A.G. Gancarski
Matt Schellenberg spent Monday afternoon courting support for an expected runoff scenario in the Jax Council VP race, including a scheduled meeting with Tommy Hazouri, who had already pledged to Aaron Bowman
Schellenberg had already criticized Bowman, a fellow Republican, for a] running too early in his term and b] perhaps not having enough “independence” from the Jax Chamber.
Schellenberg and Hazouri have an extended shared history. Hazouri, when Mayor, put Schellenberg on the Keep Jacksonville Beautiful committee. Time has passed since Hazouri was mayor, however. Hazouri’s main interactions with Schellenberg have been on the Rules Committee, which Schellenberg chairs.
Their interactions have been fractious, at times. Especially during the Rules debate to remove Lisa King and Joey McKinnon from the Planning Commission, when Hazouri, who objected with the assertion of prerogative to remove people midterm from independent boards, repeatedly squabbled with Schellenberg over the way he was running that meeting.
Those who contend that partisanship is not part of local politics would be well-advised to review that hot mess of a committee meeting.
Another interesting wrinkle: Hazouri, the sponsor of a Human Rights Ordinance expansion, has been lambasted and libeled by some who brand themselves as social conservatives, including Raymond Johnson, the anti-HRO activist best known locally for comparing the Duval Republican Executive Committee to “Nazis” and for saying that the city’s commemoration of World AIDS Day was just “coddling” AIDS victims.
Not so fun fact: Johnson has served as a political “consultant” for Schellenberg.
The Monday afternoon meeting between Schellenberg and Hazouri bristled with the adversarial tension of old acquaintances. As public notice meetings go, it was a hoot.
Schellenberg’s pitch was simple enough: if Bowman doesn’t get to 10 votes, he wanted Hazouri’s backing.
Schellenberg noted, regarding being Rules chair, that “I do move meetings” quickly, out of respect for the time of those in attendance.
“We don’t have to agree on everything,” Schellenberg said to Hazouri, saying that they can agree to disagree on issues.
Hazouri was noncommittal, saying that he would consider all candidates, and that in a four person field, there will be a runoff.
Then, Hazouri mentioned that he was backing Bowman because he was “even keeled.”
As opposed to, say, Schellenberg.
“There is a personality difference,” Hazouri said. “You are a bit arrogant from time to time.”
And more. “Not a lot of openness,” Hazouri said about Schellenberg’s style. “Sometimes it seems like it’s about power.”
Ideally, Hazouri added, Council members would like to “feel like we’re not being intimidated.”
However, Hazouri added, the intimidation has “subsided … since [Schellenberg] started running for VP.”
And, to be clear, Hazouri added: “this doesn’t have anything to do with moving an agenda” through a committee.
This is a matter of “process.”
The meeting topic of Council Leadership clearly meant something different to Schellenberg than Hazouri, as Hazouri was interested in talking about his HRO bill, an interest not mutually shared.
Schellenberg’s take: “It doesn’t bring the body together” and is “emotionally draining.”
To which Hazouri responded: “I’ve seen your vote.”
“Maybe I shouldn’t assume,” Hazouri said regarding Schellenberg’s position, “but I’m probably assuming right.”
Schellenberg said that he’d talked to people who “will remain nameless” on the other side of the issue in the years after the 2012 vote, having “great conversations about what my objections were.”
After the meeting, FloridaPolitics.com talked with Hazouri, asking him his take on the meeting and the Schellenberg candidacy.
“We’re friends,” Hazouri said, “but when I think of leadership, he’s not the first name I think of.”
