JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Jacksonville is working to fight blight. The city now has new firepower to keep streets, neighborhoods, and shared spaces clean.
“You all know we really need it. We hear about it all the time in every town hall I’ve ever held, in every neighborhood, people always come up to me with concerns about litter and blight,” said Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan.
The city is investing $400,000 to fight blight with its two-prong approach.
“When I ride on my scooter, I actually see people throwing trash out their windows,” said Tarshell Taylor, a lifelong Jacksonville resident.
New ATVs and trailers will help the city sweep more areas, more safely.
New cameras will also work to catch violators in real time. The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office says some of the surveillance footage will go directly to the Solid Waste Division’s feed.
“That’s been part of the problem. We haven’t’ had working cameras out there to actually hold these people accountable. A lot of times we know it’s the same folks over and over again that just go back to the same places and keep dumping things,” said Mayor Deegan.
City officials say they’re playing catch-up after years of funding and staff cuts.
“Twenty years ago, there were $2 million dollars that were in blight for cleaning up the city. Now, we have what was just installed, $250,000. We had seven cleanup crews fully staffed 20 years ago. We had two before the mayor started getting us help,” said Al Ferraro, who is the Jacksonville Blight Initiative Director.
Funding also provided the tools volunteers need at Beautiful and Keep Jax Cute, Don’t Pollute events. A newly wrapped trailer stocked with those supplies will be deployed at community cleanups and other anti-litter projects across the city.
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