A.G. Gancarski
In a Friday conversation, Neil Henrichsen, chairman of the Duval County Democratic Party, rendered specific criticisms of the $90 million capital improvement deal proposed to improve the EverBank Field part of the Sports Complex, which includes, among other things, a proposed amphitheater.
Henrichsen’s take: Lenny Curry, in attempting to push through the deal via legislation last week, was guilty of “another broken promise,” similar to his pledge of “One City One Jacksonville” before engaging in a series of “political purge” actions “because of party affiliation.”
Henrichsen contends that “here’s a CPA” who while running for office promised “due diligence” on massive infrastructural projects such as this.
“That didn’t happen,” Henrichsen said, in the case of the amphitheater project.
Henrichsen was similarly dismissive of the administration contention that it’s a “quality of life” issue, rather than the kind of economic development deal that the Curry administration contends that a score card would fit.
That claim was one constructed “after the fact,” Henrichsen said, noting that no such distinction was made during the campaign.
“I go back to when Mayor Curry was running. He was going to ensure that he put his accounting skills to work.”
In this instance, Curry “failed” to do so, Henrichsen said.
Rather, charges Henrichsen, Curry “quietly” pushed legislation benefiting “one of the most significant entities” in Jacksonville, a team owned by a man whose net worth is more than $5 billion.
When asked whether he thinks Curry was attempting to “spin” the Times-Union reporter who had asked him about the score card originally, Henrichsen said the mayor was offering an “excuse for why he didn’t follow through on a campaign commitment” and was “avoiding taking responsibility.”
Curry’s motivation? In part, Henrichsen says, the $25,000 Shad Khan contributed to Build Something That Lasts in October.
Meanwhile, Henrichsen also had strong words for Curry’s charge, made at this weekend’s Sunshine Summit in Orlando, that the administration of Alvin Brown had installed its “cronies in at the highest level of government.”
“If anyone is engaged in cronyism,” said Henrichsen, it’s Curry, who has appointed donors to various positions on boards and commissions.
For Henrichsen, the “correlation” between donations and appointments is unmistakable.
