Good Infrastructure

For more than half a century, Jacksonville has allowed infrastructure in the Urban Core and other neglected neighborhoods to deteriorate. Lights, paved streets, sidewalks, sewers, and removed septic tanks have been promised, but not delivered.

We are asked to believe in leaders who invest millions in shiny new projects, while ignoring the foundation on which those projects stand. We are facing a crippling affordable housing crisis and City Hall is not doing enough. They talk about innovation, but can’t or won’t even master the basics, like picking up our trash and recycling.

We fail to lead on infrastructure at our own peril as issues like the climate crisis cause our neighborhoods to flood and force us more and more into a defensive posture.

There is so much we can do, if only our city government had the political will to do it. That lack of leadership, priorities, and vision is exactly what we will fix.

It’s time to lead instead of merely react. We will keep Jacksonville's past and present promises and make infrastructure a true priority. Here are just a few of the policies we will focus on as part of our Good Infrastructure plan:

  • Jacksonville’s oldest neighborhoods have been left far behind when it comes to new infrastructure projects. Many still need streetlights, sidewalks, replaced septic tanks, upgraded sewers, and expanded drainage. It’s time to make good on the broken promises of consolidation.

  • We face an affordable housing crisis driven by a dire shortage of affordable housing inventory and that is compounded by out of state corporate investors purchasing local property and driving up prices. We need to inventory and make available unused city-owned property, require new developments to include a percentage of workforce housing, update zoning ordinances to support more multifamily units, keep properties in local hands, and ensure adequate funding for affordable housing programs.

  • Jacksonville’s downtown has so much potential that can only be reached with a cohesive, long-term vision that includes everyone in the city. We need a continuous riverwalk that connects living spaces, businesses, parks, and public spaces alongside the St. Johns River. We need to update downtown infrastructure to attract more development, including vacant properties. Building a thriving downtown will lift up our entire local economy.

Good Health

Jacksonville has every chance now to be a top-tier city, and yet on basic measures like primary health, we are falling behind. Our city has some of the finest medical institutions and healthcare providers in the country, and yet we are the only major metropolitan area in Florida to rank in the bottom half of health outcomes. For instance, our child and infant mortality rate ranks as the very worst in the state, as does our life expectancy.

The issue is clear: there is a lack of access to healthcare in Jacksonville, a lack of attention from City Hall, and a lack of communication and coordination between the city and the many capable health care professionals, community groups, and organizations.

A healthy population is foundational to our health as a city both physically and financially. We need leadership that makes improving our city’s approach to health care and public health a priority, especially as we navigate out of the pandemic.

I’ve been meeting with our city’s top doctors and other health care professionals for months, getting firsthand input from those with a front row seat to the barriers. Together, we’ve put together a plan of action that will help all the citizens of Jacksonville and radically improve our health care outcomes:

  • In order to make Jacksonville’s health a top priority, our community needs a chief health officer. This appointed position will be tasked with coordinating programs to achieve efficiency in services that are offered, developing a communication strategy so the citizens of Jacksonville know how to access those services, applying for grants for new programs, and working with the health care leaders in our community to improve our city’s health.

  • The many organizations making a difference in the health of our community need more support. Whether in providing basic health care to locals or public health initiatives for issues such as obesity, nutrition, mental health, or addiction—we will make sure we have outbound community services that reach residents on the issues that affect them most.

  • Our city needs a devoted communications team that is the point-of-contact for emergency health events and to provide communication about all city health services – both public and private.

  • We will not allow Jacksonville to be a bystander to what happens in Tallahassee. As Mayor, we will aggressively push state leadership to push for home rule of our health departments, and for needed solutions for improving healthcare outcomes.

By providing better healthcare and resources for our growing population, we can improve health outcomes, decrease disparities in access to health care and inequities in health outcomes, and be prepared for future emergencies – including pandemics, hurricanes, and climate change.

It has been years since medical professionals in Jacksonville have had the ear of city government and I am excited to work with the healthcare community to achieve a state of health the people of Jacksonville deserve.

Download a PDF Version of Donna’s Good Health Plan

Good Economy

We have every natural advantage we need to grow and prosper. What’s missing is imagination and the political priorities to create an economy that works for everyone in Jacksonville.

With each of us participating in an interactive city that lifts as it climbs, we all thrive. The big corporations, small businesses, and workers.

A key pillar of our #ChangeForGood platform is building a good economy that includes all of us. We’ll ask our existing corporate partners to be part of the solution, and we’ll bring in businesses that want to be part of growing a better, fairer, more inclusive city. Businesses that value our increasing diversity.

There are some big things we can do together. Changes we’ve known we could make for a generation if we only had the political will to get it done. That changes with us.

The beauty in all of this, in doing what’s right, is that we also do what’s best for economic growth. Here are a few of the policies that will be part of our Good Economy plan:

  • As we bring in more businesses to Jacksonville, we'll have an eye towards companies that believe it takes a welcoming, inclusive city and diverse workforce to spur innovation. We'll build an economy that works for large and small businesses because we all do better when we all do better.

  • Far too many small businesses are going under because they simply don't know about the existing city resources available to them. We'll make sure all business owners have equal access to resources like façade grants, incubator programs, and merchant associations that help them succeed.

  • It shouldn't take years to get a permit to start a business but that is all too often the case if you aren't connected to someone in city government. We need to cut the red tape and streamline the permitting process so it's easier to do business in Jacksonville.

  • For too long, a handful of well connected people have benefitted from contracts with the city. The bidding process must be reformed and made more transparent so city business is opened up for everyone.