JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Wednesday night, a Jacksonville City Council member says he’s out of an office due to severe mold issues. That and several other concerns are top of mind as city officials navigate potential budget cuts following Amendment 3’s passing.
Councilman Rahman Johnson has been pushing for concerns in the building to be addressed. He says it all boils down to funding and allocating that funding. Before the budget passed, he wanted to set aside money for a City Council refresh in the decades-old building. It would have addressed issues like mold.
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When you step into District 14 Councilman Rahman Johnson’s office, you’re met with boxes sealed with duct tape.
“My office was deemed, with offices of Councilman Arias and Councilman Miller, to have a major mold issue,” Johnson said.
It’s an ongoing issue he says extends beyond his office. Documents note the city’s mold investigation found high humidity levels and unfavorable interior conditions. It’s a result of a malfunction of the air intake dampers in the building. The city of Jacksonville told Action News Jax it has spent $118,875.75 fixing this issue across the building.
“This is a really old building, historic building, great building, but certainly old and historic,” Johnson said.
Action News Jax told you last month when Johnson wanted to allocate $500,000 in already set aside money to address this and similar issues brought to him by people working in the building. He eventually pulled the amendment because it drew so much controversy.
“We’re going to be $300 million less in allocations for the city of Jacksonville in budget year 27-28, not 26-27. What that means is that if we were going to do some kind of effort, now is the time to do it,” Johnson said.
In Tuesday night’s City Council meeting, leaders voted no to another $70,000 to address furniture issues. Some city leaders said upgrades and repairs need to happen, while others focused on cutting where they can because of Amendment 3 impacts.
Johnson says it’s only the tip of the iceberg for what could come next.
“I think it is the responsible thing to do is to take care of the resources that you’ve been granted. And to be able to pass them on to the next group that needs those resources,” Johnson said.
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