x
Home
Search
Topics
Almanac
Science
Nature
People
History
Society
Signup
Login
HOME
TOPICS
ALMANAC
SCIENCE
NATURE
PEOPLE
HISTORY
SOCIETY
PHILOSOPHY
Jacksonville Civic Council
Topic Home
Discussion
0
Encyclopedia
Jacksonville Civic Council (JCC) is a non-partisan group of prominent Jacksonville, Florida
Jacksonville, Florida
Jacksonville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Florida in terms of both population and land area, and the largest city by area in the contiguous United States. It is the county seat of Duval County, with which the city government consolidated in 1968...

 business leaders whose goal is to help resolve community issues by studying the problem, proposing one or more solutions, advocating for change, and providing resources and support.
The entity is akin to a brain trust
Brain Trust
Brain trust began as a term for a group of close advisors to a political candidate or incumbent, prized for their expertise in particular fields. The term is most associated with the group of advisors to Franklin Roosevelt during his presidential administration...

 or think tank
Think tank
A think tank is an organization that conducts research and engages in advocacy in areas such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, and technology issues. Most think tanks are non-profit organizations, which some countries such as the United States and Canada provide with tax...

, but with influence and resources available.

Non-Group

The Jacksonville Non-Group was an informal organization of business leaders established in 1993, initially to support the Duval County Public School's
Duval County Public Schools
Duval County Public Schools is the public school district for Duval County, Jacksonville, Florida. As of 2011, the district had an enrollment of over 123,000 students, making it the 15th largest school district in the United States, and 6th largest school district in Florida...

 Alliance for World Class Education, which evolved into the Jacksonville Public Education Fund.
Beginning in 2008, they began discussing whether to take a more active leadership role in the community and initiate programs.

Transition

The Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce took a trip to Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...

 in October, 2009 to look at the peer city's programs for ideas and innovations that could be utilized in Jacksonville. They saw that Kansas City had used a strong public/private partnership, the Civic Council of Greater Kansas City, to implement serious changes that revitalized their city. Lynn Pappas, who was Non-Group's chairwoman, realized that the members of the Non-Group could perform that same function in Jacksonville. After returning, she shared what she had seen, and at their December meeting, the Non-Group voted to disband and form the Jacksonville Civic Council as a more formal and public group.

Council

The JCC was actually incorporated on May 17, 2000 with Hugh Greene, John Delaney, Lynn Pappas, Pete Rummell and Steven Halverson listed as officers, but was inactive until December 2009. The JCC will be a 501(c)(6) entity which is a non-profit
Non-profit organization
Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...

, tax exempt
Tax exemption
Various tax systems grant a tax exemption to certain organizations, persons, income, property or other items taxable under the system. Tax exemption may also refer to a personal allowance or specific monetary exemption which may be claimed by an individual to reduce taxable income under some...

 group like a chamber of commerce.

Membership requires a minimum commitment of three years with mandatory meeting attendance, and an invitation from one of the officers. The number of members was expected to total approximately 50, and includes more diversity than the Non-Group. The JCC is funded by dues based on the size of the member's business, with a minimum of $1,000 and a maximum of $15,000. Pete Rummell was voted chairman, and the JCC approved hiring an Executive Director; Susie Wiles served as interim E.D. during the search.

Poll

To determine what Jacksonville residents viewed as the most critical issues, the opinion research firm American Viewpoint was hired to design a poll and conduct a six-week study in March, 2010.
Five issues were identified:
  1. balanced budget/fiscal responsibility
  2. more jobs
  3. better public schools
  4. public safety/crime
  5. Jaguars staying in Jacksonville

Staff

Don Shea was hired as Executive Director for the JCC in July and assumed the position in September, 2010. Shea was Director of the Economic Development Authority in Shreveport, Louisiana
Shreveport, Louisiana
Shreveport is the third largest city in Louisiana. It is the principal city of the fourth largest metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana and is the 109th-largest city in the United States....

. He brings over three decades of relevant experience to the council. His office is in the Haskell building, which also provides administrative support. A research position will be hired or contracted for in the near future.



External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
Silverdale Interactive © 2024. All Rights Reserved.
 
x
OK