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JEA expansion outside Duval
questioned
This story is local to St. Johns County in which Jacksonville
Electric Authority (JEA) has expanded and is serving a small part of the county.
The problem that is stated in the article regarding St. Johns is also the same
problem occurring to Duval County JEA customer, which includes a City of
Jacksonville Franchise Fee applied to electric, water service, and sewer
service charges. This fee is questioned because the city charter prohibits ever
subsidizing JEA, therefore, why is there a fee (per City Council-considered a return
on investment) applicable to consumers who are forced to utilize the only
utility carrier available. Keep in mind there are taxes imposed on each service
provided.
There would seem to be a blurring of the lines
with regards to JEA and the City of Jacksonville that has now seeped to St.
Johns County. Why is it that St Johns County residents are now responsible for
paying fees meant for the City of Jacksonville?Clean-shave rule leaves firefighter steaming; Concern raised over use of safety gear; timing o enforcement questioned.
Jacksonville firefighters were not given much notice from employee
services that in order to adopt OSHA standards, they must be clean shaven by 8
a.m. of their next shift. If compliance was not met, they would be placed on
temporary limited non-firefighting duty. This was especially bothersome to
those firefighters who received medical exemptions in wearing a respirator or
self-contained breathing apparatus. The exemptions were not for reasons of
vain, but because of a condition called pseudofolliculitis barbae that mostly affects
those that have beards with curly hair that grows back into the skin and causes
irritation and can cause scarring.
Our pedestrians put their
lives at risk
This story highlights the increased number of deaths of pedestrians
that Jacksonville is encountering. In fact, it mentions that Jacksonville has
the third highest death rate of pedestrians in the nation.
The article highlights some causes of the increase in almost weekly
pedestrian deaths that range from broken traffic signals to clearly distracted
pedestrians. It lists some options to combat this growing statistic of
pedestrian deaths.
In my opinion, this problem is not necessarily just affecting
pedestrians but also for the drivers that are involved in these tragedies.
Low wages a challenge for St.
Johns County workers Jobs are more plentiful, but service employees often can't
afford housing
Joblessness after the Great Recession has been an uphill battle in
St. Johns County. The county is doing well, and property has held its value.
Unfortunately, 20 percent of the households in the county are struggling to
find affordable housing in the county with median gross rent at $1,073 for
2014.
Households making $35,000 to $40,000 are challenged to find
affordable housing within the county and find themselves finding housing in
neighboring counties. This can ultimately have a devastating effect on the small
businesses that do not or cannot afford to pay competitively, thus ultimately
losing those integral employees to other businesses outside of the county.
Little progress on repairs to troubled apartments; Staff
members for Sen. Rubio meet with residents at Jacksonville's Eureka Garden.
The above links to a great example of the lack of
enforcement of a government agency that has forced families to live in
despicable conditions that include infestations, mold, and overall lack of care
of the property.
Families that receive HUD assistance live and continue to
live in the poorest of conditions because the lack of affordable housing.
The story is a follow up in that as of December,
Global Ministries Foundation of Tennessee who had received $6.3 million from
HUD in 204 to subsidize rent at those properties has progressed slowly on
making the necessary repairs.
I think you did a great job finding some very diverse problems that need work. I found the Jacksonville death rates to be alarming and I never knew they had the third highest pedestrian death rate in the nation! I hope that a plan is constructed and implemented to try to reverse these numbers and save peoples lives.
ReplyDeletehttp://kailadevin.blogspot.com/2016/01/identifying-local-opportunities.html