Major Concerns and Plans for the Second Year of Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan
Introduction
The second year of Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan’s administration officially began on Tuesday.
On July 1, 2023, she took the oath of office as Jacksonville’s first female mayor.
Since then, she has established multiple new initiatives, approved her first budget, and assisted in negotiating the Jaguars stadium deal.
As she starts her second year, Deegan already has a lot on her plate, with two major problems taking center stage this month.
When the City Council reconvenes after their two-week recess, the mayor will first propose her second budget to them.
She and the council also want to vote on the community benefits agreement, which was deleted prior to the final vote on the renovation project, as a follow-up to the stadium accord.
According to the mayor, the stadium agreement will keep the Jaguars in Jacksonville for many years to come and provide a top-notch venue for activities other than NFL games.
Tens of millions of dollars would be invested, primarily in the Eastside neighborhood surrounding the stadium in the city, in career development, affordable housing, and homelessness prevention initiatives through the community benefits agreement. Later this month, the mayor stated that she was determined to pass the package.
Examining a few more initiatives from the mayor’s first year in office:
• The city inaugurated the first connection of the long-awaited Emerald Trail project and reopened Friendship Fountain on the Southbank.
• The Confederate monument in Springfield Park was controversially ordered to be taken down by the mayor late last year.
• The decision sparked outcry because the statue was being removed so soon after construction started in the wee hours of the morning. In response, state representative Dean Black filed a bill in the legislature that would have penalized municipal governments for demolishing historic monuments, but it was shelved in committee.
• In January, the mayor also introduced the River City Readers initiative. Families in the area have now read one million minutes since then and counting.
• Less than half of the city’s third graders are reading below grade level, according to a report that prompted the reading initiative.
Following setbacks to other projects, like the Ford on Bay at the former courthouse site and the fire at the RISE Doro flats, the Laura Street Trio project was forced to start over only last week.
Vision and Public Sentiment
“The time is now to turn renderings into reality, ensure that prosperity is felt across our entire community, and build a city that works for all of us,” Deegan said on social media as her first year in office concluded. Let’s continue collaborating to advance as a team.
According to a recent UNF Public Opinion Research Lab survey, the mayor’s approval rating is 63%, which is in line with that of her Republican peers in local government.
T.K. Waters, the sheriff, and Melissa Nelson, the state attorney, both received higher than 60% ratings for their work performance.