A.G. Gancarski
The Jacksonville District 2 City Council race continues to get more interesting by the day. First there was Lisa King, the Democrat who made the runoff, trolling Republican Al Ferraro in an attempt to get him to debate. Now, in the wake of third-place finisher Jack Daniels endorsing his fellow Republican, King alleges that Daniels might not be above trying to get a little liquidity in exchange for his endorsement.
This scathing prepared statement should be read in full:
Jack Daniels is a character out of central casting – a grifter always looking for his next mark. He conned city workers to join his start-up union. They figured him out when he failed to get them a contract. So Jack set his sights on elected office. Voters figured him out quick. Jack’s had at least seven failed candidacies in districts all over the City. He flouted the law in those runs, unless of course you define an RV as a residence. Jack touts himself as a businessman but is behind on his property taxes. It looks like he found his newest mark in Al Ferraro. Jack wanted $5,000 from me for his endorsement; I hope Al got a better deal.
Daniels, who raised less than $8,000 for his race, somehow got 27 percent of the vote … probably because Jose Cuervo wasn’t involved to split the vote. I had talked to Ferraro about the endorsement before hearing from King, and he asserts that “no money was offered. I don’t play those games of bribery.”
“He drew a good portion of the vote,” Ferraro said. “When they offer an endorsement, you take it.”
When I asked Ferraro about the process, he said that the two didn’t get to know each other during the election. Afterward, though, they met at the polling place, and then “had a phone call” that went as smooth as Tennessee whiskey, where they “talked a little bit, and we had more in common than I thought,” including “seeing eye to eye on the finances of the city.”
Jack told him that he thought Ferraro could “do a good job.” With that in mind, Al asked him to come over and be part of the team on Wednesday night. The two Republicans are still figuring out the working relationship.
“It’s so new right now, we’re still kicking it around,” Ferraro said. “We’re going to look at strengths and go from there.”
King’s critiques don’t stop with the endorsement, however. She claims that Ferraro has been less than forthcoming about his mailers.
“Al made a big point in one of his mailers that the only endorsements he cares about are from individual voters (even though one of the people he featured doesn’t live in the district — and most of them are clients of his lawn service). How his tune has changed. Must be influence of Mr. Nealis,” a defeated Council candidate in the First Election against Aaron Bowman who has been accompanying Ferraro to events of late.
For his part, Daniels told the The Florida Times-Union that Ferraro is “a really hard worker, and I think he’d be a very good person to be a council person.”
Beyond the Daniels endorsement, Ferraro also got the endorsement of outgoing Council President Clay Yarborough this week.
