Bouquets and Brickbats

Bouq:

 To the Sons of the American Legion Post 129 and the Volunteer Life Saving Corps (VLSC) of Jacksonville Beach for their Sons & Salts Oyster Roast. The inaugural event raised $5,000 for the VLSC, which has stood watch over our beaches protecting the lives of residents and visitors since 1912. For information on how to be involved helping VLSC, contact cbond@jaxbeachlifeguard.org.

Brick: 

Eviction-happy landlords. Last year, more than 14,000 eviction cases were filed in Duval County, and 2023 is outpacing 2022 thus far. Obviously, tenants deserve to be evicted if they don’t pay rent, but greed and inflation have caused many owners to increase prices so drastically renters can’t afford to stay, essentially leading to an eviction. Our city leaders need to focus on issues like rent control and affordable housing in order to help stop this vicious cycle. And when you consider a report from Harvard University showing 47% of Jacksonville residents are cost burdened when it comes to rent, we need more focus on tenant rights and put limitations on the investors who are to blame for the rental housing crisis in our city.  Evictions = Homelessness