Earlier today the St. Johns Riverkeeper, Lisa Rinaman, held a news conference on the Southbank.
It’s time, Rinaman said, “…to have a serious conversation about how to make our city more resilient…”
To that end, the Riverkeeper had previously filed a lawsuit, in an attempt to stop JaxPort’s dredging project currently underway in the St. Johns River. The project would deepen the shipping channel from 40 to 47 feet, increasing possible storm surge and flooding.
We don’t know how much of an increase though as the Army Corps of Engineers has not performed a flood analysis. The city had a dredging task force, one that was convened to answer such questions, but it was disbanded by Lenny Curry when he became mayor.
Jacksonville is “The River City” and the city economy depends in part on the health of the river. If this was not evident before Irma it should be crystal clear, unlike much of the water in the St. Johns, after. *Moody’s has put cities and states on notice to prepare more for climate change and natural disasters or risk a credit downgrade in the future.
“If you have a place that simply throws up its hands in the face of changes to climate trends, then we have to evaluate it on an ongoing basis to see how that abdication of response actually translates to changes in its credit profile,” Moody’s vice president Michael Wertz told NPR.
Basically if our city continues to do nothing or does little, our credit rating will go down which means our interest rates will go up, causing Jax to owe more on old debt and risk future loans or investment from outside corporations, as well as possibly losing current investors and businesses.
*Moody’s Investors Service, often referred to as Moody’s, is the bond credit ratingbusiness of Moody’s Corporation, representing the company’s traditional line of business and its historical name. Moody’s Investors Service provides international financial research on bonds issued by commercial and government entities. Moody’s, along with Standard & Poor’s and Fitch Group, is considered one of the Big Three credit rating agencies. ~Wikipedia
I found Rinaman’s use of the word “resilient” ironic. More on that in a moment.
Many of our citizens use Duuuval as a rallying cry, and not just at Jaguar games. It was in use long before the Big Cats were even kittens. To me Duuuval, or Duval has always been akin to “Dude”. It can be used for many different occasions, some good, some bad.
Duuuval can express joy and Duval can express sorrow or disgust.
You may be wondering why “resilient” has triggered this line of thinking.
Because sometimes Duval can be so Duval.
In 2013 Jacksonville was named an Inaugural City In 100 Resilient Cities.
100 Resilient Cities is a Rockefeller Foundation initiative. A program, that awards cities around the world $1 million in cash and services to address extreme weather, crime and sea level rise. Jacksonville applied for the distinction under former Mayor Alvin Brown. Jacksonville quit under current Mayor Lenny Curry.
One million dollars to address extreme weather, crime and sea level rise! Awesome! Right?
But…Duval. Here are the Jax Examiner headlines from the beginning to the end of Jax’s involvement in the program as well as the repercussions for having quit.
Jacksonville Tapped As Inaugural City In 100 Resilient Cities Network
Jacksonville: A Century of Resilience
Jacksonville plans to participate in the Rockefeller Foundation’s 100 Resilient Cities program
Jacksonville to receive one million from 100 Resilient Cities initiative
Jacksonville quits “100 Resilient Cities” initiative
Flooded streets and soggy promises
Duval!
Back to the Riverkeeper. Rinaman would like to see an end to such short sighted behavior and “bring the community together … so we could talk about long-term strategies to make ourselves more resilient as a city and as communities.”
She announced a series of town hall meetings in June and July about flooding and rising waters. The schedule for those meetings is listed below.
A River Rising: Town Hall Series
Join St. Johns Riverkeeper and local experts as we take a deep dive into issues impacting our community at the start of Hurricane season. Experts will be on hand to discuss the impact of rising seas, past St. Johns River dredging projects, and the dredging that is currently underway. “As the Ocean Creeps In”, a recent Times-Union special report, revealed how decades of channelizing and dredging our river has left Jacksonville more susceptible to severe storms, flood events, and rising waters.
In addition to flooded homes and businesses, Hurricane Irma caused severe damage to public infrastructure and left in its wake a toxic soup of sewage, chemicals, debris, and litter.
Thursday, June 21 @ 6:30 p.m.
Sun-Ray Cinema, 1028 Park St., 32204
Thursday, June 28 @ 6:30 p.m.
Oceanway Senior Center, 12215 Sago Ave. W., 32218
Friday, June 29, @ Noon – 1:00 p.m.
Jesse Ball DuPont Center, 40 E. Adams St., 32202
Wednesday, July 11 @ 6:00 p.m.
Intuition Ale Works, 929 E. Bay St., 32202
For more information about the meetings, contact Kelly Patton or Shannon Blankinship at 904-256-7591, or visit the Riverkeeper website