A.G. Gancarski
Going into Tuesday, John Crescimbeni led Doyle Carter in the pledge race to be Jacksonville City Council vice president seven-to-five.
Both candidates had scheduled meetings with pledges on Tuesday. Crescimbeni with Reggie Gaffney. And, later in the day, Carter with Matt Schellenberg.
Some describe these meetings as “kabuki theater.” However, with the pledge count surprisingly close, these have become must-see TV for diehards who find the internal business of Jacksonville’s City Council as interesting as the committees and floor votes.
Consider Gaffney’s meeting with Crescimbeni a good example why — specifically, the reason that Crescimbeni couldn’t close the deal with his fellow Democrat.
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The discussion was cordial and typical for these meetings, with discussions of such inside baseball details as whether or not Crescimbeni would hire an assistant if he were council president and Crescimbeni’s thoughts on committee structure.
The meeting got real toward the end, as Gaffney revived a rumor going around about Crescimbeni that the councilman had attempted to lay to rest during a previous public notice meeting with his fellow Dems, Katrina Brown and Tommy Hazouri.
Gaffney spoke of the “Textghazi” scandal reported in the Florida Times-Union regarding the council’s curious decision to change its vote on $330,000 of allocations to safety officer salaries. “Allegedly,” Gaffney said, “the rumor was that … you called the media.”
“I had about as much to do with that as with the Kennedy assassinations,” Crescimbeni replied.
Gaffney countered there was “no proof that you did … but that’s what’s burning me.”
As Crescimbeni did when he talked with Brown and Hazouri, he urged Gaffney to consider the source.
“When that happened,” Gaffney said, “it made me take a deep breath.”
The two veteran pols reverted to pleasantries when, just as they were wrapping up, a funny thing happened.
Katrina Brown came into the room to retrieve Gaffney.
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The tally, headed into the Carter/Schellenberg meeting, was seven to five. After that meeting, it was seven to six.
Carter needs four votes to get over the hump. To that end, he will meet individually with Garrett Dennis, Reggie Gaffney, Danny Becton, and Anna Brosche in the next week.
