Jacksonville City Council President-Elect Nick Howland says public safety, economic growth, and affordability are his priorities.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Jacksonville City Council President-elect Nick Howland (At-Large, Group 3) says public safety, economic growth and affordability will be at the top of his agenda when he officially takes over later this month.

Howland is set to become the next City Council president on June 25 after serving as City Council vice president. Joe Carlucci (District 5) will be the new vice president.



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In a one-on-one interview with First Coast News, Howland said his top priority is public safety.

“I’ve been the liaison for the last three years for the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office from City Council. I mean the numbers speak for themselves. The year 2024 is the lowest number of violent crime on record in Jacksonville and we’re seeing improvements across the board, across all kinds of crime. So I would say to Sheriff Waters and JSO, you’re doing a remarkable job, keep it up and we’ll give you what you need to keep driving down crime,” Howland said.

Howland also said job creation will be key to Jacksonville’s future.

“The very first piece of legislation I did when I joined Council back in 2022 was change our city’s public incentive plan, which basically had a requirement that to get an incentive to move into our city and to grow here and to expand here and to make jobs here, you had to meet a minimum state average wage,” Howland said. “We now know that eleven companies have used that waiver and brought over 1600 jobs,” he said.

As Jacksonville’s population continues to grow, Howland said affordability is becoming a growing concern for families across the city.

“To me, it’s more important to create a job for a family than it is to all other aspects of potential government handouts. I have this phrase I like to say: If you give a family a meal they eat for a night, if you give a family a job they eat for a career. So job growth is a huge part in solving the affordability crisis,” Howland said.