Letters: JFRD appointments show Mayor Deegan is not the 'strong mayor' Jacksonville needs

In 1968, Jacksonville`s Consolidated Charter gave the city a “strong mayor” form of government, granting the mayor significant powers in comparison to the City Council. But where is our “strong mayor?”

Recently Mayor Donna Deegan announced appointments to JFRD to make leadership teams more diverse and create a succession pipeline for future promotions. She must be commended for her attempts to make JFRD leadership better reflect the demographics of this city.

However, the Jacksonville Brotherhood of Firefighters, the largest group of Black firefighters in the city, shared their opposing views to the mayor`s appointments on Facebook.

Their major points of opposition to her appointments include the failure to replace Fire Chief Keith Powers and his leadership team. The group also cites the lack of authority granted to the new leadership teams, as well as their failure to be placed in positions that can impact changes or address unfair cultural policies to improve the department.

Removing Powers and his leadership team would have created real, effective change. Mayor Deegan has demonstrated the inability to make hard decisions that are required to affect policy shifts for effectiveness. To me, she specializes in political eyewash, rather than strong actions and strength.

Mayor Deegan and her executive staff are making the same critical mistakes with the JFRD leadership that they made with new positions in City Hall. They are assigning leadership titles without authority to carry out assigned responsibilities that impact policy changes to improve the department.

That's tantamount to having a power boat in the ocean without an engine.

It seems that all of Mayor Deegan`s new leadership appointments at JFRD have no authority or power to make any actual management decisions. Nor can they affect the unfair racial dilemmas that have plagued this department for years.

Dr. Juan P. Gray, Jacksonville

Federal menthol ban will save lives

While the White House gets closer to finalizing rules that will end the sale of menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars in the U.S., the tobacco industry is working hard to stop the rule and protect their profits. They are spreading false claims about job losses, policing issues and illicit trade.

I’ve seen firsthand the impact of these products on our Jacksonville community’s health. Here are the facts:

• Ending the sale of menthol and flavored cigars will save lives and protect our youth.

• 40% of kids who smoke cigarettes use menthol cigarettes and 65% who smoke cigars use flavored cigars.

• Here in Florida, 15% of adults smoke while 25% of high school students use tobacco.

• Smoking costs Florida over $8.6 billion each year in health care costs.

These rules will also save Black lives. Tobacco use is the No. 1 cause of preventable death in the U.S., claiming 45,000 Black lives annually. Menthol cigarettes remain a key factor for tobacco-related death and disease in Black communities.

Among Black individuals who smoke, 81% use menthol cigarettes due to decades of tobacco industry targeting. A 2021 study found menthol cigarettes led to 1.5 million new smokers, 157,000 smoking-related premature deaths and 1.5 million life years lost among Black individuals nationally from 1980–2018.

Ending the sale of these products would result in more people quitting smoking and fewer kids starting. That would be an enormous public health win here in Jacksonville and beyond.

I urge residents to sign the American Lung Association’s petition urging the Biden administration to finalize these proposed rules by the end of the year and help save lives: Lung.org/Stop-Menthol.

Cindy Springer, director of development, American Lung Association, Jacksonville

Where is human decency?

Last weekend, I made the mistake of going to a large shopping mall. I should have known better than to venture out on a Saturday in December.

While it was somewhat crowded, the astounding amount of rudeness and self-centered behavior was disproportionately on full display. There were empty bottles and fast-food packaging left deliberately on the edge of parking spaces by those too lazy to dispose of it properly. Cars honked obnoxiously and drivers flipped off patrons for no apparent reason.

I saw disgusting dental floss picks strewn on streets and sidewalks. Shoppers walked cluelessly and apathetically down the very middle of parking lot rows, with cars backing up behind them. There were also people sneezing and coughing openly, without the slightest inclination to cover their mouths.

What happened to us as a society? Where did basic common human decency go? At 57 and a Jacksonville native, I can tell you ― it has gotten worse. The sense of entitlement and total disregard for others around us is certainly more prevalent than it was 20 or 30 years ago. It’s a shining example of the coarsening and degradation of America, which is so sad to see.

Come on people: Think about what you do. Throw away your trash, cover your sneezes and walk thoughtfully. Be considerate and civilized.

Philip May, Jacksonville

Another Springfield monument solution

Reading the Dec. 16 guest column and recent letters to the editor on the Confederate monument in Springfield Park solved the problem for me. I hope it will for those it offends the most.

