Jacksonville Consolidation Newspaper Collection

Collection — Box: 1

Identifier: 2007.003

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The collection contains newspaper clippings which provide insight, commentary, and documentation on the Consolidation of the Jacksonville City and Duval County governments.

Special Florida Times-Union and Jacksonville Journal newspaper supplements from October 1, 1968, and Florida Times-Union supplement from October 1, 1969, provide extensive details on the history and background of the governmental merger.

Additional newsclippings from the Florida Times-Union mark the consolidation anniversaries of 1993 and 2008 and provide updates on the changes and developments attributed to consolidation since 1968.

Dates

1968-2008

Creator

Florida Times-Union and Journal (Organization)

Conditions Governing Access

The collection is open for research by appointment only. Please contact lib-special@unf.edu to schedule an appointment.

Conditions Governing Use

Materials in the collection may be subject to copyright and are to be used for private study, scholarship, or research in accordance with the copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code). Use of reproductions of copyrighted works in excess of " fair use," may result in the user’s liability for copyright infringement and be subject to the civil and criminal penalties of federal law. Visit the United States Copyright Office's website at http://www.copyright.gov/ for further information

Biographical / Historical

The Florida Times-Union and Jacksonville Journal special supplements and commemorative editions provide extensive coverage of the Consolidation of the Jacksonville-Duval County Governments in October 1968.

The Jacksonville-Duval County Governmental Consolidation began in the mid-1960s as a response to the city of Jacksonville, Florida's complex urban problems and challenges which included: the loss of accreditation for local high schools, outdated infrastructure of sewage and road systems, polluted air from pulp mills and chemical plants, rampant water pollution in the St. Johns River, numerous corruption charges and grand jury indictments of public officials, widespread areas of substandard housing, lack of rudimentary city services to outlying areas, and high property taxes.

Multiple governmental structures, including a City Commission, City Council, County Budget Committee, and County Commission, overlapped political jurisdictions which led to inefficient, costly and duplicative services. To ameliorate these problems, key Jacksonville business and civic leaders met in 1965, and decided the solution was to merge city and county governments.

After considerable planning by a Local Government Study Commission, a "Blueprint for Improvement" (1966) and a proposed Charter (1967) for a new form of consolidated metropolitan government were submitted to the Duval Legislative Delegation. The Delegation amended the Charter and adopted it as a state law subject to voter approval. The Charter was ratified by local voters in a special referendum held on August 8, 1967. A transitional planning period was established with just over a year to prepare for the official enactment of the new government.

On October 1, 1968, amidst much celebration, the merger abolishing separate city and county governments and instituting the only consolidated government in the State officially occurred. An often noted and quoted fact was that the City's population instantly more than doubled to over 500,000, making it the largest city in Florida (by population), and the largest city, in land area, in the continental United States. The merger streamlined government, with the establishment of one elected Mayor, one Sheriff's Office, and a nineteen seat City Council.