Much like the typical Jacksonville Community Council Inc. studies of the past four decades, the evolution of the citizens group to succeed it is a work in progress.
JCCI, formed in 1974 to tackle critical topics facing the area, transitioned Wednesday to the Citizen Engagement Pact of Jacksonville.
Kevin Hyde, the immediate past JCCI board chair, and J.F. Bryan IV, a director and the 2013 chair, told a group gathered for the news the pact will comprise area organizations who want to continue the work.
The announcement was at WJCT Studios, where JCCI had most recently leased space.
Specifics were few because the concept is new.
Hyde emphasized the need for citizen engagement to identify, study and recommend change about important community issues. JCCI has produced 80 reports.
Hyde cited the foresight of the 2009 study chaired by Bryan. That report, “Our Money, Our City: Financing Jacksonville’s Future,” recommended pension reform, an example Hyde used to support the ongoing need for community focus.
“It’s more necessary than ever,” Hyde said.
United Way of Northeast Florida will carry on the annual Quality of Life Progress Report, whose 31st edition by JCCI was released Wednesday.
For now, the jaxpact.org site will be the primary source of information.
It will be the connection for organizations that want to participate by sponsoring or recommending a study and for citizens wanting to become involved in one.
Hyde and Bryan will serve for now as the organizers and are working with the Burdette Ketchum media agency.
Hyde said he will convene the groups in March that are expressing interest.
“It’s beginning to coalesce now,” he said.
How the pact evolves depends on those who take steps to participate.
Historically, JCCI would host and staff the scheduled group meetings at which citizens would study a topic, make recommendations and draft the report.
JCCI staff would work with study leaders to put the final report together and help guide the volunteer group to implement the findings.
Hyde and Bryan said the pact’s studies will depend on the hosting organization. Bryan said an organization could hire a consultant to staff a study, for example.
The primary reason JCCI is no longer operating is money, which is why the pact will comprise organizations that can fund the work.
Bryan said JCCI itself might be phased out as an organization at the end of the year, although Hyde, a partner with Foley & Lardner LLP, said he was evaluating that.
The University of North Florida has archived JCCI’s work. Some studies are on the jaxpact.org site, and the jcci.org site also posts many.
Hyde and Bryan sent a letter last week to Mayor Lenny Curry’s Chief Staff Kerri Stewart that explained the pact.
The letter said the framework “will continue a culture of inquiry, convening and implementation.”
The email to Stewart, from Burdette Ketchum public relations coordinator Halli Bruton, quoted from the letter to say a “reflective practice study” took place to better understand the community’s needs around civic engagement.
That included a look at “the continued meaning and relevancy of JCCI.”
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