Now that the City Council has approved the creation of the Downtown Investment Authority, the next step is for the Mayor and the City Council to elect a board.

Then the board must come up with a plan for downtown development.

Jerry Mallot, Executive Vice President of the Jax Chamber, thinks it will happen quickly.

“It’s not been a one-stop-shop in the past for development, and now it will be one,” he said.

Mallot said when a developer or public/private opportunity comes up, there’s “only one entity to deal with and get it done.”

Council President Bill Bishop said he already has people in mind to elect to the board.  He wants at least one to be a resident of Jacksonville and another to be a property owner.

He said it’s imperative that the new agency develops downtown.

“It’s necessary to tell the world that we’re serious about our city and we’re serious about it becoming a major area,” Bishop said.

He said downtown investment has taken so long because of the economy and because each mayor had a different vision and plan.

“We don’t have any traction on anything because everything keeps changing all the time.”

According to Bishop, there hasn’t been any real downtown construction for sixty years.

“Our development regulations are designed for suburban living, and they don’t work downtown.”

Bishop said Jacksonville needs a more developed downtown to make Jacksonville a “great” city.

“When you go visit another city, you don’t go visit the suburbs.”

He said downtown is left underdeveloped, “Jacksonville will never be a great city. It just won’t.”

Mayor Alvin Brown will elect five board members to the Downtown Investment Authority.  City Council President Bill Bishop will elect four, and all nine must be approved by the council.

A release from the Mayor’s office said that if funding is approved, the board will appoint a chief executive officer and propose a downtown development plan.

Board members will be appointed to serve four-year terms and will conduct business meetings at least once every three months.  The meetings will be open to the public.