A Special Announcement
From the Chair of OurJax

Dear OurJax Members,

As we all look forward to the upcoming fall season and continue to work our way through this Pandemic, OurJax is transitioning into a new phase. As always, we want you to know about it. After all, one of our founding pillars is Transparency.

As a reminder, OurJax was founded in January 2020 by citizens concerned about a lack of Transparency, Integrity, and Accountability in our local government. The most blatant example and our immediate concern was the City of Jacksonville’s effort to sell JEA, Jacksonville’s publicly owned utility. Like most people, we found the effort to be confounding. It was a cause of deep concern though out the community.

OurJax voiced opposition to the City’s efforts because there was overwhelming evidence the people behind the sale had violated local policy and norms. As community opposition grew, the City Council Auditor and the City’s ethics officer uncovered egregious examples of personal greed behind the effort which caused the City Council to call a halt to the sale of JEA.

That effort was followed by the administration’s effort to develop what was known as Lot J, again an effort that violated city policies for vetting and approving city investment in private development. Once again, OurJax mobilized an effort of grass roots opposition that eventually prompted over 8,000 of you to contact members of the council. As a result, the development was defeated.

After successfully insisting that the City of Jacksonville follow approved policies, and operate in the sunshine with Transparency, Integrity, and Accountability, we are seeing evidence from recent city actions that once again OurJax has had positive impact on the way decisions are now being made. We have now learned from the City’s ethics officer that the City of Jacksonville has in place an ethical framework. As long as City officials do not violate that framework OurJax is satisfied Jacksonville’s government will operate with Transparency, Integrity, and Accountability and adhere to city policies and taxpayer protections.

Consequently, Jacksonville’s local government appears to be operating as it should. Therefore, we’ve decided that we will “archive” our website, OurJax.com. At this time, we don’t anticipate additional messages to the public. However, should this government or future administrations begin to operate in the shade, violate local policies, and become unaccountable to the public, you can be assured OurJax will quickly reactivate and engage.

Thank you for believing in Jacksonville!

David Miller
OurJax Chair