- The Gainesville City Commission is advancing a five-year strategic plan to prevent gun violence through the Community Gun Violence Prevention Alliance.
- The alliance views gun violence as a public health emergency and aims to improve literacy and family stability through social services.
- Potential closure of Rawlings and Foster Elementary Schools has raised concerns about hindering economic development in East Gainesville.
The Gainesville City Commission directed staff to continue toward implementation of its five-year strategic plan for gun violence prevention on Thursday and expressed concerns about the potential of multiple elementary schools to close.
The city formed the Community Gun Violence Prevention Alliance last year with Alachua County and Santa Fe College. The alliance then hired DPI LLC to create a strategic plan for the next five years. That plan includes objectives, an analysis of strengths and weaknesses, implementation ideas and next steps.
The plan recommends that the alliance create an implementation roadmap that sets deadlines and responsibilities for objectives over the next five years…