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By Ron Littlepage, The Times-Union
11/15/2007

The ugly side of Jacksonville - the part that's holding the city back - was shamefully on display at Tuesday night's City Council meeting.

Some background:

About two years ago, Tony Boselli, the former Jaguar who has chosen to make this area his home, wanted to use his foundation to help at-risk children.

He did it right. He met with at-large City Councilwoman Glorious Johnson and Councilwoman Gwen Yates, who represented District 8 in Northwest Jacksonville. He also met with John Culbreth, then the head of the city's parks department.

Together, and with input from the community, they targeted the city-owned community center at Simonds-Johnson Park located on Moncrief Road. It was shut down and in disrepair - broken windows, leaky roof, graffiti.

"It looked terrible," Yates told me Wednesday.

Boselli and volunteers from Builders Care, an arm of the Northeast Florida Builders Association and Home Depot went to work renovating the center.

Visit the center now, Yates said, and "you will see something you will not see in any other community center. It's absolutely beautiful."

Boselli's goal is to use the center, now equipped with computers and other equipment, for after-school programs.

"We're trying to help young people in this community," Boselli told the council Tuesday night.

But Councilwoman Denise Lee, who now represents District 8 and who acted as a dictator over parks in her district during her previous terms on the council, wants Boselli out.

That stuns Yates.

"There are so many problems in my community," she said. "We have to stop the madness that's going on. Why would we turn away help?"

That brings us to the ugly side of Jacksonville - race. Lee and her supporters repeatedly questioned what someone living in Ponte Vedra would know about their community.

The code that represents didn't escape a very angry Johnson.

"I've been asked, why are you letting the white guy in?" Johnson said. "When are we going to get over this? This is about our children.

"I'm tired of making it a black/white thing," she said. "Let's make it a people thing. I've seen too many of our children buried. What we want to do is help our children - black, white, orange or purple."

Johnson is absolutely right.

The race card needs to be discarded forever. The problems of this city - violent crime, school dropouts, poverty - are the problems of the entire city, and it will take the efforts of the entire city to make progress.

The council will take up the Boselli lease for the use of the center at its next meeting. It should pass. Boselli said the attacks by Lee only make him want to fight harder for the program he believes in.

The main danger is that other people who want to get involved might question whether the effort is worth it after watching Lee in action.

As Johnson said, "When are we going to get over this?"

ron.littlepage@jacksonville.com, (904) 359-4284