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Residents press rules committee to reconsider East Side board picks as nominees are approved
Summary
Community members who live in Jacksonville’s East Side told the Rules Committee that several mayoral nominees for the newly created East Side Grants Committee lack the neighborhood ties and lived experience the ordinance intended; the committee approved multiple nominees after lawmakers debated waivers to residency and business‑interest criteria.
Community members urged the Jacksonville City Council’s Rules Committee on April 20 to pause or more closely review several mayoral appointments to the East Side Grants Committee, arguing nominations favored business or professional interests over residents with lived experience.
At public comment, Lisa Manners and Latavia Harris described ongoing housing problems — including mold and unfinished renovations — and said residents had been promised repairs that have not happened. Latavia Harris also criticized nominees she said were connected to local development interests and to LiftJacks, a provider involved with case management at one affected property. “They told the news we was going to be the first ones to get our apartment fixed, but we have not got our apartment fixed at all,” Lisa Manners said, describing persistent mold and pests.
The committee then heard testimony from nominees, who described business experience, local service, or nonprofit backgrounds. Michelle Stoddard, a third‑generation scrapyard owner, described an 81‑year family business and said she saw board service as a way to preserve neighborhood culture. Dr. Rudy Jameson, who was nominated by the mayor, said he resigned from the LiftJacks board (as he told the committee) and emphasized his long history working in fair‑housing and human‑rights work in the East Side.
Committee members repeatedly flagged a tension between the ordinance’s stated aim — to appoint residents with substantial business or philanthropic ties within five East Side neighborhoods — and the pool of nominees. Several nominees were approved after the committee either granted waivers or amended terms to partial appointments. The committee recorded separate votes on nominees; for example, the committee approved ordinance 2026‑0239 (Michelle Stoddard) and 2026‑0240 (Dr. Jameson); multiple later nominees (including Cleave Warren and James C. Edwards) were also approved, with several votes recorded as six yays and one abstention.
Why it matters: The East Side Grants Committee will steward grant funding earmarked for the East Side; community members argued that board composition matters for who receives funds and how projects are prioritized. Lawmakers who supported advancing the nominations said delaying appointments could postpone distribution of available funds and programming.
The next step: The nominations approved by Rules will go to full council on the next meeting night for final confirmation. Members of the public who spoke urged council members to continue attending regional meetings and to press for transparency in how future appointments are solicited and vetted.
