Local Opportunity #1: Jacksonville Food Trucks: New
Legislation is Needed
Link: http://www.metrojacksonville.com/article/2014-sep-jacksonville-food-trucks-new-legislation-is-needed
Description of the story: Food trucks in the city of
Jacksonville are being heavily restricted in order to minimize their threat to
brick and mortar restaurants.
Description of the problem: The legislation regarding food
trucks is being touted as a victory for “co-existence between brick and mortar
establishments and mobile vending services”, although recently passed
regulations severely limits where a food truck can set up to sell food.
Although a brick and mortar restaurant can set up within 50 feet of another
brick and mortar restaurant, food trucks are limited to a handful of street
corners around the city, have restricted operating hours that are not shared by
their brick and mortar counterparts, and cannot set up dining chairs and tables
on the sidewalks.
Who has the problem? All food truck operators in the Jacksonville, as well as patrons who are being restricted to experiencing new cuisine due to unfair advantage.
Local Opportunity #2: Fewer Florida communities are using red-light cameras as
statewide crash numbers increase, says survey
Description of the story: Despite the intent of making intersections
safer, the red-light cameras installed in Jacksonville, FL have yet to provide
reliable data that the cameras are actually effective.
Description of the problem: Tax payer dollars were used to fund
the installation and maintenance of red-light cameras that may have made the intersections
the same, or more, dangerous than before, and they are not generating the same
amounts of project revenue when the decision was made to install them.
Who has the problem? Anyone who drives in Jacksonville.
Local Opportunity #3: Jacksonville's daytime homeless
shelter set to close Oct. 1
Description of the story: The homeless shelter that served up
to 200 people per day is being forced to close due to lack of funding under the
mayor’s new annual budget.
Description of the problem: As one of the only day shelters in
Jacksonville, the Day Resource Center closing will cause a decentralization of
homeless services in Jacksonville. The homeless who relied upon the center to
be a “one stop shop” for food, showering, and job placement, will now be
required to visit different places at the cost of time in order to obtain the
same services.
Who has the problem? The 150 to 200 homeless people who utilized the services of
the Day Resource Center.
Local Opportunity #4: Jacksonville called 'ticking time
bomb' due to lack of adequate mental health services
Description of the story: Jacksonville has an extreme lack of
mental health services with two unequipped and relatively incapable entities are
the largest providers of the services in the city.
Description of the problem: Due to a lack of resources and
adequate record taking (to see the inefficiencies of current funding), the
primary responsibility for mental health treatment rests on the shoulder of the
Jacksonville Sheriff's Office and Duval County Public Schools. These two
entities are required to shift their own resources from their primary goals
(law enforcement and education) into these ancillary services to provide for
mental health patients.
Who has the problem? Anyone in Jacksonville facing mental health problems, even
if they are receiving health from the two unsuspecting groups of the
Jacksonville Sheriff's Office and the Duval County Public Schools
Local Opportunity #5: HUD takes hard line at Eureka Garden, saying fix problems in
30 days or lose federal money
Description of the story: An apartment community in
Jacksonville, called Eureka Gardens, is a HUD-funded community and there are many,
condemnation-worthy issues that are going on unfixed by the property owner.
Description of the problem: Negligence of the property owner
has led the residents of Eureka Gardens to live in deplorable circumstances
from safety issues of “deteriorating stairs”, “walking in sewage” and the
presence of crime. This is a problem, not only for the safety of the residents,
but also the general well-being of the city at large.
Who has the problem? The 400+ residents living at the HUD-funded community in
Jacksonville, as well as the taxpayers whose taxes go to support it.
Hey Shane, I can relate to the red light camera story because I HATE them, and got a ticket one time from one. I don't really understand how the installation of them would lower crash rates, so Jacksonville's implementation of them and wasting taxpayer dollars doesn't really make sense. The food truck regulation is also ridiculous, making it harder for smaller businesses to thrive. Check out my list of opportunities here: http://andrewdales.blogspot.com/2016/01/identifying-local-opportunities.html
ReplyDeleteHey Shane,
ReplyDeleteYour list of local opportunities seems like it was well researched. I definitely agree that these different opportunities need to be taken care of, and some of them should not have reached their level of urgency. For example, the Eureka Gardens problem should not have reached this level of negligence. This was a well researched blog post, and you were able to clearly identify who had the problem and provide reasons as to why they had that problem.
If you would like to see my list of opportunities just click on the link below.
http://luissoto93.blogspot.com/2016/01/identifying-local-opportunities.html