JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2014 Jacksonville is working to fight blight. The city now has new firepower to keep streets, neighborhoods, and shared spaces clean.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou all know we really need it. We hear about it all the time in every town hall I\u2019ve ever held, in every neighborhood, people always come up to me with concerns about litter and blight,\u201d said Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan.<\/p>\n
The city is investing $400,000 to fight blight with its two-prong approach.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I ride on my scooter, I actually see people throwing trash out their windows,\u201d said Tarshell Taylor, a lifelong Jacksonville resident.<\/p>\n
New ATVs and trailers will help the city sweep more areas, more safely.<\/p>\n
New cameras will also work to catch violators in real time. The Jacksonville Sheriff\u2019s Office says some of the surveillance footage will go directly to the Solid Waste Division\u2019s feed.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s been part of the problem. We haven\u2019t\u2019 had working cameras out there to actually hold these people accountable. A lot of times we know it\u2019s the same folks over and over again that just go back to the same places and keep dumping things,\u201d said Mayor Deegan.<\/p>\n
City officials say they\u2019re playing catch-up after years of funding and staff cuts.<\/p>\n
\u201cTwenty years ago, there were $2 million dollars that were in blight for cleaning up the city. Now, we have what was just installed, $250,000. We had seven cleanup crews fully staffed 20 years ago. We had two before the mayor started getting us help,\u201d said Al Ferraro, who is the Jacksonville Blight Initiative Director. <\/p>\n
Funding also provided the tools volunteers need at Beautiful and Keep Jax Cute, Don\u2019t Pollute events. A newly wrapped trailer stocked with those supplies will be deployed at community cleanups and other anti-litter projects across the city.<\/p>\n
>>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<<<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n [DOWNLOAD: <\/b>Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks<\/b><\/a>]<\/b><\/p>\n