If City Council members vote Tuesday as they have in committees, the Duval County Supervisor of Elections center will be moved from the Gateway Shopping Center to One Imeson Center in North Jacksonville.
Contentious committee reviews ended Tuesday with the Council Finance Committee voting 5-4 to move the center from Gateway Shopping Center, just north of Downtown, to the former Sears catalog distribution center at One Imeson.
The vote comes a day after the Council Rules Committee and Transportation, Energy and Utilities Committee split their votes between One Imeson and Gateway, where the center has operated since 2006.
Rules Committee members voted 7-0 for a move to One Imeson after denying a proposal by a 6-1 vote to keep the center at Gateway. Rules Chair Warren Jones was the lone vote in support of Gateway during the denial.
Gateway was approved 5-2 by the Transportation, Energy and Utilities Committee, with the same vote rejecting the One Imeson proposal. Council members Stephen Joost and Matt Schellenberg were the One Imeson supporters in both votes.
In all, 17 Council members have voted on the issue, with 10 supporting One Imeson and seven supporting Gateway.
Supporting One Imeson were Council members Bill Bishop, Lori Boyer, Doyle Carter, Richard Clark, Joost, Denise Lee, Robin Lumb, Don Redman, Schellenberg and Clay Yarborough
Gateway supporters have been Greg Anderson, Reggie Brown, John Crescimbeni, Kimberly Daniels Johnny Gaffney, Jones and Jim Love.
Council President Bill Gulliford and Council member Ray Holt are not on those committees.
A simple majority of 10 votes is needed to pass either proposal.
Mayor Alvin Brown's administration supports Gateway, while Supervisor of Elections Jerry Holland has pushed for One Imeson.
Jim Robinson, City Public Works director, and Holland on Tuesday gave presentations to the Finance Committee similar to those they gave the day before to Rules and Transportation, Energy and Utilities.
Robinson said Gateway's new owner, Terranova Corp. has, among other benefits, agreed to $1.2 million in improvements, which he said reduces City risk associated with a move and saves taxpayers about $81,000 compared to One Imeson's proposal over the term of the 10-year lease.
Holland told the Finance Committee that One Imeson's build-out is "designing it for what we know we need today" and, as a one-story facility, is more efficient.
He also refuted several aspects of Robinson's presentation, calling City risk by moving "a false statement" because insured, professional movers handle the duties and that build-out cost overruns are covered by GIV Imeson LLC, the landlord.
"To say you are at risk is a false statement," Holland said about the move.
Holland said the One Imeson deal saves about $11,000 more than the Gateway proposal when the start dates are taken into consideration.
Current monthly rent at Gateway is about $51,000. Both proposals would lower that monthly rent by more than half, a move many Council members have said is a win for taxpayers.
Several Council members said the past two days they still thought a consolidated office Downtown was the best solution, but that currently is not an available option.
The decision between the two locations has been political and emotional for months.
Tuesday's review included Lee claiming Finance Committee Chair Anderson of trying to "ramrod this through" because of Anderson's support of Gateway. The issue arose during deliberations when Anderson allowed committee members to speak first who had not yet spoken on the issue at any of the three committees.
Lee, a vocal One Imeson supporter, is not on the committee and criticized the speaking order. She later was allowed to speak on the issue.
The full 19-member Council is scheduled to vote on the issue at its 5 p.m. meeting Tuesday.
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