One observation about the @lennycurry budget, which is overall strong and encouraging: Council needs to add a direct contribution to @JaxLegalAid on par with our peer cities, which would be about $1 million. We have an eviction/foreclosure crisis on our doorstep.
And JALA provides civil legal aid for a lot of other services as well, for which most Jacksonville residents are eligible. It's one of the strongest ROIs possible for the city.
Some background here. Last year, just before the pandemic, JALA lawyers helped get the state to put more than 30,000 people back on Medicaid, many of whom were medically vulnerable. That's the sort of work they do - and in that case they almost certainly saved lives.
Right now JALA must compete with the city's other nonprofits for public-service grants, which next year will total about $3.9 million. JALA deserves its own line item in the budget, and more than the ~$400,000 or so it generally gets.
We spend less on legal aid per person than St. Johns and Clay counties. That's just not adequate.
This should be an easy decision: $1 million in this budget is nothing, and it will pay dividends far beyond that. And this organization is an incredible value. Judges love them - they keep the system moving. They combat homelessness by keeping people in their homes ...
It's more expensive to deal with homeless when they've lost that. They help police public housing issues, of which Jacksonville has many. They help senior citizens when they get bilked by contractors. They help veterans.
Most people don't realize you have no right to a lawyer on civil issues. This has been overlooked by the city, and candidly by my newspaper, for years. That's just gotta change, especially if we want to be a big-boy city. Great cities have great legal aid programs.
@RoryDiamond @LeAnnaCumber @matt_carlucci @Ron_Salem @TFreemanJax @RandyDeFoor_D14 @CMTommyHazouri @GarrettDennis_1
Yes I’ll be a pain about this.
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