City council passes Mayor Deegan’s $14M Task Force Bill to support homelessness, housing & youth programs

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JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Jacksonville City Council voted Tuesday to pass Mayor Donna Deegan’s Task Force Bill with 13 of 17 council members showing support of the bill.

The bill includes $14 million that will fund programs for children, families, homelessness and more.

Here’s a breakdown of how some of the money will be delegated:

$5.3 million toward programs for children and families with $1.9 million of that money funding the expansion of after-school and summer literacy programs
$2 million to support the “American Dream” initiative that includes local stack funding for attainable housing
$430,000 for pediatric mental health support
$2.2 million for elderly food insecurity relief

“We focused on homelessness, housing, children’s programs like early learning and after-school programs as well as health programs that will hopefully help us secure ideas to keep our city healthier,” Scott Wilson, city council liaison, said.

City Council President Ron Salem shared the programs he is interested in.

“I have picked up a big interest in homelessness. We’ve got a good diversion program. We’ve got a program for the chronic homeless. We’ve got all sorts of programs for education for young people to get them on the right start. A lot of good stuff in there,” Salem said.

The next step will be sending the legislation to Deegan for her to sign. Then the city will start funding programs immediately, according to Wilson.

Deegan will host a ceremony Wednesday at 1 p.m. to answer questions about the initiatives and sign the legislation. News4JAX will stream the ceremony.

The council also voted to pass an early voting ordinance.

During the public comment section of the meeting, more than a dozen people lined up to speak about the ongoing conflict in Gaza with most asking the council to support a cease-fire and stop supporting Israel.

In October, the city council showed support for Israel by passing an emergency resolution, saying the city of Jacksonville mourns the loss of life and “unequivocally” stands with Israel as it defends itself.

The lone “No” vote came from Salem, who is of Palestinian heritage. Salem did not explain why he voted no.

News4JAX asked Salem about tonight’s calls for a cease-fire resolution. He said he did not see the council addressing that in the future.