Daily Record Financial News &
THURSDAY, MARCH 10, 2016
Vol. 103, No. 84 • oNe SectioN
35¢ www.jaxdailyrecord.com
Training tomorrow’s port workers
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Nonprofit wants to teach skills to ex-offenders
Just getting someone cleaned up and giving them a minimum wage job isn’t enough. They need to be able to earn a living wage.
By Carole Hawkins Staff Writer
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A Jacksonville nonprofit that helps nonviolent offenders get back into the workforce could soon be lining up more jobs for them. Operation New Hope is laying the groundwork to create JaxPort Academy, a program that would train clients on skills needed by port-related companies. “This could be a game changer for Jacksonville,” said Kevin Gay,
Kevin Gay Operation New Hope CEO
CEO of Operation New Hope. “Just getting someone cleaned up and giving them a minimum wage job isn’t enough. They need to be able to earn a living wage.” It was during a 2015 Leadership Jacksonville bus tour of the port that Gay came up with the idea. The port is an economic engine, the group was told. But several thousand positions are unfilled because applicants don’t have the necessary skills. It was a light-bulb-over-the-
head moment for Gay. “The port is the most logical and closest employer for the folks living in poverty in Northwest Jacksonville,” he said. “But there’s a reason they can’t connect to those jobs.” The idea is still in the early stage. Gay is looking to build relationships with the port employers he hopes to serve. Two surveys already have told him companies need more forklift operators and stevedores. ACADEMY CONTINUED ON PAGE A-3
Stewart: Journey ‘hitting its stride’
Additional $1.9M slated for programs
The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office is stationed at Hemming Park from 6 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday-Friday. Officers on bicycles patrol the area on weekends.
Photo by Max Marbut
By David Chapman Staff Writer
Enforcing laws vs. protecting rights Constitutional issues raised about rules at Hemming Park
By Max Marbut Staff Writer
One of the anticipated benefits of the city turning over management of Hemming Park to a nonprofit was private management would be able to greatly improve the park experience. That would include prohibiting behavior by some park users that doesn’t meet community standards when it comes to a family-friendly atmosphere, such as profanity, aggressive actions and extensive use of the park by homeless people. After 18 months of operating the onesquare-block space in front of City Hall, the Friends of Hemming Park found its authority is limited to contacting the Jacksonville
Public
Sheriff’s Office to enforce rules and laws that apply to all city parks. Vince Cavin, executive director of the Friends, said the group initially thought it could establish rules specific to the park and, with the help of the Sheriff’s Office, compel visitors to abide by those rules. In reality, “there are limits on rules the Friends of Hemming Park can enforce,” Cavin said. Enacting and enforcing additional regulations specific to the park could violate people’s rights. Their constitutional rights. That’s the conclusion of a five-page analysis prepared by the Office of General Counsel. According to the report, the city can
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control and regulate conduct when it is not based on the content of speech or expression. The city also can enforce laws for the public safety and welfare as long as they are sufficiently clear and not so broad as to restrict the rights of the public to visit the park, which is considered a public forum. The report cites a 2011 11th Circuit Court decision in Catron v. City of St. Petersburg that noted the public has a “constitutionally protected liberty interest to be in parks or other city lands of their choosing that are open to the public generally.” The ruling struck down a St. Petersburg ordinance allowing it to completely ban homeless people from parks. That, the SECURITY
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Mayor Lenny Curry set aside a $3 million boost toward the Jacksonville Journey program in his budget. Months later, the bulk of that money will finally have a home within the crime prevention and intervention initiative. Legislation introduced this week to City Council pegs the remaining $1.9 million for programs that will help fill gaps in neighborhoods where crime has spiked, said Kerri Stewart, Curry’s chief of staff. The largest funding increases go toward workforce development for teens and young adults, summer jobs and camps, teen programming and childcare vouchers. Some of the bigger expenditures are: • The largest appropriation comes in workforce development, which will receive $380,000 for teens and adults ages 16-24. Stewart said for people that age, data showed it was critical to assist the unemployed and underemployed through workforce training in their communities. In Stewart a nonscientific poll, Stewart said, teens surveyed mostly wanted to have a job. • Summer camps and teen programming each received an additional $350,000. The funding will allow camps to be extended by several weeks. Summer is generally a “huge gap,” said Stewart, and those funds will be used to help keep kids occupied instead of being alone and more susceptible to getting into trouble. • The Early Learning Coalition will receive close to $254,000 in additional funding, mainly for vouchers for parents who want to offset costs for better childcare. Additionally, the Jacksonville Children’s Commission has a program that
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