Debate continues over $40 Million in Eastside funding<\/p>\n
At Wednesday\u2019s Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) subcommittee meeting, which Arias chairs, discussions centered on how $40 million should be allocated for Eastside improvements over the next seven years.<\/p>\n
Arias led the meeting as usual, telling residents, \u201cWe have a finite amount of dollars available.\u201d<\/p>\n
But some members of the community say their voices are being shut out, particularly regarding concerns about Arias\u2019 leadership.<\/p>\n
For the second CBA meeting in a row, there was no public comment, despite expectations that residents would address questions surrounding Arias.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy you giving out cards if we can\u2019t even comment?\u201d asked Latavia Harris, vice president of the Together Eastside Coalition.<\/p>\n
Coalition calls for Arias to step down<\/p>\n
Earlier this week, the Together Eastside Coalition urged Arias to resign, pointing to \u201cfinancial irregularities.\u201d<\/p>\n
The demand followed months of Action News Jax reporting on Arias\u2019 business activities – coverage that preceded his resignation as chair of the Council\u2019s Finance Committee.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat they set us up for today is Jacksonville, Florida\u2019s biggest heist,\u201d Harris said after the meeting.<\/p>\n
Three weeks ago, the coalition presented a report alleging a \u201ccoordinated influence network\u201d involving nonprofits, developers, and city leadership tied to the allocation and oversight of CBA funds. The organization LIFT JAX, a key player in Eastside revitalization efforts, was among those highlighted.<\/p>\n
New questions emerge over Bold City Media connection<\/p>\n
Action News Jax has now obtained an internal city email from June showing Arias\u2019 assistant connecting LIFT JAX CEO Travis Williams with Bold City Media.<\/p>\n
Williams replied a month later, agreeing to set up a meeting.<\/p>\n
Bold City Media is a company Arias previously owned, something first reported by Action News Jax. Earlier reporting also revealed Arias had attempted to steer work toward the company, raising earlier concerns about a potential conflict of interest.<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
City email of Arias assistant connecting LIFT JAX CEO Travis Williams with Bold City Media <\/p>\n
When Action News Jax attempted to ask Arias about the new email, he left the dais and walked into a secured area.<\/p>\n
Arias later sent a statement saying, in part:<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I did a tour of the Eastside, I had Bold City taking pictures for me and they met\u2026 nothing bad all\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
Harris was not convinced.\u201cMy 3-year-old granddaughter wouldn\u2019t buy that explanation,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Lift Jax Statement:<\/p>\n
\u201cLIFT JAX has never contracted with Bold City Media. While an introduction was made earlier this year, LIFT JAX has had no interactions or relationship with Bold City Media since then. <\/p>\n
LIFT JAX\u2019s only interaction was in 2024 when LIFT JAX and Together Eastside Coalition members led several Eastside neighborhood tours with City Council members. Councilman Arias was accompanied by Bold City Media to take photos.\u201d<\/p>\n
>>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<<<\/a><\/p>\n [DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks<\/a>]<\/p>\n [SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter<\/a>] <\/p>\n Click here<\/a> to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here<\/a> to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here<\/a> to stream Action News Jax live.<\/p>\n Action News Jax Top Stories<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2014 The City Councilman leading discussions on how tens of millions of dollars will be directed…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":54780,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[34901,34902,34903,116,118,117],"class_list":["post-70523","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-jacksonville","tag-1-28-22","tag-alex-arias","tag-alex-p","tag-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville-headlines","tag-jacksonville-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70523","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70523"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70523\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/54780"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70523"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70523"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70523"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}