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The Jacksonville Consolidation was the city-county consolidation of the governments of the City of Jacksonville and Duval County, Florida. It was effected on October 1, 1968.
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The Jacksonville Consolidation was the city-county consolidation of the governments of the City of Jacksonville and Duval County, Florida. It was effected on October 1, 1968.
In 1934, the Florida Constitution was amended to give the Florida Legislature the “power to establish, alter or abolish, a Municipal corporation to be known as the City of Jacksonville, extending territorially throughout the present limits of Duval County," [1] but for many years thereafter, the Legislature did not exercise the power.
Through the 1960s, Jacksonville, like many other large cities in the US, suffered from the effects of urban sprawl, with the city losing tax base to new residential and business development in the suburbs, which also drew out jobs.
Both the city and county suffered corruption scandals, following virtual one-party rule by Democrats since the turn of the 20th century, when the state legislature had disenfranchised most African Americans and effectively hollowed out the Republican Party, with which most blacks had been allied since they were granted the franchise as freedmen following the Civil War.
In the 1960s, a grand jury indicted 11 Jacksonville and Duval County officials on 142 counts of bribery and larceny including:
The city tax assessor took the Fifth Amendment, refused to testify, and resigned. [2] [3]
Claude Yates had recently retired as vice president and general manager of Southern Bell in Jacksonville and been named president of the Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce in 1964 when all 15 public high schools lost their accreditation; they were still segregated despite the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education ruling by the US Supreme Court. That year Congress had passed the Civil Rights Act that ended legal racial segregation of public facilities, and the state was working to adapt to other changes.
On January 19, 1965 Yates called a lunch meeting of the chamber at the Robert Meyer Hotel to decide on a course of action for the region. Attendees included Glenn Marshall Jr., Roger L. Main, W. S. Johnson, Charles W. Campbell, Gert H.W. Schmidt, Edward Ball, C. G. Whittaker, Luke Sadler, B. D. Fincannon, George B. Hills, Jacob F. Bryan III, B. N. Nimnicht, James R. Stockton Sr., J. T. Lane, J. H. Coppedge, Gen. Maxwell Snyder, Harold Meyerheim, Joseph W. Davin, Thompson S. Baker, Richard Lewinson, Henry M. French and S. Kendrick Guernsey. [4]
The date was significant as it was the deadline for submitting requests for the upcoming state legislative session. At the time, the legislature met for only 60 days every other year. These business and civic leaders signed a 45-word petition to the Duval County legislative delegation, consisting of State Senator John E. Mathews and Representative Fred Schultz, that would later be dubbed as the "Yates Manifesto". [5] It stated:
We, the undersigned, respectfully request the Duval County Delegation to the Florida Legislature to prepare an enabling act calling for the citizens of Duval County to vote on the consolidation of government within Duval to secure more efficient and effective government under one governmental body.
Under the Florida Constitution as it existed at that time, cities and counties had limited home rule powers and often needed special legislation by the Florida Legislature to accomplish many objectives. The Legislature generally deferred to the decision of the county delegation on whether to enact such special legislation, which gave the county delegation in a particular county great political influence. Following the adoption of a new Constitution, effective January 7, 1969, home rule powers of cities and counties were expanded, [6] and the influence of the county delegation declined.
In response, the 1965 Florida Legislature created the Local Government Study Commission (LGSC). [7] The legislature chose J. J. Daniel as chairman to design a new government and write its charter. Daniel was known, according to The Florida Times , for his "powerful personality, unquestioned integrity, strong leadership and history of civic involvement." [8] Lex Hester was hired as the executive director of the LGSC. He was the "key architect of Jacksonville's consolidated government", transition coordinator and chief administrative officer following consolidation. [9] Claude Yates was among the 50 business and civic leaders invited to participate; elected officials and government employees were intentionally excluded. On October 1, 1965 the commission was established and given until May 1, 1967 to complete their work. In January, 1967, after 15 months of effort and three months ahead of schedule, the LGSC submitted a consolidation proposal entitled, Blueprint for Improvement. [10] The legislative delegation altered the plan slightly to make it more appealing and ordered it to be placed on a referendum in 1967. [11]
Claude Yates also helped promote the government merger plan. Yates led the Citizens for Better Government committee, which successfully disseminated information about the advantages of consolidation to voters who had consistently defeated consolidation referendums since 1935. [11] Lower taxes, increased economic development, unification of the community, better public spending and effective administration by a more central authority were all cited as reasons for a new consolidated government.
Influential individuals who supported consolidation included:
Duval county voters approved the consolidation referendum 54,493 - 29,768 on August 8, 1967 [14] but the old government did not go quietly. A lawsuit was filed by a few elected officials contesting consolidation because their term in office would be shortened and they would be required to face re-election after one year in office. Other elected officials attempted to pass zoning changes or sign long-term government contracts for their friends. [2]
After a year of transition, the consolidated government went into effect on October 1, 1968. Jacksonville celebrated with a parade and fireworks that attracted 200,000 spectators. Hans Tanzler, elected mayor of Jacksonville the year before, became the first mayor of the consolidated government. Jacksonville became the largest city (by population) in Florida and the 13th largest in the United States. According to the Jacksonville Historical Society, the city "became the largest city in land area in the entire world", a distinction it eventually yielded to Juneau, Alaska. [14]
All land in Duval County is considered part of Jacksonville except the four independent municipalities of Jacksonville Beach, Atlantic Beach, Neptune Beach and Baldwin. Residents of these towns vote in city elections and are eligible for other services. Jacksonville was the second consolidated government in the state of Florida and one of ten in the nation. [14]
The government of Florida is established and operated according to the Constitution of Florida and is composed of three branches of government: the executive branch consisting of the governor of Florida and the other elected and appointed constitutional officers; the legislative branch, the Florida Legislature, consisting of the Senate and House; and the judicial branch consisting of the Supreme Court of Florida and lower courts. The state also allows direct participation of the electorate by initiative, referendum, and ratification.
