Members of City Council don’t believe the current contract with the operators of Hemming Park directly relates to what “success” is for the Downtown venue.
Yes, the contract with Friends of Hemming Park calls for attendance and events metrics. The nonprofit hit those marks along with fundraising goals in order to receive more than $1 million in city funding.
But to council members, the safety, cleanliness and overall welcoming nature of the park aren’t where they should be.
A subset of the special committee tackling all things Hemming on Thursday hashed out potential tweaks to the contract.
The work will lead to a legal decision of whether the current Friends agreement can be amended or if the contract needs to be rebid.
One addition could be how safety success is defined. When it comes to Zone 1, Hemming Park is at the top of the list for calls to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, said Assistant Chief Jackson Short.
The zone commander told the group police responded to 1,126 calls to the park from Jan. 1-Aug. 24. In that time, there were almost 200 arrests.
“It’s not a law enforcement solution,” said Short.
Success in terms of safety could be measured by a reduction in those calls, subcommittee members said.
Short said, for example, there have been 206 suspicious persons calls at the park. Reducing that to 100 in the same time frame, he said, “would be a great success.”
Private security hired by Friends in recent weeks has been a force multiplier and made a difference, Short said.
The contract with Friends calls for adequate security, but the subcommittee determined specific language requiring security and enforcement hours would be beneficial toward success. Better clarity on operating hours also was suggested.
Additionally, the sheriff’s office is looking at ways to better communicate with its patrols to reduce response times to calls at the park.
Another Hemming subcommittee will look at ways to strengthen city laws in the park to allow stricter enforcement, including violations that could more easily trigger trespassing citations.
On the clean and welcoming sides, the contract subcommittee suggested requiring a certain number of pressure washings. The number of trash bins also will be reviewed.
There is an underlying issue with the park and enforcement, though.
Removing “congregators,” as some describe them, from Hemming Park only shifts the problem to other nearby parks and facilities.
Council member Reggie Gaffney suggested another idea: Bringing back some form of a Day Resource Center.
There was such a facility from 2013-15 that provided a temperature-controlled environment where people could shower, do laundry and use computers.
It was a pilot program funded by a $120,000 Community Development Block Grant, a $70,000 contribution from Wells Fargo and $130,000 of in-kind construction and design work.
Hemming Park committee Chair Greg Anderson called it an idea worth exploring.
Success for Hemming Park also could end up being partially measured by surveys — possibly using responses from nearby workers, city employees, park patrons or some combination of them.
Greg Pease, the city’s procurement chief, told the subcommittee he doesn’t recall a survey being a measurement tool for any past city contract, but, doesn’t see why it would be prohibited.
He did, however, advise transparency and caution in how such a survey would be crafted.
Anderson in the next couple of weeks will take on that task.
Once the contract changes for determining success are finalized, they will be submitted to the Office of General Counsel for review.
Attorneys would then make the determination of whether the current agreement could be amended or, if the changes are substantial enough to require the contract to be rebid.
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