A.G. Gancarski
Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry is expected to address the City Council Tuesday evening, and the subject will be 2016-300, the ordinance setting an August referendum for the pension tax.
Council won’t be a hard sell. The entire Council co-sponsored the resolution authorizing Curry to explore the referendum ahead of the 2016 legislative session, and the referendum bill, introduced by the mayor’s office, is co-sponsored by the leading Democrat on Council, John Crescimbeni, and the Chamber’s man on Council, Republican Aaron Bowman.
Curry told our Melissa Ross on her radio show Monday that he would be pushing the plan, along with “surrogates,” throughout Jacksonville ahead of the August 30 referendum vote. A measure of Curry’s commitment to sell the idea: that was his first appearance on Ross’ show since his election as mayor.
So far, most public officials have been enthusiastic about the pension tax referendum, with only one notable candidate voicing a note of discord.
HD 14 candidate Kim Daniels told FloridaPolitics.com earlier this month that she estimates that 85 percent of the reaction she’s heard is negative in the Northwest Jacksonville district where she is running a campaign.
Curry may have his toughest sell in NW Jacksonville for the pension tax referendum.
Polling on this issue, thus far, has been elusive on the public side. However, a reasonable expectation is that Curry’s political advisors, including Tim Baker and Brian Hughes, have sophisticated metrics that they are gauging, and that arguments and approaches will be tailored to going forward.
