It’s rare for money to be earmarked for yet-to-be-determined ideas.
But this year, there’s a $2.5 million pot ready and waiting for Jacksonville Journey, the city’s anti-crime initiative. Mayor Lenny Curry’s administration hasn’t decided the best way to spend it, yet.
It’ll have until about the end of the year to determine what programs — those helping ex-offenders and juveniles among them — that need funding.
“Violent crime is going up,” said Kerri Stewart, Curry’s chief of staff. “We have got to get this money on the street to solve a problem.”
Curry campaigned on keeping the public safety, teaming with Sheriff Mike Williams on the issue.
Forty additional police and 40 community service officers are being added, but tackling the issue requires more than just enforcement.
It’s the prevention and intervention pieces officials say Journey offers that impact crime rates, which still are high.
There has to be a plan to spend the $2.5 million by the end of the year.
If not, City Council might be a little impatient, more eager to use the set-aside themselves on myriad other needs. Stewart realizes this reality but has a commitment from the group that it will hold off for the next few months.
It will mean trying to identify what is and isn’t working with the longtime initiative started by former Mayor John Peyton that has $2 million in programs this year.
To that end, Curry’s administration today is requesting the city’s procurement department launch a request for proposals on the other $2.5 million.
Stewart calls the review a way to use data like census tracts, Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office statistics and information from the 630-CITY service and Duval County Health Department to find out where underlying problems are.
From there, an informed decision can be made on where to better spend $2.5 million in about a nine-month window. It’s a lot of money to spend in a short period, Stewart said, but with the information that will become available it will help.
The cost of the study isn’t to exceed $150,000. It’s being pulled from the $3 million Curry added to the Journey. Additionally, about $50,000 has been pulled for part-time hours and about $300,000 has been pulled for a library program that’s providing educational assistance.
That leaves $2.5 million for other future spending.
Maybe the data will show children in fifth grade and under need more afterschool programming. Or nutritional programs. Maybe it’ll say the ex-offender population needs that financial help through programs, Stewart said.
She doesn’t know at this point. Such data-driven exercises, she said, have been used in other cities and have proved to be effective.
The Journey Oversight Committee and administration will be “much more involved” on reviewing the data and determine what makes sense and what doesn’t, possibly asking for refined results.
The study should take about two months. That leaves a “really tight timeline,” Stewart said, because of the commitment to tell council in December how the money will be spent.
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