New State Law could reshape JTA Board

[marcuscnelson]

Came across this today and thought I'd share. The state legislature is working on its big transportation bill for this year, and tucked away among those changes (on pages 53-54) is one with what seems like pretty big implications for JTA.

In a nutshell, this bill would shift the JTA Board from consisting of 6 Duval residents (3 each appointed by the Mayor and Governor) plus the FDOT District Secretary, to one in which the Governor will appoint 4 members (removing the Secretary outright), which (save for one that must live in Jacksonville proper) could come from Duval, Clay, or St. Johns counties.

What immediately stands out to me is that this bill does not appear to explicitly empower JTA to provide its services outside of Duval County, nor does it lay out any expectation of Clay or St. Johns contributing to the authority they would be gaining substantial influence over. On top of that, I'm mystified by the exclusion of Nassau County.

I'm actually all for JTA becoming more of a regional transportation agency, and a change in the nature of its leadership would be a big part of that, but I'm unsure about this being the ideal way to go about it. Would it be a good thing for a new board member from St. Johns County suddenly being able to decry the Emerald Trail, or TOD and Complete Street projects in Jacksonville? If efforts to develop better regional transit systems continue, is it ideal for board members from Clay or St. Johns to push Duval taxes towards planning investment in their counties without any corresponding expectation of those counties helping? If the makeup of the board ought to change, should there still be only seven members as opposed to perhaps something like nine members, with six of those from Duval plus three from the surrounding counties?

[Charles Hunter]

Agreed, unless Clay/St. Johns Counties are going to have skin (money) in the game and get projects, they do not have any business being on the JTA Board. And, yes, Nassau should be in the discussion.

I could support a process where, if the voters of the 'other' counties approve a referendum to tax themselves, as Duval did, then they get a board member and be eligible for projects. Those 'other' county board members would expand the board, not replace Duval representatives.

The way I read the language in the bill, there would be a Duval majority - one of the Governor's appointees and all three of the Mayor's appointees. But, as I said above, unless the other counties are full participants, they should not have voting members of the JTA Board.

Of the four members appointed by the Governor, one member must be a resident of the City of Jacksonville [lines 1322-1324]
...
 All The seventh member shall be the district secretary of the Department of Transportation serving in the district that contains the City of Jacksonville. Except for the seventh member, members appointed by the mayor of the City of Jacksonville must shall be residents and qualified electors of Duval County. [1327-1333]

[marcuscnelson]

I wasn't sure if it made sense to outright require a tax referendum given the turn the economy is taking and the state's recent attitude, as opposed to at least committing funding and projects, but either way such a commitment could mean something along the lines of going from 6 appointed members to 9 along those lines once that commitment is made.

The way I read the language in the bill, there would be a Duval majority - one of the Governor's appointees and all three of the Mayor's appointees. But, as I said above, unless the other counties are full participants, they should not have voting members of the JTA Board.

Of the four members appointed by the Governor, one member must be a resident of the City of Jacksonville [lines 1322-1324]
...
 All The seventh member shall be the district secretary of the Department of Transportation serving in the district that contains the City of Jacksonville. Except for the seventh member, members appointed by the mayor of the City of Jacksonville must shall be residents and qualified electors of Duval County. [1327-1333]

If, for example, the Governor were to choose two St. Johns County residents, a Clay County resident, and a Jacksonville resident from areas with no desire for transit service or development, that could rather suddenly cause issues in terms of the transit agency's appetite for transit. As you say, there needs to be skin in the game here.

I wonder what is motivating the Legislature to write that bill in the way they did.

[jaxlongtimer]

I will show my cynical side here.  St. Johns and Clay are very red counties full of DeSantis supporters.  So, what better way than to load JTA's board up with his loyalists while handing out political plums (if that is what someone thinks serving on JTA's board is  ).  It is also another way for Tallahassee to control local decisions.

Learning from Trump, he may be out to control/stack every State board he can.  Just look at Reedy Creek and New College for quick examples.

[Charles Hunter]

Did I forget to hit "Post" yesterday? I composed a response to marcusnelson, but it ain't here. Sigh. Will try to reconstruct the points I tried to make.

