Jax deserves funding

Florida Times-Union (Jacksonville, FL)

In a classic good news-bad news story, Gov. Ron DeSantis has awarded $84 million to 21 Florida communities impacted by Hurricane Irma and nothing for the Jacksonville area.

That includes nothing for his former congressional district along the Atlantic Coast.

Jacksonville is used to being ignored by Tallahassee as in having to fight for funds to protect the state's longest river, the St. Johns. No offense to the needs of the Everglades, but Northeast Florida has important environmental assets, too.

And we have the proof to show that Hurricane Irma hit Jacksonville hard. Downtown was devastated with flooding. If you watched the Weather Channel, you would have thought the entire city was under water.

The Florida Keys received about half of the $84 million, while Bonita Springs will receive $11 million for repairing a stormwater drainage system.

The closest the funds come to Jacksonville is Lawtey in Bradford County with $867,600 for stormwater drainage.

Presumably these examples won't be the last of the grants under the Rebuild Florida Infrastructure Repair Program. But this and other programs need to be beefed up and speeded up.

Where are the cops?

Drive along Jacksonville's roads for a short while and you'll be stunned by the speeders, tailgaters and lane changers who fail to use turn signals.

Where is the enforcement?

In fact, Florida as a whole ranks as one of the worst in the nation for traffic safety and enforcement, according to Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety.

Florida is one of 12 states falling "dangerously behind" in safety laws.

For instance, Florida does not have a law making it a primary offense for not wearing seatbelts in rear seats. In fact, about half of the people who die in traffic accidents were not wearing seat belts.

To flip it around, about 1,100 lives were saved in Florida in 2017 as a result of wearing seatbelts. Another 180 lives could have been saved if seatbelts were used, reports the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Florida also does not require infants and toddlers to be in rear-facing child restraints through age 2.

And Florida does not require motorcycle riders of all ages to wear helmets. The state allows riders over to go without a helmet if they have certain levels of insurance coverage.

Florida also has inadequate bans on distracted driving. Florida bans texting while driving but restrictions on cellphone use during driving are weak.

Another attack on local control

It should be obvious to legislators in Tallahassee that Florida is a huge and diverse state. Its 67 counties have special needs that can't be efficiently controlled with a one-size-fits-all attitude.

Bad examples are numerous every time the Legislature is in session.

Now there is a proposal to put eight-year term limits for school boards as a constitutional amendment on the ballot.

That's a decision that each county's voters should be able to make for themselves.

The voters in Miami-Dade shouldn't be making decisions for those in Union County, and vice versa.

For instance, in the past Jacksonville voters turned down a class size amendment and a constitutional amendment (Amendment One) that unfairly restricted local revenues yet both amendments passed statewide largely due to issues in South Florida.

On term limits, for urban counties, with huge budgets and a wealth of citizens willing to serve, they make more sense.

For a small population in a rural county with smaller budgets and fewer citizens, it makes no sense to restrict a good board member to just two terms.

Those who oppose term limits contend that elections give the public the opportunity to turn out a bad elected official.

In any case, the decisions need to be made on the local level.

Tallahassee has a nasty habit of trying to run this huge and diverse state as if one policy should work for everyone.

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