The statue of a mother reading to her child has always been my favorite one in Jacksonville, as one of my life’s missions has been to teach children and adults to read. I am ashamed to admit that I never noted the Confederate soldier on top or thought about how painful this monument could be to others.

The past can’t be changed, but people’s perceptions can. What a perfect opportunity to show future generations how our free country is developing and trying to correct our errors — a visible lesson in history. This monument could be rededicated to all the Black troops who gave their lives protecting our Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution.

Let’s put a Black soldier on top. Add a metal plaque saying that in 2024, the citizens of Jacksonville decided to recognize and honor these brave Black soldiers who gave their lives in the Civil War. It should also state that we don't want them to be forgotten in mourning all the lives lost.

What a wonderful way to change and repurpose the monument.

Sarah Van Cleve, Jacksonville

Fackler must rule on monument removal

We call on Jacksonville’s new general counsel, Michael Fackler, to rule as his first action in office that the Confederate monument in Springfield Park ― for which funds are already included in the budget — to be removed immediately by the mayor without any additional approval from City Council.

It is imperative that this monument be removed now before any bill such as the despicable one proposed by Rep. Dean Black, HB 395, Protection of Historical Monuments and Memorials Act (or as we call it, the “Keep Hate Alive” Act) is adopted. We cannot allow monuments that glorify racist, traitorous and amoral leaders to remain standing in Jacksonville.

We need racial healing and reconciliation; removing Confederate monuments is one important step in this process.

The Northside Coalition continues to demand the immediate removal of the Confederate monument in Springfield Park, the renaming of that park to Ben Frazier Park and the initiation of comprehensive community-wide meetings called charrettes ― a process also supported by the Jacksonville Civic Council — to discuss the removal of all monuments, markers, symbols and names that glorify the Confederacy, racism, discrimination, segregation and all forms of oppression.

Kelly Frazier, president, Northside Coalition of Jacksonville

City Council needs reality check

There are people in Jacksonville that still have septic tanks. There is an affordable housing problem and the organization in charge of monitoring it has problems. The board wanted to give its CEO a $60,000 raise. Who gets that kind of raise these days? Many people don’t make half that.

Then there is the stadium deal. Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shad Khan apparently has the City Council wrapped around his little finger.

On top of that, a finance manager with the team reportedly swindled $22 million to pay for a lavish lifestyle and a gambling addiction. It seems that the Jaguars are not capable of monitoring where their money goes, and how much taxpayer money has the city already given Khan? I don’t think Jacksonville needs a new luxury hotel but if Khan wants one, the city will give him money for it.

The man is a multimillionaire ― let him pay for it.

The City Council needs to realize that they are responsible to all the citizens of Jacksonville. They must use taxpayer money to benefit everyone that lives here and pays the taxes.

Mary Middleton, Jacksonville

Homeowners still ‘bleeding’ on insurance

According to a small item in the Dec. 16 Times-Union, the state insurance commissioner said he was glad to report that state legislators have "stopped the bleeding" with the changes made to insurance regulations. I am not sure where he lives, but it must not be in Florida. We are still bleeding furiously.

My insurance went up over 100% in 2022, most likely the biggest factor in inflation in Florida. My mortgage payment (which includes homeowners insurance) went up over $400 last year to make up for the shortfall in insurance payments. This year, my insurance only went up 5% (still higher than inflation).

My bleeding did not stop, nor slow down. When a car accelerates from 40 to 80 mph and then accelerates again to 85, it has not stopped or slowed down.

There was no decrease in my insurance or mortgage payment back to levels before the gigantic raises of last year. So where is the evidence that the "bleeding” has stopped?

Peter Bishop, Jacksonville

Many factors to consider on climate change

As far back as we have recorded history, the world has experienced forest fires, earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, volcanic eruptions and other disasters. We now know we have global warming and the tendency is to blame everything on climate change. Many insist on drastic measures to slow it down, regardless of expense and without much consideration of current costs to the population.

To further support this position, some of the "experts" are bemoaning the deaths from heat due to climate warming. According to the CDC and The Lancet (an international medical journal), deaths from cold are much higher than those from heat. That should be considered along with other factors when determining what needs to be done.

Loren Seeley, Jacksonville

Too many days off

It’s beyond me how many days Duval school students aren’t in the classroom. Besides the frequent so-called teacher planning days, the long Christmas break is difficult for single parents.

How can parents take so much time off from work while their kids aren’t in school? I implore the board of Duval County Public Schools to keep kids in the classroom during the school year as much as possible.

Scott Lara, Arlington

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Mayor Deegan's JFRD appointments a failed effort at effective change