Jacksonville, FL – Around 40 community members, led by the Jacksonville Community Action Committee (JCAC) came out to Jacksonville City Hall July 27 to rally and demand a People’s Budget before the city council meeting started.

The week before, Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry released his proposed 2021-2022 budget, which calls for an increase to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office (JSO) budget by $29 million, bringing their total share of the budget to around $513 million and accounting for nearly 40% of city spending.

Community members from the Northside Coalition, Southern Women Against Gun Violence and representatives from other organizations all came out to speak at the rally and gave public comment before the city councilors.

“We came out to demand our city officials allocate our taxpayer dollars to ending poverty, not more policing,” said Monique Sampson of the JCAC. “We’ve seen JSO’s budget go up every year while the Black community struggles to get roads repaired and septic tanks removed. We have the democratic right to determine how our money is spent.”

Despite the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office’s consistent increase in funding the previous years, Jacksonville has not experienced a decrease in crime and had an actual uptick in violent crime along with citizen police complaints last year. The JCAC says the People’s Budget aims to address the social issues that contribute directly to crime and poor public health. It includes proposals for investment in living wage job opportunities, mental health services and strengthened city infrastructure. The People’s Budget also contains legislation that activists are pushing for, including marijuana decriminalization, demanding city contracts go to Black contractors equally, and redirecting sheriff’s office funds to helping grow Black small business.

Organizers also say the People’s Budget aims to strengthen organized labor through redirecting city funds away from policing to public workers and a creation of a large public works program that would hire workers at a living wage. The People’s Budget contains the push for legislation such as a union neutrality ordinance for any vendor doing business with the city, along with calls for raising taxes on the wealthy to fund development in the Urban Core, Northwest and Out East, three historically Black and underdeveloped areas in Jacksonville.

“In the Black Belt and in cities like Jacksonville in the Black Belt, you’ve seen historic underdevelopment,” said Neal Jefferson with the JCAC. “The People’s budget aims to change that.”

After the rally, around 25 community members gave public comment demanding city council persons hear their calls.

#Jacksonville #AfricanAmerican #JacksonvilleCommunityActionCommitteeJCAC #PeoplesBudget #LennyCurry #BlackBelt

Jacksonville, FL — On Saturday July 18, the Jacksonville Community Action Committee organized a drive-in protest to demand a People’s Budget, a Jacksonville Police Accountability Council (JPAC) and an end to the Law Enforcement Officers’ Bill of Rights (LEOBOR). Protesters were joined by the families of Jamee Johnson, Kwame Jones and Leah Baker; all of whom were killed by Jacksonville Sheriff Office (JSO) cops.

Organizers took a unique approach to the National Day of Action called by the National Alliance against Racist and Political Repression, in an effort to ensure the safety of protesters in the midst of COVID-19 spikes. Close to 200 vehicles filled the grass lot across from the Jacksonville Sheriff Office Memorial Building to hear the rally, with many on foot outside of their vehicles.

The Jacksonville Community Action Committee is calling for a “People’s Budget” prioritizes massive public investment in the people, not the police. Earlier in the week, the group announced their People’s Budget, in opposition to Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry’s budget proposal which still sought to give almost half a billion dollars to JSO. Their People’s Budget called for a large reallocation of city spending to creating living wage, union jobs through the department of public works, large investments in the Black community including public transportation and other social safety net programs and as well, a large investment in mental health services of Jacksonville’s citizens.

On Saturday, Leah Baker’s mother spoke about Leah’s struggles with accessible mental healthcare. Leah was shot and killed by multiple JSO officers after calling for help, fearing that she may be a danger to herself, not others.

Protesters chanted, “Money for schools, not police, money for healthcare, not police!” and “What do we want? JPAC. When do we want it? Now!”

Calls for a Jacksonville Police Accountability Council continued throughout the rally, with speakers like Ben Frazier of the Northside Coalition of Jacksonville calling for community control of the police in Jacksonville.

“Police accountability through a JPAC would ensure that killer cops are not roaming the streets with continued impunity,” said Kiara Joyner of the Jacksonville Community Action Committee and a co-emcee of the rally. “The JSO officers that killed Jamee Johnson, Kwame Jones and Leah Baker would be indicted for their crimes. However, in the current system, these officers are treated as if they are ‘above the law,’ and in some ways they are due to LEOBOR, the Law Enforcement Bill of Rights which gives killer cops and extra layer of due process, which is why that law must be repealed.”

Saturday’s action demonstrated that Jacksonville protesters are not growing weary, and they will not stop until their demands are met. Follow more on the Jacksonville Community Action Committee at https://jaxtakesaction.org.

#JacksonvilleFL #AfricanAmerican #PoliceBrutality #JacksonvilleCommunityActionCommittee #JacksonvillePoliceAccountabilityCouncilJPAC #LawEnforcementOfficersBillOfRightsLEOBOR #LennyCurry