Jacksonville’s effort to reduce blighted conditions in the community achieved a new level Wednesday with the debut of the city’s “Fight Blight” campaign.
City Council member Denise Lee, chair of the Special Ad Hoc Committee on Jacksonville’s Neighborhood Blight, said the campaign is the culmination of a year of work.
The committee also helped form a new city mowing and landscape division and established a series of illegal sign and used tire buy-back events.
A new mobile app, MyJax, is available for Apple and Android devices that residents may download and use to document and report illegal dump sites, overgrown grass and litter.
The app works with a smartphone’s GPS capability and delivers an image and the location of the problem directly to 630-CITY, the city’s call center.
Paul Martinez, director of Intra-Governmental Services, said the app will make it easy for people to notify the city about problems and make it easier for the city to quickly address issues.
The app includes a schedule of solid waste and hazardous waste collection events. Another feature allows residents to schedule pickups of appliances and discarded furniture.
The Jacksonville Transportation Authority will feature the campaign and the app in an advertisement on a bus. Nathaniel Ford, authority CEO, said in addition to donating the rolling billboard, trash cans have been installed at more than 120 bus stops in an effort to reduce litter in neighborhoods.
Also unveiled was the campaign’s as-yet-unnamed mascot, described in the city’s news release as a “friendly trash can” that wears a cap, sunglasses and a cape.
A contest to name the mascot is underway through March 25 in cooperation with the Jacksonville Children’s Commission, Jacksonville Public Library and the city’s website, coj.net.
Children ages 5-18 may submit entries online or by paper ballot at any public library. The name will be selected April 8 by the blight committee and the winning entrant will receive an iPad Air.
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