Office of the Ombudsman

Purpose

The purpose of the Office of the Ombudsman is to promote fairness, equity and administrative accountability through the investigation of complaints. The Office of the Ombudsman is a clearinghouse for contractual compliance, non-payment and performance issues that affect the City of Jacksonville and its residents. The office offers assistance in the resolution of problems associated with post award contractual issues, including but not limited to issues of payment and performance. Additionally, the Office of the Ombudsman helps ensure that complaints receive adequate attention by providing contractors and agencies the opportunity to be heard.

History

As a result of hearing repeated testimony regarding delays in resolving performance and payment disputes involving small and minority businesses, the Mayor's Commission on Small and Disadvantaged Businesses recommended the establishment of an ombudsman function, to hear and resolve such disputes.  The ombudsman position – a first for the City of Jacksonville – has proven to be a significant element for vendors and for the Jacksonville Small and Emerging Businesses ("JSEB") program, so much so that certain of the city's independent agencies approached the city regarding the possibility of expanding the duties of the ombudsman position to include their small and minority business programs.  As a result, the Office of the Ombudsman was established, and has proven to be a welcome addition to the City of Jacksonville.  Its role is yet another example of the city's commitment to small and minority contracting, in that it has investigated and amicably resolved several performance and payment disputes that would have otherwise caused project delays or economic hardship to several of our vendors.