Editing Jacksonville, Florida (section)

===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.