JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Mayor Donna Deegan provided Jacksonville residents with a final opportunity to pose questions regarding her budget proposal prior to the city council vote on Tuesday.

The concluding town hall meeting took place before a full congregation at the Northside Church of Christ, situated in a part of the city where many residents express feeling neglected by city authorities.

“We have ignored certain areas of the city for a long time,” commented Dr. Barbara Darby, a Northside resident attending the meeting. “She has approached us with a commitment to fairness and aims to recognize all of us as Jacksonville citizens.”

Following her budget presentation, around two dozen individuals lined up to question the mayor. Among them was Cary Grant, who has resided in the neighborhood for approximately 40 years.

“This city seeks to progress,” Grant stated. “It aspires to emulate Atlanta or other major cities, and as long as developments proceed properly, I am entirely supportive.”

Grant says he’s seen a lot of changes in the city but that he is behind the mayor and her budget proposal.

“The mayor put up a good budget, you know, if you look around the city, you see things happening,” Grant said.

The mayor had to leave at 6:30 p.m., but had her staff members continue to take questions from the audience. 

“This was necessary because while people have been discussing matters among themselves, we’re not making progress that way, but having someone come to listen to us enhances the situation,” explained Clementine Duran, a Northside resident and meeting participant. 

Duran came to voice her concerns about speeding on Avenue B and said she did get to speak with someone from the mayor’s office about her concerns. 

“We have a lot of elderly people here in the neighborhood and they are making complaints as well about, you know, the traffic and we have other problems as well,” she said. 

In spite of the multitude of issues that were brought up at the meeting, most attendees agreed on a couple of things. They’re in favor of Mayor Deegan’s budget proposal and against Councilman Rory Diamond’s amendments banning spending on undocumented immigrants, abortions and diversity equity and inclusion. 

“I look forward to the city council doing the right thing for Jacksonville citizens and the right thing is not to reduce the millage rate and not to cut the services that have already been targeted and thirdly not to divide the city,” said Darby said. 

The city council will vote on the budget on Tuesday at 3 p.m. at city hall.