1. A tax-referendum may not be needed, but it seems to be the only way to ensure continued financial support from the outlying counties. A county commission (BOCC) could appropriate some money, get their JTA Board Member, then a subsequent BOCC vote could discontinue the funding - but they'd still have a board member.

If, for example, the Governor were to choose two St. Johns County residents, a Clay County resident, and a Jacksonville resident from areas with no desire for transit service or development, that could rather suddenly cause issues in terms of the transit agency's appetite for transit. As you say, there needs to be skin in the game here.

2. Outside of the Holy Grail of the U2C, I don't see much evidence the current JTA Board has an "appetite for transit." The bus system is inadequate and they won't even consider any rail options.

I wonder what is motivating the Legislature to write that bill in the way they did.

3. jaxlongtimer may have hit on the (a) motivation for expanding the JTA Board. I would also not be surprised if a legislator from either Clay or St. Johns added the language to the transportation bill. Leaving Nassau out is probably because the southern counties still think of Nassau as 'Fernandina Beach and lots of pine trees," not recognizing the growth there.

[marcuscnelson]

The currently most recent version of the bill, as of April 17, has adjusted the proposed composition of Gubernatorial appointments to include Nassau after all.

However, this still leaves the issue of skin in the game. A single COJ resident could join the Clay, St. Johns, and Nassau residents to change commitments within the city, with no corresponding commitments in those latter three counties.

1. A tax-referendum may not be needed, but it seems to be the only way to ensure continued financial support from the outlying counties. A county commission (BOCC) could appropriate some money, get their JTA Board Member, then a subsequent BOCC vote could discontinue the funding - but they'd still have a board member.

That seems reasonable, though again difficult to see a likelihood for progress in under the circumstances.

[Charles Hunter]

First (since it is part of what I used to do) a quick look at the text of the JTA section of this 84 page bill

In the first part, about the change in appointment
349.03 Jacksonville Transportation Authority.—
appointed by the Governor, one member must be a resident of the City of Jacksonville
...
members appointed by the mayor of the City of Jacksonville must shall be residents and qualified electors of Duval County.
 
 Does this mean the Governor's Duval appointment cannot be from the Beaches or Baldwin? And not necessarily a "qualified elector"?


New subsection in the section establishing the JTA and its Board
(4) The Authority shall:
(a) follow the small business program in 337.027
(b) establish protocols in accordance with 112.061(16) and 215.985(6)

Sections 112 and 215 refer to state online databases for contracts and personnel

I did not see an effective date or how the Clay-Nassau-St. Johns members would be added. Presumably, as the terms of the current members appointed by the governor expire. I guess the governor decides the order the outlying counties gain their seats.

Regarding your concern about suburban (or even rural) members not prioritizing things that a more uniformly urban board might - could be a way to kill the U2C. Which prompts a thought: that the non-Duval members come from the "urbanized areas" of each of those counties. Come from could mean "reside" or their district includes. Wouldn't eliminate the problem, but might lessen it.

This will make the JTA a little bit like the North Florida TPO. The TPO has one member each from the three non-Duval counties. But, Duval County's membership is weighted by population.

[jaxlongtimer]

The citizens of the Beaches and Baldwin have dual residences... both their town and the City of Jacksonville.  They vote for Jacksonville City Council and the Jacksonville Mayor in addition to their own town officials.

Example from Jax Beach:

Jacksonville Beach residents vote for the mayor of Jacksonville as well as representatives to the Jacksonville City Council and the Duval County School Board in addition to their own Mayor and City Council members.

[Charles Hunter]

The citizens of the Beaches and Baldwin have dual residences... both their town and the City of Jacksonville.  They vote for Jacksonville City Council and the Jacksonville Mayor in addition to their own town officials.

Example from Jax Beach:

Jacksonville Beach residents vote for the mayor of Jacksonville as well as representatives to the Jacksonville City Council and the Duval County School Board in addition to their own Mayor and City Council members.

Thanks. That had slipped my mind.  Kinda sloppy legislative writing to not use consistent terms.