By Lynn Jones | Mayor Donna Deegan recently culminated her inaugural year in office by delivering her proposed budget for the First Coast. Reflecting back on the historic year, Mayor Deegan sat down with the Free Press’ Lynn Jones to discuss a few highlights.
Her mayoral campaign was fueled by her goal to be the Mayor that all citizens can respect with a vision to revamp, review and renew the city. With a vision of all Jacksonville, this included everything from downtown revitalization and Northside blight and homelessness to infrastructure and wellness efforts throughout the county.
Deegan boasts that she came into this office to unify the community and to make good on the broken promises of the 1968 Duval County consolidation. In terms of the heavily populated urban districts 8, 9 and 10, the city is investing 150 million into infrastructure projects this year.
Recalculating the city’s Capital Improvement Plan (CIP), it includes five-year forecasting for buildings, infrastructures, land/site acquisition, design, engineering, art in public places and other needs for the community. The decision making process has not been happenstance.
“We rescored the Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) and researched the health outcomes, life expectancy and what we can do for these communities. We are spending a great deal of money trying to prioritize those communities that have 10 – 15 years less life expectancy, affordable housing and infrastructure issues.” Deegan shared.
Revitalization does not come without issues and she is still trying to right past wrongs. With the recent controversy over the amount of liquor stores on the Northside which included high profile residents’ protests, under her leadership the store was purchased by the city and will be converted into a neighborhood business center.
She also established an African American Advisory Board for a grass-roots connection with the city’s’ residents of color. Despite skepticism of “just another board,” Free Press readers have shared they look forward to the boards deliverables and outcomes will have to be seen and not heard
The board consists of individuals in various sectors of business in Jacksonville and age groups that represent a mix of voices across the African Diaspora spectrum. She is hopeful that the Board’s generational gaps will lead members to collectively engage their peers concerning their communities more than 56 years of consolidation concerns.
“To me this board will listen to the people, hear what they are saying, what they are not seeing and report back to us to move forward,” she said.
Deegan also shared that her administration has increased the number of Jacksonville Small and Emerging Business program recipients (JSEB) by 30% and has awarded more than 22 million in contracts. She acknowledged that the building of a great city is not done in a silo and shared high praise of elected officials such as Ashantae Green, Supervisor for the Duval County Soil and Water Board. Green has been working tirelessly to combat food desserts and support urban farming to create opportunities to incentivize grocery stores to come into the city. Donna beamed, “Ashantae is zeroing in going after federal grant money to make these things happen.”
Overall Deegan agreed that the consolidation power structure ‘white flight,’ to the suburbs and the fear that the African-American community was becoming the dominant culture, those fast growth efforts were thwarted, “We are all members of this community and we have to treat each other with respect. I’m trying to educate that this is not about other communities snub, we have to be successful in all our communities,” said Deegan.
For more info from the Mayors office: https://www.jacksonville.gov/mayor.aspx
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