House Bill 9505

    Florida House of Representatives - 1998                HR 9505

        By Representative Hill






  1                         House Resolution

  2         A resolution honoring Curtis L. Johnson,

  3         Jacksonville Sheriff's Office 1997 Citizen of

  4         the Year.

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  6         WHEREAS, a lifelong resident of the Sweetwater

  7  community in Jacksonville, where his family has lived since

  8  1868, Curtis L. Johnson watched his despairing community

  9  deteriorate over the years until 1990 found it to be one in

10  which no less than 90 percent of its residents were affected

11  by illicit drug activity, with its resulting social, family,

12  and individual devastation, and

13         WHEREAS, where others in the community saw a hopeless

14  situation, Curtis L. Johnson saw a problem that could be

15  solved and set about unifying his neighbors in his refusal to

16  lose another generation of children, and

17         WHEREAS, despite neighborhood fear and apathy, Curtis

18  L. Johnson persuaded a small band of concerned residents to

19  come together to discuss the degradation that was engulfing

20  them, an event that led the group to rally others in their

21  crusade to save their children and their community, and

22         WHEREAS, adopting the acronym SOCK, for Save Our

23  Community and Kids, the Sweetwater and Concerned Citizens

24  Community Association, under the energizing leadership of

25  Curtis L. Johnson, began its fight, starting out by offering

26  neighborhood youth a modest after-school and summer program

27  and organizing a Crime Watch effort, each of which began to

28  flourish and prove successful, leading the residents to

29  understand that they had the power to make a difference, and

30         WHEREAS, encouraged and led by Curtis L. Johnson,

31  community volunteers quickly learned to make use of grants and

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CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.






    Florida House of Representatives - 1998                HR 9505

    504-147-98






  1  collaborate with others to support and expand their efforts

  2  and, today, the Sweetwater community is proud and grateful to

  3  be designated a drug-free zone, and

  4         WHEREAS, neighborhood leader, role model, and mentor,

  5  Curtis L. Johnson is an outstanding example of how one citizen

  6  who cares enough to become involved can be instrumental in

  7  turning a troubled neighborhood into one of hope, where crime

  8  is down, children are participating in wholesome activities,

  9  city services are better, and residents are taking pride in

10  their community and working together, NOW, THEREFORE,

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12  Be It Resolved by the House of Representatives of the State of

13  Florida:

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15         That the House of Representatives pauses in its

16  deliberations to honor Curtis L. Johnson for his outstanding

17  accomplishments and congratulate him on being named the

18  Jacksonville Sheriff's Office 1997 Citizen of the Year.

19         BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this resolution

20  be presented to Curtis L. Johnson as a tangible token of the

21  sentiments expressed herein.

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