Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday slashed $900,000 in funding for programs that serve LGBTQ people in Central Florida, including a program that provides mental-health services to survivors and family members of victims of the Pulse nightclub mass shooting.
Compared with Nashville, Jacksonville is doing relatively little to reduce its carbon footprint and does not have a climate action plan although many believe the city is starting to move in the right direction and should look to examples like Nashville for the way forward.
Jacksonville City Hall to reopen to the public
City Hall had been closed to the public since November 30, 2020
According to a release from the city, visitors are asked to sign in at the front desk and must wear facemasks while in the building.
Areas open to the public include Water Billing, Human Resources, Planning and Permitting, and the Passport Acceptance area. Passport services are currently offered by appointment only.
Restrooms will remain closed to the public.
The back wall of council chambers at Jacksonville City Hall is covered by 43 framed portraits of past City Council presidents, but just two of the pictures are Black presidents.
That number will grow by at least one portrait with council s election of Sam Newby as the next president for a one-year term that will begin July 1.
Newby s rise to the top leadership post also illustrates that Black elected officials have a path to power within the Republican Party, even as the vast majority of Black voters are aligned with the Democratic Party.
Council member Terrance Freeman, also a Black Republican, won election as vice president-designate in a razor-thin contest over Randy DeFoor.