A.G. Gancarski
Changes may be in store for the beleaguered management of Jacksonville’s Hemming Park.
A meeting on the “Future Plans of Hemming Park” is to take place Wednesday in the office suite of Jacksonville’s City Council.
The meeting will include CFO Mike Weinstein and Chief of Staff Kerri Stewart from the mayor’s office, as well as Daryl Joseph, Jake Gordon of Downtown Vision, Aundra Wallace of the Downtown Investment Authority, and Vince Cavin, CEO of Friends of Hemming Park.
Last month, committees in Jacksonville City Council debated, and approved, $250,000 for a stage, money to be defrayed with a private sponsorship.
However, a day before the Tuesday council meeting, the Florida Times-Union reported that Hemming Park was out of money and needed operating capital.
From there, a fractious public notice meeting and a contentious council discussion followed. Hemming Park got $100,000 to fund operations through the first part of August.
That said, Cavin raised doubts even before that allocation that $100,000 would be enough.
“Friends — how many of us have them?” Whodini wondered that in the 1980s. And the Friends of Hemming Park may wonder that about Council.
