A.G. Gancarski
The political symbiosis of Florida Governor Rick Scott and Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry yet again was demonstrated when the two men held a joint Thursday afternoon presser at Citibank in Jacksonville’s fast-growing Bartram Park neighborhood.
Both men, along with Jaguars owner Shad Khan, spoke at the Enterprise Florida event on Thursday morning.
The subject at Citibank: job creation.
Citibank will bring 500 new jobs to Jacksonville in the next twelve months.
Scott, who committed during the campaign to bring 700,000 jobs to Florida in the next seven years, asserted that “we’ll get to one million jobs in the next four or five months.”
Scott spoke glowingly of Curry, the City Council members in attendance, and Jax Chamber Chair Daniel Davis.
Lenny Curry, meanwhile, had nothing but positive things to say about Governor Scott, pointing out that when he decided to run in 2009, he was an unknown corporate executive.
His let’s get to work slogan, Curry said, was a “bold statement that he delivered on.”
“I love showing up where Rick Scott is,” Curry quipped, “because that means jobs have been created.”
Florida, Curry said, “has been branded as being open for business,” and Jacksonville is no exception.
Davis, meanwhile, spoke of this being a “transformational” time in Jacksonville, adding that “over the next five years, the community is going to transform.”
During the mayoral campaign, much was made of the relationship between Scott and former mayor Alvin Brown. When the governor was asked about the difference between working with the two mayors, he spoke of the personal relationship that he and Curry have.
“The mayor and I have worked together the last six years. I know Molly and the kids,” said the governor, who described Curry as working very hard to make Jacksonville the #1 place in the country to get a job.
