After at-times heated debate Tuesday evening, the Jacksonville City Council withdrew a controversial measure that would have eliminated a local requirement that the Duval County Health Department director be a physician.
The bill is expected to be reintroduced later and referred to multiple council committees the initial measure was only discussed by one for extensive discussion and public input. Let all the parties involved talk about it, City Council President Tommy Hazouri said. I don t know why it s emotional … but it seems to be.
The bill was intended to help fill the local director position that has been vacant since 2018. The hiring difficulty stems from a city ordinance that requires the department director to be a physician, not just have public health training, the only such mandate in the state, according to Stephanie Burch, the city deputy chief administrative officer.