A.G. Gancarski
Jacksonville Mayor Alvin Brown’s re-election campaign on Monday doubled down on its “zero tolerance” policy for Zakee Fur’qan. Campaign Manager Isaiah Nelson said the campaign plans to donate Fur’qan’s 2011 donation of $200 to the first Brown campaign.
“This individual is not a part in our campaign in any way. To ensure that is clear, we will donate the contribution from four years ago to a local charity,” Nelson said in a prepared statement.
On Friday, Florida Politics broke the story about Fur’qan’s checkered past. This past month, the Brown campaign had touted him among a group of small businessmen endorsing Brown. The campaign, however, rapidly backed away when it learned of Fur’qan’s convictons for second-degree murder and felony theft. The campaign was quick to disclaim any involvement with Fur’qan as it erased his name from the website page that promoted the endorsements.
“There were 48 business owners on this list, contributed by local community organizations,” Nelson said Friday. “Clearly, he represents exactly the kind of lawbreaker the mayor has zero tolerance for, and we condemn his actions in the strongest possible terms.”
Fur’qan has not responded to eight attempts since Friday to get his take on the Brown campaign’s distancing of itself from him.
While the Brown campaign has stressed that they’ve had no involvement with Fur’qan and that the mayor doesn’t know him, Fur’qan has had other political involvements.
One is his contribution $1,500 in 2012 to the Friends of Corrine Brown Campaign Committee. One contribution was $1,000; the other for $500.
There has been no response to efforts by telephone and email to reach the Friends of Corrine Brown and U.S. Rep. Brown’s offices in Washington and Jacksonville for comment on whether she return Fur’qan’s donations.
In addition to contributing to northeast Florida Democrats, Fur’qan has benefited from taxpayer largesse, including a $50,000 taxpayer-funded mortgage in January from the Florida Black Business Support Corp. The money conceivably could help Fur’qan resolve debts to the city, such as a $500 final judgement against him from the city of Jacksonville for a fence code violation. Documents can be found here and here.
Additionally, despite his criminal history, Fur’qan has been prominent in photo ops, such as with former State Sen. Tony Hill and State Rep. Mia Jones (on Page B-1).
