TU: Abel Harding: Downtown's 'other' issues need talk, too

[Patricia M. McBride]

First, I think thanks are in order to the Times Union and Mr. Harding for bringing these issues up and making the public aware of them.  As always, I also have some thoughts on both these issues, and I hope you will share yours as well.  I think the daytime homeless shelter will act as a magnate pulling in even more homeless people and adding to the problem they  are trying to solve (which is what usually happens when a government entity gets involved in "charity work" or micro managing the same.............I smell another huge price tax project).  The second part of this article talks about the parking situation downtown, and I agree it is a problem, but why, I might ask, if parking violations are abundant did they swap out 2 hour meters for 1 hour meters unless they planned on handing out even more tickets by doing so?  Wouldn't 4 hour meters have made more sense?  If you go to city hall to a committee meeting or council function, it means you have to dash out every 50 minutes to put more money in the meters and then, go back through the scanners creating even more work for those who handle that function at city hall. 

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April 25, 2012

By           Abel Hardingjacksonville.com             Copyright 2012 The Florida Times-Union. All rights res...

April  25, 2012 - 12:04am

Abel Harding: Downtown's 'other'  issues need talk, too

More than one year after a mayoral election that saw the future of downtown  play a pivotal role in shaping the race’s outcome, the debate rages on.

The Jacksonville City Council is engaged in discussions over Mayor Alvin  Brown’s proposal to create a Downtown Investment Authority and the future of  Hemming Plaza. Both discussions are critical to downtown’s future, but there are  other topics that must also be part of the discussion.

Take, for starters, the long-running conversation over a daytime homeless  shelter, which would provide access to services for those unable to utilize the  services of one of the city’s homeless shelters. The mayor’s office announced  the outline of a plan to launch a 12-month pilot center late Monday.

The now-promised center, however, will not cure downtown’s woes overnight.  There are also ongoing vagrancy enforcement issues that must be addressed. The  Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office must be properly manned and funded to do its  part.

Read more at Jacksonville.com:  http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2012-04-25/story/abel-harding-do...