For years, Jacksonville has been a city full of promise but stuck in the mud when it comes to development. One of the city’s worst-kept secrets — and biggest self-inflicted wounds — has been its sluggish, bureaucratic, and outdated permitting process.
Local and out-of-state developers alike have echoed the same complaint for decades: Jacksonville is one of the hardest cities to do business in if you want to build something. Projects have died on desks. Investors have walked away. And Jacksonville’s reputation as a competitive, modern city has taken hit after hit.
Enter an unlikely duo: a Democratic mayor with no big business background and a conservative developer who’s been trying to get City Hall to listen for years.
Toney Sleiman, a lifelong Jacksonville businessman and one of the city’s most prominent developers, has long sounded the alarm about the city’s dysfunctional civil plan review and permitting system. He’s met with mayors, commissioners, and department heads across multiple administrations.
But nothing changed. Even the last two Republican mayors — leaders who should’ve been sympathetic to business concerns — failed to act. Doors closed. Red tape multiplied. And progress stalled.
Then came Mayor Donna Deegan — a Democrat, former journalist, and political outsider without ties to the development community. And instead of dismissing Sleiman’s concerns, she listened.
“She’s the first mayor in years who didn’t just nod politely,” said Sleiman. “She asked questions, followed up, and actually came back with a plan. That’s all we’ve ever wanted — a partner, not a roadblock.”
On May 1, Mayor Deegan unveiled a sweeping strategy aimed at overhauling the city’s long-broken development review system. Her eight-point plan reflects a real shift in philosophy — one that acknowledges the city’s role as a collaborator, not a combatant in the development process.
Here are some key highlights from the plan:
- Industry Forums: The city will host regular meetings with developers and construction professionals to gather real-world feedback and improve communication.
- AI-Aided Review: New artificial intelligence tools will help identify common application errors and streamline the review process — reducing back-and-forth and human error.
- Digital Transformation: A modern online permitting portal will improve accessibility, reduce paperwork, and provide applicants with real-time updates.
- Express Lane Option: For time-sensitive projects, an expedited review track will be available for an additional fee — allowing major developments to proceed faster.
- Private Reviewer Certification: Licensed private professionals will be trained and authorized to conduct reviews under city oversight, helping relieve staff bottlenecks and speed up approvals.
For Sleiman and other developers, these reforms are more than policy changes — they’re a signal that Jacksonville is finally ready to grow up and join the ranks of cities that treat development as a partnership, not a political punching bag.
Mayor Deegan’s move is a rare — and refreshing — example of bipartisan cooperation with real-world impact. Despite their ideological differences, Deegan and Sleiman have shown that progress doesn’t require political alignment — just mutual respect and a shared vision for the city.
Deegan put it best: “The city should be working with developers to make it easier to do business here — not against them.”
Her decision to act where others stalled may prove to be one of the defining moves of her administration.
If this partnership succeeds, Jacksonville could finally unlock the growth potential that’s been held back by years of red tape and inertia. And it will be thanks, in part, to a mayor and a developer who looked past their differences — and chose to build something better.
3 responses to “Finding Common Ground: How a Democrat Mayor and a Republican Developer Are Fixing Jacksonville’s Broken Permitting System”
Fixing the bureaucratic beast that has been Planning and Permitting is noteworthy.
This will be Deegan’s ticket to re-election because the Developers and their crowd have been the overwhelmingly dominant source of campaign funding for City Council and Constitutional offices such that they have been the ones to determine who wins and loses by the sheer scale of their contributions.
They are single issue focused to the exclusion of all else including critical social issues, willing to support candidates the are working elsewhere to shred our bedrock values and community standards.
Included in this group are those with a vested interest in the Jaguars and the new stadium that have brought the City to a edge of a financial cliff because of the need for a new jail demanding a similar scale of funding that Jacksonville does not have.
Deegan’s list of transgressions as mayor is lengthy and growing including the recent revelation of a 2nd Amendment violating gun registry that involved felonious acts to create. Her attempt to pass the blame off on Lenny Curry’s administration is convicting.
What is clear after 15 years of attending City Council meetings and being in this space is that Jacksonville cares more about worldly matters than its freedom and liberty, can be bought off by shifting focus in former direction and away from the latter. Sort of like Mussolini’s political success by keeping the trains running . . . and we know what happened there.
Deegan knows this and will continue to follow this strategy in pursuit of her political aspirations all to the detriment of this city’s bedrock values and community standards.
The issue of permitting has been a boondoggle. We gave a wink because this coming together deserves one. The waste we have experienced of time, energy, money and reputation with this issue has gone on way too long. While I see your point on many of your comments, I also believe in giving a pat on the back when something good is done. If we could all learn to truly work together instead of letting politics rule the day — we would be much better off. That goes for both sides of the aisle. Thank you for commenting and reading our posts. Have a beautiful day
It appears that the apartment developers don’t have any trouble getting permits. They are out of control. Every little bit of ground they can find they are putting up apartments and most of them are nearly empty. They are cutting down every tree, bush and blade of grass to build.
Someone needs to take a closer look at this