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| Jacksonville Apartment Locator Services : Jacksonville |  | Contents | |
| Law and Government |
| History |
| After World War II, the government of the City
of Jacksonville began to increase spending to fund new building
projects in the boom that occurred after the war. Mayor Haydon
Burns' "Jacksonville Story" resulted in the construction
of a new city hall, civic auditorium, public library and other
projects that created a dynamic sense of civic pride. However,
the development of suburbs and a subsequent wave of "white
flight" left Jacksonville with a much poorer population
than before. Much of the city's tax base dissipated, leading
to problems with funding education, sanitation, and traffic
control within the city limits. In addition, residents in unincorporated
suburbs had difficulty obtaining municipal services such as
sewage and building code enforcement. In 1958, a study recommended
that the City of Jacksonville begin annexing outlying communities
in order to create the needed tax base to improve services throughout
the county. Voters outside the city limits rejected annexation
plans in six referendums between 1960 and 1965. |
| In the mid 1960s, corruption scandals began to
arise among many of the city's officials, who were mainly elected
through the traditional good ol' boy network. After a grand
jury was convened to investigate, several officials were indicted
and more were forced to resign. Consolidation began to win more
support during this period, from both inner city blacks (who
wanted more involvement in government) and whites in the suburbs
(who wanted more services and more control over the center city).
Lower taxes, increased economic development, unification of
the community, better public spending and effective administration
by a more central authority were all cited as reasons for a
new consolidated government. |
| A consolidation referendum was held in 1967, and
voters approved the plan. On October 1, 1968, the governments
merged to create the Consolidated City of Jacksonville. |
| Structure |
| Jacksonville uses the Mayor-Council form of city
government. The mayor is the Chief Executive and Administrative
officer, called the Strong-Mayor form. He holds veto power over
all resolutions and ordinances made by the city council. He
also has the power to hire and fire the head of various city
departments. The city council has nineteen members, fourteen
of whom are elected from districts, and five who are elected
at-large. Four municipalities within Duval County voted not
to join the consolidated government. These communities consist
of only 6% of the total population within the county. The municipalities
are Baldwin, Neptune Beach, Atlantic Beach and Jacksonville
Beach. Not all city services were merged, making for a less-than-full
consolidation of the city-county. Several authorities remain
independent of the combined city-county government, including
the school board, electric authority, port authority, and airport
authority. Fire, police, health and welfare, recreation, public
works, and housing and urban development were all combined under
the new government. The four separate communities provide their
own services, while maintaining the right to contract the consolidated
government to provide services for them. Under the new government
structure, anyone living in Duval County is eligible to run
for Mayor of the City of Jacksonville, even those living in
the four separate municipalities. |
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