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September 24-30, 2020
Mendenhall Report: Plans for Downtown town homes on hold PAGE 3
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JACKSONVILLE
Record & Observer
ARecord LEGACY OF HELPING BUSINESS & Observer JACKSONVILLE
After 39 years at UNF’s Small Business Development Center, Janice Donaldson soon will retire.
JACKSONVILLE
Council approves $1.33B budget
Record & Observer
An amendment was withdrawn to hold half of the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office budget until mid-fiscal year. BY MIKE MENDENHALL STAFF WRITER
JACKSONVILLE
Record & Observer
Chamber of Commerce; Marion, Nassau, Putnam, St. Johns and Suwannee counties; and other public and private sector sources, the SBDC provides management assistance services at little or no charge to its clients. After graduating in 1980 from the University of Georgia with a degree in journalism, Donaldson focused her career on helping small businesses succeed. Her first job was at the Jacksonville Regional Chamber of Commerce, now JAX Chamber, working in the small busi-
The Jacksonville City Council passed Mayor Lenny Curry’s $1.33 billion budget relatively intact Sept. 22, but not before a nearly two-hour debate over the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office $468 million in funding. City Council member Garrett Dennis withdrew his budget amendment to hold $234 million from JSO’s budget and require Sheriff Mike Williams to return to Dennis Council halfway through the fiscal year and justify the need before it’s allocated. Dennis pushed back against criticism from several Council members that his amendment was linked to the broader national movement to defund and reduce the size of police departments in exchange for more social services. He argued the amendment was not an attempt to defund JSO but to improve transparency, accountability and communication by Jacksonville law enforcement. Dennis cited a Sept. 21 editorial by The Florida Times-Union editorial board that called for Council to hold public hearings on protesters arrested during nonviolent protests May 30 and
SEE DONALDSON, PAGE 8
SEE BUDGET, PAGE 9
Photo by Katie Garwood
Janice Donaldson, regional director of the Florida Small Business Development Center at the University of North Florida, is retiring in February. BY MAX MARBUT ASSOCIATE EDITOR
F
or 39 years, Janice Donaldson has been helping the Florida Small Business Development Center at the University of North Florida launch entrepreneurs. The center worked with more than 1,800 clients in 2019. “I still look forward to working every day and meeting great people who make a difference in our community,” Donaldson said Aug. 31. She won’t be doing that after Feb. 28
because Donaldson, 61, is retiring as regional director of the center. Established in 1976 with a grant from the U.S. Small Business Administration, the center at UNF was one of two original sites for the program. Forty-four years later, the program Donaldson leads provides management assistance and training for prospective or active small business owners in 18 counties in Northeast and North Central Florida. With an annual budget of about $2 million – comprising financial support from the SBA and matching grants from UNF; the city of Jacksonville; the Clay County
The top 10 home sales of the week in Northeast Florida PAGE 7 The Basch Report: Maple Street Biscuit Co. expanding PAGE 10 Marbut Report: Lawyers polled on retaining judges PAGE 12
THE MATHIS REPORT
Plan would transform old FBI office into apartments Plus: Restaurant, retail notes & more. PAGE 4 VOLUME 3, NO. 17 • ONE SECTION