Both the Jacksonville Neighborhoods, Community Services, Public Health and Safety Committee and Rules Committee unanimously passed the ordinance with changes.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Jacksonville City Council is moving closer to distributing the money set aside for the Eastside community in the Community Benefits Agreement with the Jacksonville Jaguars. The ordinance that creates the Eastside Community Grants Program advanced through two committees Monday.

The program sets up the framework for how the $40 million earmarked for the Eastside will be spent. Members of the Special Committee on the Community Benefits Agreement 2.0 have been meeting over the last year to come up with a plan for how the money will be distributed and who will oversee it.

During Monday’s neighborhoods committee meeting, council members heard recommendations from the Office of General Counsel and the Office of Inspector General. Representatives from the Eastside community also gave their input. The consensus was on a need for more transparency and oversight.

“It’s, I believe, made things better. And it’s listened to the members of the Eastside and it’s listened to the inspector general,” Chris Miller, Chair of the Rules Committee, said.

Committee members adopted what is being called the ‘opioid model’ for how the funds will be distributed and who will oversee it. This will look similar to how money from the opioid settlement is distributed by the city. The Special Committee on the Community Benefits Agreement 2.0 had previously discussed setting up some sort of 501c3 organization to oversee the fund distribution, but some members of the Eastside community were not on board.

“We have come together to understand that accountability, the transparency that needs to be done, needs to be done in the city. Therefore, that will bring comfort to the community,” a member of the community said during public comment.

The amended ordinance requires that people appointed to sit on the Eastside community grants board have some sort of experience in workforce development, affordable housing or homelessness mitigation. Oversight will also be provided by the city’s Grants and Contract Compliance Division. 

Rules Committee Chair Chris Miller believes these changes will make everyone involved happy.

“That’s when we’re at our best, when we can all listen to each other, as we did, and we can all work together,” Miller explained.

The city’s finance committee will vote on the ordinance Tuesday. If it passes there, the full city council will vote on it during their regular meeting next week.