A.G. Gancarski
This week, the Jax Daily Record, via a News Service of Florida story, advanced in print a meme that local reporters had discussed on Twitter: Lenny Curry as CFO.
The Daily Record then moved the story forward, abetted by Atwater’s aide discouraging this outlet from asking him about the prospects of Curry as CFO on Monday when he was in town.
Atwater told the Daily Record that Curry “should be in the mix.”
Curry’s political consultant, Brian Hughes, told the Daily Record what he told other media: Curry “is enjoying and 100 percent committed to being mayor of Jacksonville.”
With Curry having an interesting week of narrative (a tentative pension deal with public safety unions on Saturday, and a resolution of the HRO issue on Tuesday), would the mayor make news for a third time this week by officially throwing in for the CFO gig?
Or would he commit to serving his full term, taking him out of the discussion to replace Atwater, either as a gubernatorial appointment or as an active candidate in 2018?
Curry, as is his wont when asked such questions, refused to “deal in hypotheticals.”
“This rumor started — I assume it started because of the success that I’ve had — frankly, that my team has had — over the last year and a half. When we set goals, we strive to achieve them and we get them done.
Being in the CFO discussion, said Curry, is a “compliment not only to me but to my team.”
“I love this job and I plan on being Mayor of Jacksonville. I’ve got a lot of work to do,” Curry added.
When asked if he would definitively rule out an appointment to finish Atwater’s term, or a run for statewide office, the mayor avoided a firm commitment.
“I don’t deal in hypotheticals. I’m not pursuing anything. I haven’t talked to anyone. I’ve got a job here to do. I don’t deal in hypotheticals, but I’m the mayor of Jacksonville. I love this job and you’re going to continue to see big issues attacked, problems solved, and opportunities capitalized on in Jacksonville,” Curry said.
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When asked about not signing the HRO into law, the mayor cited his position that he did “not believe that legislation was necessary” after signing his departmental directive in 2016 to protect LGBT city employees and city contractor employees from workplace discrimination.
“I still hold that view. But the city council is the legislative body. Last night, they took up the issue … and it got a supermajority vote. They demonstrated their will … Republicans and Democrats, council people from all over this city,” Curry continued.
“It’s law without my signature, and we’re moving on,” Curry said. “It’s closed. It’s over.”
Notable: the mayor spent the evening of Valentine’s Day eating fondue with his wife. While he saw part of the meeting, his viewing stopped when dinner was ready. However, his team was ready to move — and did.
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Regarding the pension deal struck Saturday, Curry noted that his team knew it was a “one step at a time process.”
“The next steps are membership and city council,” the mayor said, billing the deal a “victory for taxpayers and a victory for public safety employees.”
It offers security, said Curry, regarding “the promises that were made” to public safety employees, while “[putting] our city on a future of financial stability versus the debt that was incurred long before we got here.”
Curry described his pension reform as unique, in that it’s the only reform advanced with a dedicated source of revenue (the promise of a future half-cent sales tax).
“It’s the only reform that solves this problem with finality,” Curry said, noting that “previous reforms … didn’t solve [that] problem” of revenue surfeit.
“The days of task forces on these issues and not solving big problems and big issues are over,” the mayor added.