The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office (JSO) is a joint city-county law enforcement agency, which has primary responsibility for law enforcement, investigation, and corrections within the consolidated City of Jacksonville and Duval County, Florida, United States. Duval County includes the incorporated cities of Jacksonville, Atlantic Beach, Baldwin, Jacksonville Beach, and Neptune Beach; the beach cities have their own police departments as well.
Thomas Lester Hazouri Sr. was an American politician of the Democratic Party. He served as a member of the Florida House of Representatives from 1974 to 1986, as Mayor of Jacksonville from 1987 to 1991, and represented School District 7 in the Duval County School Board from 2004 to 2012. He was later an At-Large member of the Jacksonville City Council.
Hans Gearhart Tanzler, Jr. was an American politician and judge. He served as Mayor of Jacksonville, Florida, from 1967 to 1979. During his administration, the City of Jacksonville consolidated with Duval County, making him the last mayor of the old city government and the first mayor of a consolidated Jacksonville. He was a member of the Democratic Party.
Louis Hampton Ritter was an American politician and lobbyist. He served as mayor of Jacksonville, Florida, from 1965 until 1967. A Democrat, he assumed office when W. Haydon Burns, mayor since 1949, resigned to become Governor of Florida. He was the last mayor to serve his entire term before the city was consolidated with the Duval County government.
Audrey Gibson is an American politician serving as a Democratic member of the Florida Senate, representing the 6th district, which includes sections of downtown Jacksonville in Duval County, since 2016. She previously represented the 9th district from 2012 to 2016 and the 1st district from 2011 to 2012. Gibson also served in the Florida House of Representatives, representing the 15th district in downtown Jacksonville from 2002 to 2010.
The Jacksonville City Council is the legislative governing body of the city of Jacksonville, Florida. The council meets in its chambers at Jacksonville City Hall, 117 W. Duval St. Under Florida’s government transparency laws, all official council business must be conducted in meetings open to the public.
The Florida circuit courts are state courts, and are trial courts of original jurisdiction for most controversies. In Florida, the circuit courts are one of four types of courts created by the Florida Constitution.
Lewis Alexander Hester, III was a public administrator in Jacksonville, Florida. He "was the consummate no-nonsense administrator, the very best in his field," according to M. C. Harden III, past chairman of the Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce, influential in designing the city government of Jacksonville and managing it through the terms of three of Jacksonville's mayors. He served as the county Manager of Broward and Orange County and as City Manager of Duval County. He was largely responsible for the Blueprint for Consolidation which was a guide for cities all over the United States.
Jaquelin James Daniel was an American lawyer, businessman, civic leader, and newspaper publisher. He was born and lived most of his life in Jacksonville, Florida, where he led the effort that resulted in the Jacksonville Consolidation of 1968, which combined city and county governments to improve services. He was known in his lifetime as one of the city's and state's most politically powerful people.
Claude J. Yates, was a Jacksonville business executive in the 1960s who is known as the Father of Jacksonville's consolidation.
The government of Jacksonville is organized under the city charter and provides for a "strong" mayor–council system. The most notable feature of the government in Jacksonville, Florida, is that it is consolidated with Duval County, which the jurisdictions agreed to in the 1968 Jacksonville Consolidation.
Mia L. Jones was a Democratic member of the Florida House of Representatives, representing the 14th District, which includes parts of downtown Jacksonville in northern Duval County, from 2008 to 2016.
Mary Littlejohn Singleton was a Florida teacher and politician, serving on the Jacksonville, Florida City Council before and after the consolidation in 1968 with Duval County. In 1967 she was one of the first two black women elected to the council. She was re-elected after consolidation and served until 1972.
The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Jacksonville, Florida, USA.
Florida's Constitution of 1885, its fifth, was drawn up by the Constitutional Convention of 1885. The convention was held from June 9, 1885 until August 3, 1885 in Tallahassee, Florida "for the purpose of reforming the "Carpetbag" Constitution of 1868", according to course literature from the University of Virginia. It was Florida's fifth constitutional convention and restored the election of many public officials, reduced the salaries of the governor and other state officers, made the governor ineligible for reelection, abolished the office of lieutenant governor, and provided for a legislature of fixed numbers.
William O. Birchfield Jr. was an American politician, lawyer, and civic leader in Jacksonville, Florida. He referred to himself as the "Duke of Mayo" from the small town where he was born and raised.
The 2023 Jacksonville mayoral election was held on March 21, 2023, with a runoff held on May 16. Incumbent Republican mayor Lenny Curry was term-limited and could not seek a third term in office. Seven candidates filed to run, including four Republicans, two Democrats, and an independent. Jacksonville mayoral elections use a blanket primary system where all candidates, regardless of party affiliation, appear on the same ballot. Nonprofit founder Donna Deegan, a Democrat, and Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce president Daniel Davis, a Republican, took the top two spots in the primary election. Because no candidate surpassed 50% of the vote, Deegan and Davis advanced to a runoff.
Sallye Brooks Mathis was a teacher and civil rights activist in Jacksonville, Florida who served as an elected official in local government along with Mary Singleton. She served on Jacksonville's city council for 15 years. Sallye B. Mathis Elementary School is named for her, and she was inducted into the Florida Civil Rights Hall of Fame in 2015.
