Gainesville City Commission declares gun violence public health crisis

BY JENNIFER CABRERA

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The Gainesville City Commission voted to declare gun violence a public health crisis in the City of Gainesville at today’s regular meeting.

The agenda item was proposed by Commissioner Desmon Duncan-Walker, who said, “Preventing gun violence takes more than police.” She read from a Brookings Institute article that said, “homicide is one of the leading causes of death for Black males… We are beginning to see the targeting of social factors within high-crime communities become integrated into cities’ public safety initiatives more and more. Mayors in Houston and New York City have implemented police reforms that fund more focused policing alternatives aimed at mental health and other social programming.”

Duncan-Walker added, “Our approach to gun violence is going to require all hands on deck.” She said she is “interested in reaching out to those young people who are not necessarily in school, those who are most susceptible to the lifestyle that we’re trying to prevent, because I believe this voyage, combined with conversations, combined with programs and intensive work with them, can begin in that prevention and intervention strategy that we’re all so concerned about.” She said she plans on holding “a series of conversations” in the coming weeks.

Commissioner Bryan Eastman asked GPD Chief Lonnie Scott for his thoughts on the proposed bill in the Florida legislature that would allow people who meet specific requirements to carry a concealed firearm without a permit. Scott replied, “With the increase in gun violence that we’ve seen recently, I don’t think the solution is putting more guns on the street, quite frankly. I think having permitless carry is going to cause me a little more concern because my officers are going to encounter more people who are armed, and we don’t know what their intents are, and that’s going to be a dangerous situation.”

Mayor Harvey Ward said the problem is national, and Gainesville can’t solve it alone, “but we have to shine a light on it and do the things that we can and that we are able to do together to minimize it in our city and support people who are victims of that violence.”

During public comment, Debbie Martinez suggested increasing vocational training on high school campuses instead of making students go to Santa Fe College. A representative from Moms Demand Action recommended educating people about safe storage, extending transportation to rural areas so people can travel to jobs, and better services for gun violence victims. Another speaker said that declaring gun violence to be a public health emergency is “evidence-based” and that it’s important to listen to young people. Speakers also requested activities for young people, and Evelyn Mickle recommended Town Hall meetings. Robert Mounts asked the commission to oppose permitless carry and asked them to again prohibit open containers on the public right-of-way.

Commissioner Ed Book said he managed the Reichert House in the past, and he asked Tony Jones to talk about it. Jones, a former police chief who is currently Special Advisor to the City Manager and is directing Gainesville’s Juvenile Justice and Community Support Services, said one of the goals of the Reichert House is to “transform these individuals to be taxpayers instead of tax takers. Many in this population, if they’re tax takers, they’re incarcerated, and so they’re gonna cost society. So that’s what we try to instill in them.”

Commissioner Casey Willits said, “Housing is upstream of so much” and added that young people have little hope of buying a house in Gainesville. 

Duncan-Walker made a motion to declare gun violence a public health crisis in the City of Gainesville and draft a resolution to that effect; authorize the mayor to draft a letter to the county commission asking them to declare gun violence as a crisis in Alachua County, draft a resolution to that effect, and partner with the City to prevent and stem gun violence; and begin to lay the foundation for convening a gun violence task force and ask staff to bring back ways to expand or tailor programs the City already has to specifically address gun violence.

She said she also wanted to expand the new Public Safety Committee to include a gun violence subcommittee, but she didn’t know whether that should be part of the motion.

She also asked the commission to ask staff to come up with ideas regarding what a website with information on gun violence would look like “because I don’t think we can begin this work without being very transparent and being very clear about what we’re doing.” She asked staff to “bring back what that would look like” and how it could be added to the existing City website.

Commissioner Cynthia Chestnut immediately seconded the motion. Ward said the Public Safety Committee already has the authority to create a Gun Violence Subcommittee.

The motion passed unanimously. 

According to a press release from the City, “The methods would rely heavily on community involvement, public safety research, improving access to opportunity and housing, and fine-tuning or developing programs aimed at preventing and stemming gun crimes. Collecting data to chart the success of local efforts online would be the final piece of the proposal.”

The city commission previously allocated 2% of Gainesville’s American Rescue Plan Act funds ($648,172) to participate in the One Nation One Project initiative and also agreed to spend $3 million on a Cultural Arts Center in east Gainesville. The proposal is currently moving through a feasibility assessment.