The Eastside neighborhood is closer to receiving a portion of the $300 million community benefits agreement related to the stadium deal between the city of Jacksonville and the Jacksonville Jaguars.
The Jacksonville City Council Special Committee on the Community Benefits Agreement 2.0 agreed Oct. 22 to establish a nonprofit organization, the Eastside Community Grants Program, to distribute funds from the CBA in the neighborhood. The committee also settled on the makeup of the nonprofit’s board.
In September 2024, Council finalized a $150 million city contribution to the agreement, a companion to the $1.4 billion “Stadium of the Future” deal between the city and team to remake EverBank Stadium. NFL owners ratified the deal in October.
The agreement calls for the city to contribute $40 million in initiatives for the Eastside, the neighborhood near the stadium, between this fiscal year and the 2031-32 fiscal year. The Jaguars will contribute $75 million, divided into $2.5 million installments, between 2028 and 2058, to Eastside initiatives.
Under the proposal backed by the Council special committee, the Eastside Community Grants Program would receive the CBA money and distribute it toward programs for affordable housing, workforce housing, economic development and homelessness mitigation in the Eastside.
The committee chose to establish the 501(c)(3) after discussion over two models – one based on the Jacksonville Cultural Council and the other on the Opioid Settlement Proceeds Grant Committee.
The Cultural Council is separate from the city and acts as its arts agency. The Cultural Council determines and authorizes the allocation of grants and appropriations that are designated in the city’s annual budget.
The seven-member committee under the opioid model falls under city control. That committee reviews and assesses city needs related to the opioid epidemic; recommends funding percentages to three categories; reviews, evaluates and scores grant applications; and awards settlement proceeds.
Both options had support from factions of Eastside residents and business stakeholders.
On a 5-1 vote, the special committee agreed to recommend the Cultural Council model. Member Ron Salem cast the lone no vote, and member Tyrona Clark-Murray was not present.
“The 501(c)(3) model just gives a lot more flexibility to help people get in the door faster and get the money out to more than just the big dogs again,” committee member Jimmy Peluso said. “I’m very concerned the opioid model puts more power in the hands of the government, which people have said time and again, that’s something they don’t want.”
“I want accountability. I want to make sure these dollars are spent correctly, accomplish the goal,” Salem said. “I’m in favor of the opioid model, at least to begin with, and over some period of time, maybe it can be changed. But accountability is my biggest issue.”
The committee’s recommendation is for a nine-member board with four members appointed by the mayor, four appointed by the Council president and one current Jaguars employee.
The eight members appointed by the mayor and Council president would serve three-year terms, and the appointments would require full Council approval.
All eight must reside or have a substantial business interest in the Eastside. Additionally, no more than three members may come from one of the Eastside’s five neighborhoods: Fairfield, Oakland, Campbell’s Addition, Phoenix and Longbranch.
The committee approved the board’s structure with a unanimous voice vote, with Clark-Murray present.
One Eastside community member, Leslie Jean-Bart, said she was concerned that politics would come into play when selecting board members.
Jean-Bart, a former Democratic candidate for the Florida House of Representatives, said she wouldn’t receive the necessary 10 votes for approval from Council if nominated. The Council is made up of 14 Republicans and five Democrats.
Arias, a Republican, said he wouldn’t let politics play a role with his vote.
“We are going to entrust the community to give us the best names possible to ensure that there are no politics in this part,” Arias said. “I will not take politics into this. They have to live and reside or have a business interest in that community. If they meet those criteria, they should be able to fit the bill for that.”
The decisions made by the committee Oct. 22 won’t become part of official legislation yet. The committee will meet again Nov. 13 to consider amendments to the legislation based on the Cultural Council model.
After that meeting, Arias said he expected to have legislation filed before the full Council and passed by the end of the calendar year. That legislation would be filed on an emergency basis, meaning it would only take one or two weeks to pass Council, rather than the norman six-week process.
When that legislation is approved, Council can begin considering recommendations for board approvals.
The budget approved by Council for the 2025-26 fiscal year includes $4 million allotted for the city’s contribution to the Eastside, which Arias said he wanted to get out the door as soon as possible.
“We could finalize this legislation and send it up to Council for full action this year,” Arias said. “My hope is that once we take action at the start of the year, we could actually start putting these $4 million in the streets of the Eastside.”