The Jacksonville
Historical Society paid special tribute during the month of October to
the history of the consolidation of Jacksonville city government
and Duval County government 35 years ago. The JHS meeting on Friday, October
3, featured former crusading WJXT-TV 4 editorial director Norm Davis and
two attorneys who played significant roles in the consolidation effort,
Bill Birchfield and Jim Rinaman.
Both Rinaman and Birchfield served on the Local Government Study
Commission, a group of 50 nonpoliticians who guided the city through formation
of a new government. By state legislative action, the commission was created
October 1, 1965 with a report due to the “members of the Florida legislature
from Duval County on or before March 1, 1967.”
Rinaman says Channel 4 and its news reports and documentaries molded
much of the public’s opinion in favor of consolidation. “Tanzler endorsed
consolidation even though he’d have to run again in a year if it passed,”
said Rinaman.
.
. . .
. . . .
Both Rinaman and Birchfield have continued private practice law in
the years since consolidation, and Birchfield served in the state legislature
from 1970 through 1974.
Norm Davis left WJXT Jacksonville for a stint with Post-Newsweek
sister station in Washington, D.C. He later joined the news team at Miami’s
WKLG. In a career change, he pursued a law degree and today is a practicing
attorney at the Miami law firm of Steele, Hector and Davis.
The Jacksonville Historical Society’s cable television show, “The
Jacksonville History Show” on Comcast Channel 29 also featured the story
of Consolidation on its September/October program. The show featured
a fascinating conversation with two men who played a key role in creating
the government: James C. Rinaman Jr., who was a member of the Local Government
Study Commission, the body that designed the new government; and
Jack Chambers, who served as counsel for the Local Government Study Commission.
President’s Column
Consolidation ranks as one of
the two most important events in city’s history
This year we celebrate the 35th anniversary
of Jacksonville’s consolidated government, one of the biggest events in
our history. It has been described as “a quiet revolution.” Citizens were
disgusted with corruption in city and county governments and frustrated
with officials who could not or would not address the needs a growing urban
area.
So local government was reinvented. A Local Government Study Commission
was appointed to design a better local government. Voters approved the
new, consolidated government in 1967. It took office on Oct. 1, 1968.
Consolidation has been described as one of the two most important
events in Jacksonville history, second only to the 1901 fire. All of this
has special relevance for me. As a newspaper reporter at The Miami Herald,
I became interested in the Jacksonville story and applied for a job at
the television station (WJXT TV-4) that was crusading for reform. Few,
if any, TV stations were courageous enough to get into investigative journalism
in those days and I was impressed.
My TV-4 career started in 1967 as an investigative reporter, focusing
on the transition to the new government, which was to take office Oct.
1, 1968. Later, for the next 20 years, I did the nightly editorials on
TV-4. In another career, I served five years as an at-large member of the
city council. (But that’s another story.)
I hope you’ll you'll join us in celebrating the 35th anniversary
of the creation of Jacksonville's new government.
Jacksonville’s greatest moment
“Not a cloud marred the sky…It
was a lovely day.”
“Not a cloud marred the sky as August 8 [1967] dawned on Jacksonville
and Duval County. It was a lovely day – the kind of day that makes people
want to get out and do things. A lot of them did. More than 86,000 Duval
Countians went to the polls and voted. They voted overwhelmingly in favor
of consolidation…Of 86,079 votes cast, 54,493 were for consolidation, 29,768
against. It was almost a two to one victory…” from the book, A Quiet Revolution.
Jacksonville Mayor Hans Tanzler and actress
Lee Meredith unveil the new city limits sign
When consolidation took effect on October 1, 1968, Jacksonville was
suddenly transformed from a city 39 square miles to an astounding 840 square
miles – the largest metropolitan city in land area in the world. Overnight
the city’s population catapulted to 27th in the nation from a 75th ranking
a day earlier.
Ten years ago, to mark the 25th anniversary of consolidation, an
updated version of Richard Martin’s 1968 book, Consolidation: Jacksonville-Duval
County was published under a new name, A Quiet Revolution. A few
of the last remaining copies of this paperback are available for sale at
the society’s headquarters for $15.
Only consolidation
and a “white” hat remain
The year is 1968. President Lyndon B. Johnson announces he will not
seek or accept nomination for another term. Martin Luther King Jr. is slain
in Memphis. Senator Robert F. Kennedy is assassinated. 60 Minutes, the
news magazine, airs for the first time. The rock musical Hair opens on
Broadway. The Beatles win a Grammy for album of the year. The cost of a
first class stamp is five cents. And, on Oct. 1, a new consolidated government
takes office in Jacksonville.
On that October 1, 1968 Consolidation Day, a time capsule was buried
underground on the river “side” of the 1960 City Hall by Mayor Hans Tanzler
and J.J. Daniel, chairman of the Local Government Study Commission. The
etched stone cover mandated the capsule be opened October 1, 2000.
The Jacksonville Historical Society participated the October 2000
unearthing and received the capsule and contents. The society houses the
nearly unrecognizable contents and maintains an inventory of the items
that were clearly soaking wet for most of their 32 years underground. Interestingly,
the one item still identifiable, although highly altered, is the white
hat of the tireless supporters of that quiet revolution. The “white” hat
is on display at the society’s headquarters.
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