A.G. Gancarski
An old adage posits that all politics is local. It’s especially true in Jacksonville’s City Council District 7, where accusations are flying about the two remaining candidates: Democrats George Spencer and Reggie Gaffney. At the heart of it is the Rev. Ken Adkins, who made known his vigorous opposition to Corrine Brown‘s “Quick Picks” prior to the primary election.
Adkins supports Gaffney over Spencer, and has been using his personal Facebook page to promote Gaffney and levy charges at Spencer. He has trumpeted endorsements from also-ran candidates Sirretta Williams and Niki Brunson, an NPA candidate in the crowded Northside District 7 race during the First Election. Williams was involved in an altercation on the first day of Early Voting with At Large Group 1 incumbent Kimberly Daniels.
On March 30, Adkins posted a pyrotechnic Facebook item addressing the Quick Picks issue as well as smearing Spencer and U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown, predicting she would be prosecuted.
Clearly, this contest is getting heated. I asked Adkins why he thought Brown should have endorsed Gaffney.
“Corrine Brown and Reggie Gaffney have been longtime friends. Ninety-five percent of the interactions I have had with Corrine were due to Reggie Gaffney,” Adkins said, before reiterating his claims about the Quick Picks.
“I believe Quick Picks has become Quick Pay. Everybody in Jacksonville who’s aware and follows her powers understands that you have to pay to play,” he said.
I spoke to Spencer about Adkins’ allegation that the Quick Pick was a quid pro quo.
“Ken Adkins is pulling stuff out of thin air,” Spencer said about that and other claims the clergyman has made. “Why is this particular endorsement in question? I haven’t questioned any of the endorsements [made in this race]. Haven’t said [they were] corrupt.
“Adkins is not prominent in the community. Do your research on him and do it on me,” Spencer said, pointing out that in his long career as an accountant and as a lawyer, no complaint was ever filed against him.
“These type of things are games that people play to shift focus” from relevant issues, Spencer said..
Regarding his opponent, Gaffney, Spencer took the high road, though he did say his “integrity” and “clean record” made him better suited for the position.
Gaffney has been linked to the Quick Picks process in previous years. Adkins disclaimed knowledge of that.
“I’m not aware of that, but Corrine and Reggie have been extremely close,” he said, adding that Gaffney was “extremely hurt” by Brown’s endorsement of his opponent.
“They were very good friends. He saw Corrine Brown as a mother figure. Drove her around, did whatever was needed,” Adkins said. “They were friends forever.”
I asked Adkins about the charge made by some in the community that Gaffney was involved in Medicaid fraud. The pastor categorized it as a failure of management style rather than morality on the candidate’s part.
“He manned up and faced that. Employees don’t do what they’re supposed to. Reggie was the CEO; the CEO doesn’t handle billing,” Adkins said.
“He’s guilty of giving too many people a chance that don’t deserve it. You gotta find the right people. He’s learned that,” Adkins said, drawing parallels to his own experience as an ex-offender and a clergyman helping former convicts with re-entry to society.
Beyond supporting Gaffney, Adkins endorses Alvin Brown for mayor and Mike Williams for sheriff, in an interesting split ticket.
“Mike Williams has done something Lenny Curry has not. He’s reached out to the entire community,” Adkins said, describing Curry as a “little aloof” to black leaders.
“I want to see Alvin have the opportunity to finish what he started,” Adkins added, describing the mayor as a “conservative Democrat,” an assertion that runs counter to that of the Duval County Republican Party.
A couple of interesting points bear mentioning about the clergyman. This weekend, he starts a show on WBOB radio, in which he positions himself as a “black conservative” and is described in a flier as “Herman Cain and Dr. Ben Carson all rolled up into one.”
Adkins is excited by the show, saying “I think it’s a great audience for me.”
The second interesting point: in 2013, The Florida Star — a newspaper dedicated to covering the black community — published an article based on a YouTube video surreptitiously recorded by a “Michelle Ladson.” The video shows the pastor in a Brunswick, Ga., barber shop during a profanity-laced diatribe “blasting several prominent members of the community.”
Adkins described the video as a “very embarrassing moment,” and described the context of its recording at a barbershop next to his church. Essentially, he said, his ministry helped ex-offenders, and one of them was involved in a distribution-level marijuana transaction on church property, which angered him and led him to make the uncensored rant.
“Political enemies spread that video,” Adkins said, “Being a black Republican in South Georgia hasn’t earned me friends” within the community.
“I’ve said things I regret,” he said. “I don’t know if I regret saying them, but I regret the film.”
We are still waiting to hear from Gaffney.
