Jacksonville, FL (June 1, 2020) – The final recommendations of the 2019-2020 Charter Review Commission were submitted in a final report and presented to the Jacksonville City Council during a zoom meeting in June.
There were 14 members appointed to the 2019 Charter Revision Commission. The commission was divided into three subcommittees back in October of 2019, which th Charter Reviosn Commision’s Chairman Lindsey Brock appointed, to allow the Commission to focus on and discuss “potential amendments to the City Charter for consideration by the full Commission and ultimately recommendation to the City Council by March 2020.
The members and their assigned subcommittee topics were as followed;
Government Structure/Preserving Institutional Knowledge
Chair: Hon. Ronald Swanson; Hon. Matt Schellenberg;
Jessica Baker; Nelson McCoy; Heidi Jameson;
Urban Services District
Chair: Anne-Marie Knight; Frank Denton; Celestine Mills; Charles Griggs
City-wide Strategic Planning
Chair: Betzy Santiago; Hon. W. C. Gentry; Emily Lisska; Nick Howland; Chris Hagan
The committees met weekly for several months until the 2nd week of March when everything came to a halt due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. An Emergency Stay at Home Order was put in place until June which prevented the commission from meeting, however, the commission had their first Zoom Virtual meeting on May 29th, where they discussed the recommendations that came from the subcommittee meetings held prior to the pandemic. The commission voted to amend and approve the final report during that meeting, before introducing the 66-page document to Jacksonville City Council in June for the 19 Council Members too review.