Editing Jacksonville, Florida (section)

==Government and politics==

===Government===

{{Main|Government of Jacksonville}}
[[File:Jacksonville City Hall (South face).JPG|thumb|left|[[St. James Building]], currently housing Jacksonville City Hall]]
In 1968 Jacksonville and Duval County consolidated their governments in the [[Jacksonville Consolidation]]. This eliminated a separate county executive or legislature, and supplanted these positions with the Mayor of Jacksonville and the City Council of the City of Jacksonville, respectively. Because of this, voters who live ''outside'' of the city limits of Jacksonville but ''inside'' Duval County may vote in elections for these positions and run for them. In 1995, [[John Delaney (Florida politician)|John Delaney]], a resident of [[Neptune Beach, Florida|Neptune Beach]] within Duval County, was elected as mayor of the city of Jacksonville.

Jacksonville is organized under the [[city charter]] and provides for a "strong" [[Mayor–council government|mayor–council]] form of city government. The [[Mayor of Jacksonville]] is elected to four-year terms and serves as the head of the government's executive branch. The [[Jacksonville City Council]] comprises nineteen members, fourteen representing [[single-member district|single-member]] [[electoral district]]s of roughly equal populations, and five elected for [[at-large]] seats. The mayor oversees most city departments, though some are independent or quasi-independent. Law enforcement is provided by the [[Jacksonville Sheriff's Office]], headed by an elected [[sheriff]]; public schools are overseen by [[Duval County Public Schools]], and several services are provided by largely independent authorities. The mayor holds veto power over all resolutions and ordinances made by the city council and also has the power to hire and fire the heads of various city departments.

As before the consolidation, some government services are operated independently of city and county authority. In accordance with Florida law, the elected school board has nearly complete autonomy. Jacksonville also has several quasi-independent government agencies which only nominally answer to the consolidated authority, including [[JEA|electric authority]], port authority, transportation authority, housing authority and airport authority. The main environmental and agricultural body is the Duval County Soil and Water Conservation District, which works closely with other area, state, and federal agencies.
[[File:Deegan Donna-3327b.jpg|thumb|upright|right|[[Donna Deegan]], the current [[List of mayors of Jacksonville, Florida|mayor of Jacksonville]]]]

The [[Jacksonville Housing Authority]] (JHA) is the quasi-independent agency responsible for public housing and [[subsidized housing]] in Jacksonville. The Mayor and City Council of Jacksonville established the JHA in 1994 to create a community service-oriented, public housing agency with innovative ideas and a different attitude. The primary goal was to provide safe, clean, affordable housing for eligible low and moderate income families, the elderly, and persons with disabilities. The secondary goal was to provide effective social services, work with residents to improve their quality of life, encourage employment and self-sufficiency, and help residents move out of assisted housing. To that end, JHA works with [[HabiJax]] to help low and moderate income families to escape the public housing cycle and become successful, productive, homeowners and taxpayers.

===Politics===

{{Main|Politics of Jacksonville}}
The present mayor is [[Donna Deegan]], who assumed office on July 1, 2023.<ref name="Mazeke">{{cite news |last1=Mazeke |first1=Jim Piggott, Kendra |title=History in the making: Donna Deegan sworn in as first woman to lead the River City |url=https://www.news4jax.com/news/local/2023/07/01/history-in-the-making-donna-deegan-to-be-sworn-in-jacksonvilles-first-woman-mayor/ |work=WJXT |date=July 1, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230701180458/https://www.news4jax.com/news/local/2023/07/01/history-in-the-making-donna-deegan-to-be-sworn-in-jacksonvilles-first-woman-mayor/ |archive-date=July 1, 2023 |access-date=July 3, 2023 |url-status=live }}</ref> Deegan's predecessor was [[Lenny Curry]].<ref>[http://jacksonville.com/slideshow/2015-07-01/new-mayor-and-sheriff-sworn-lenny-curry-and-mike-williams-take-oath-office#slide-1 INAUGURATION DAY: Lenny Curry and Mike Williams Take Oath of Office] Retrieved July 1, 2015</ref>

Most of the city lies in the [[Florida's 4th congressional district]], and is represented by Republican [[Aaron Bean]]. Most of central Jacksonville is in the [[Florida's 5th congressional district|5th district]], represented by Republican [[John Rutherford (Florida politician)|John Rutherford]]. 
In 2010, Duval County's [[crime rate]] was 5,106 per 100,000 people, according to the [[Florida Department of Law Enforcement]]. The county's murder rate had been the highest among Florida's counties with a population of 500,000 or more for eleven years as of 2009, leading to widespread discussion in the community about how to deal with the problem. In 2010, Duval County's violent crime rate decreased by 9.3% from the previous year, with total crime decreasing 7.3%, putting the murder rate behind that of [[Miami-Dade County, Florida|Miami-Dade County]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Results are in: Duval County no longer state murder capital |first=Dana|last=Treen|url=http://jacksonville.com/news/crime/2011-04-26/story/results-are-duval-county-no-longer-state-murder-capital|newspaper=[[The Florida Times-Union]] |date=April 26, 2011|access-date=April 28, 2011}}</ref>

Jacksonville and Duval County historically maintained separate police agencies: the Jacksonville Police Department and Duval County Sheriff's Office. As part of consolidation in 1968, the two merged, creating the [[Jacksonville Sheriff's Office]] (JSO). The JSO is headed by the [[County sheriff (Florida)|elected Sheriff]] of Jacksonville, currently [[T. K. Waters]].<ref name="Gibson2022">{{cite news |last1=Gibson |first1=Travis |title=T.K. Waters sworn in as Jacksonville's new sheriff during emotion-filled ceremony |url=https://www.news4jax.com/news/local/2022/11/20/tk-waters-to-take-oath-of-office-to-become-jacksonvilles-new-sheriff/ |work=WJXT News 4 Jax |date=November 20, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221120160120/https://www.news4jax.com/news/local/2022/11/20/tk-waters-to-take-oath-of-office-to-become-jacksonvilles-new-sheriff/ |archive-date=November 20, 2022 |access-date=April 11, 2023 |url-status=live }}</ref> 
The sheriff's office is responsible for law enforcement and corrections in the county. Likewise the [[Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department]] became the consolidated city/county agency.

However, the cities of [[Jacksonville Beach, Florida|Jacksonville Beach]], [[Atlantic Beach, Florida|Atlantic Beach]] and [[Neptune Beach, Florida|Neptune Beach]] each retained responsibility for their own policing and fire protection.