Mayor Alvin Brown said Tuesday that he will present budget cuts and cost savings “soon” as part of the next phase of his City reform plan.
Brown met with Daily Record staff Tuesday, almost a month after the first phase of City reorganization was approved Dec. 13 by City Council.
Brown reaffirmed his contention that 10-15 percent of the City budget could be shaved as part of the second phase of reform.
“That’s still the goal,” he said. “The good news is that City employees love their city, they believe in their city and there’s always good ways of doing those things.”
Brown said that the private sector has had to cut costs. “Given this economy, we have to take a step back. We’re still in a tough economy, unemployment is still high, jobs are tough.”
Layoffs, privatization and other ways of cutting City government are possibilities, he said.
“Everything is on the table,” Brown said.
Brown said fleet management, information technology and functions within central services — now under the Chief Services Commission — are three areas already under review.
“There are requests for information out now,” he said. “The good news is there is a lot going on. We didn’t wait for reform to pass. I’m in the weeds with this stuff. I want to make sure we do it right.”
Brown said he has received input from City workers and Council and intends to visit each City department for feedback.
Brown will present his proposed 2012-13 budget about the same time frame as last year and said it would include savings realized from the second phase of reform.
Brown presented his current budget to Council July 17 and it was approved Sept. 28.
Brown said ideally he would like to see the budget passed earlier, possibly August or early September, instead of at the final Council meeting of the fiscal year in late September before the Oct. 1 start of the fiscal year.
Brown said he hasn’t discussed that with Council.
Brown also said:
• Martin Luther King Jr. parade funding has been a debate at Council. Council member Reggie Brown filed legislation asking for $29,500 from a special Council contingency fund to help support parade events, but was met with defeat in one committee and deadlocked in two others. Brown pledged last week to raise money for the parade, but would not comment on the amount raised. “I think they are going to be happy,” Brown said about the parade organizers. “I’m going to let Council do their work,” he said. “I’m certain they will all work together to come up with a resolution,” he said. “Whatever they do is going to be hand-in-hand with what I do, working together.”
• Public-private partnerships have raised funds for some situations, including for the MLK Jr. parade, but Brown said he doesn’t believe event organizers should expect to fall back on the partnerships. “No, I think you manage expectations,” he said. “Junior ROTC made sense. The lighted boat parade made sense. I think the key is, ‘what’s the value-added proposition for the community?’”
• The U.S. Department of Defense contract recently awarded for Embraer to build the Super Tucano military aircraft at Jacksonville International Airport and create 50 local jobs was put on hold by the Air Force after another bidder protested it, but Brown said he is not concerned. “It’s going to happen,” he said.
• He hopes to soon make two key appointments, including the economic development officer and a leader for the Downtown development authority. “That’s why I was so bullish on Dec. 13,” he said, the date he pushed for Council to pass the first phase of reform.
• Brown said he has been in discussions with several companies about moving or expanding Downtown. In particular, “financial services is one we should be looking at more for Downtown.”
• He also said he would continue to advocate for more small businesses and entrepreneurs to work Downtown and wanted the proposed Downtown development authority “up and running full speed ahead by the end of the year.”
• A Downtown convention center will be on the agenda of Brown’s Downtown and “eight-year plan.” “I don’t know where the convention center will be. There are a lot of schools of thought,” he said. “But, we’ve got to have a convention center.”
• His conversations with Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shahid Khan extend past football. “I’m beyond the Jaguars with him,” he said. Instead, Brown said he encourages Khan to build a home Downtown and to bring 5,000 new manufacturing jobs to the area with his company, Flex-N-Gate. Brown specifies that Cecil Commerce Center can accommodate such development.
• Brown was in Tallahassee Monday and will continue to travel to the state capital “as much as needed” during the legislative session. The session began Tuesday and Brown said he told local lawmakers to exclude unfunded mandates and any potential tax increases for Jacksonville.
• One of the most controversial issues in the session will be destination gambling resorts in Florida, but Brown has not given the idea any thought. “I can’t even think about that,” he said. “I haven’t even thought about that. I don’t even know what they (legislators) think about it.”
• Brown said he will not become involved in the November presidential election. “I’m just going to focus on Jacksonville,” he said.
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