous duties, including managing a citywide ethics hotline, managing ethics training for officers and employees, referring ethics matters to proper authorities, recommending changes in legislation to council in areas of ethics law and administration and levying civil fines authorized by council, among others.
356-2466