Jacksonville Bold for 3.26.17 – Focal Point

In the last seven days, Jacksonville has been — if not the center of the political world — at least a focal point.

The Vice President came through to sell health care reform.

The Governor came with him and came back two days later to upbraid local members of the Florida House for Enterprise Florida.

And a candidate for Governor, Andrew Gillum, came to town — and FloridaPolitics.com had the exclusive story on that visit, in which he attempted a herculean task of appealing to Jacksonville’s entire Democratic base.

Enough preamble — let’s get to it.

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VP Pence, local and state leaders against Obamacare

Saturday saw Vice-President Mike Pence in town with Rep. John Rutherford, Gov. Scott, and Mayor Lenny Curry (just before Hizzoner took the kids on a spring break trip).

The message was unified: repeal and replace Obamacare with the Affordable Health Care Act.

“Florida’s actually a textbook example of what’s wrong with Obamacare,” Pence said, citing premiums up 19 percent year over year.

“Florida can’t afford Obamacare anymore,” Pence said, drawing applause.

Referring to the business hosting the event, Pence noted that hundreds of thousands of dollars that could have been spent was spent otherwise trying to comply with this “failed” law.

“The core flaw of Obamacare was this notion … you could order every American to buy health insurance whether they need it or not,” Pence said.

Pence advocated block grants to the states, a Scott proposal, while also discussing tying a work requirement to health insurance.

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Rick Scott disses Duval delegation

Vote against Enterprise Florida or Visit Florida, and bet that the governor will make you famous.

This happened Monday in Jacksonville when Scott came to town to upbraid five members of the Duval Delegation for voting against Enterprise Florida in the House.

“You’ve got House members in this part of the state that said they want to completely shut down Enterprise Florida. Jason Fischer, Clay Yarborough, Kimberly Daniels, Cord Byrd, Tracie Davis — they want to shut down Enterprise Florida after all that success. And all those members — except Davis — want to change Visit Florida so it doesn’t work, tie its hands,” Scott said.

Scott has a political committee he can use to make these points if he wants to. And he might. Those familiar with his thinking suggest that any race for Senate won’t even have to launch this year.

After all, he’s already on TV.

Meanwhile, Americans for Prosperity is sending out mailers thanking legislators for their votes against letting “government pick winners and losers.”

A Jacksonville mail drop is scheduled, we hear.

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What we’re hearing

On a scale of 1-10 — with 10 being the highest — unease in Jacksonville’s City Hall over the performance of the Duval Delegation this session is around an 8.

Despite an aggressive push from local leaders, including Curry, all but one member of the House Delegation voted against Enterprise Florida this month.

And that one member, Jay Fant, isn’t carrying appropriations bills … and appears to be more interested in running for Attorney General than in running for re-election.

The biggest ask this session for Jacksonville comes from Travis Cummings.

The Orange Park Republican wants $15M for a septic tank phaseout.

Even if it gets through the legislature, expect a Rick Scott veto.

Recall that Scott buried Cummings for voting to spike Enterprise Florida earlier in the month.

On the bright side, at least Kim Daniels is getting her bill to protect “religious expression in public schools” through the House, having passed another panel Thursday.

A question worth asking: will prayer fill potholes, phase out septic tanks, or rework the off ramps from the Hart Bridge?

Hasn’t worked yet.

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Sunday in Jacksonville for Andrew Gillum

Perhaps his bracket was already busted. Or he just wants to be Florida’s next governor. In any event, Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum spent Sunday in Jacksonville.

Gillum made several stops: Bethel Baptist, a local church; and a fundraiser toward the end of the day.

However, his best quotes came from an afternoon stop at an “urban farm” in New Town, when he got real about felon re-enfranchisement.

“I’ve got brothers who have lost their rights. They’ve committed wrongs, and they have to pay the penalty for that. When they got back out and started trying to reintegrate into society, it was very difficult for them to find a job,” Gillum said.

“I’ve got some real entrepreneurial brothers. But actually, it’s survival. If they had a choice, they’d probably be working somewhere with somebody making a decent, honorable wage to take care of themselves and their families. But because door after door after door got shut to them, they had to create a way for themselves,” Gillum said.

“And that meant, for my brother Chuck who lives here in town, opening up a car wash. And going around with his mobile detailing unit and power-washing businesses and cars and sidewalks, and hiring other former felons,” Gillum said, emotion driving his voice.

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Governor touts Jacksonville jobs numbers

The Jacksonville area added 17,900 private sector jobs between January 2016 and January 2017, earning praise from Gov. Scott.

“Our work to create a business-friendly environment has paid off in Jacksonville as nearly 18,000 new jobs have been added in the last year. We will continue fighting to grow business and strengthen Florida’s economy so that every Floridian can find a great job in our state.”

The jobs data are part of a cooperative release between the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity.

The numbers show Jacksonville’s labor force grew by 22,000 workers over the year to 736,550, while total employment grew by 17,900 jobs to 698,589.

Education and health services added 4,800 of the new jobs, followed by the transportation, trade and utilities sector with 3,100 new jobs.

That leaves the area with a 5.2 percent unemployment rate at the beginning of 2017, compared to a 4.9 percent rate a year ago. Duval County had a 5.4 percent unemployment rate, while Nassau had a 5.1 percent rate and St. Johns had a 4.3 percent rate.

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Jacksonville is a Prime location

Even with existential worries about the potential death of Enterprise Florida, there is still some good job creation news via the Jacksonville Daily Record.

Amazon seeks to open a third fulfillment center in Duval, adding to its delivery station.

This is a win for Jacksonville job seekers. A win for Amazon Prime members. And a win, in aggregate, for the local economy.

“Upon the completion of the four centers, including the sortation operation, Amazon would be using 3.7 million square feet of space in Jacksonville,” the Daily Record reports, creating 2,900 jobs starting this fall.

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Curry’s homeless problem

Will Curry attend the ICARE Nehemiah Assembly Monday? The answer is no.

There is strong evidence that ICARE’s strong-arm tactics irk the mayor, where the group essentially implores politicians to do something until they relent.

Last year, Curry told the group that he couldn’t fund a homeless day resource center, because without pension reform in the books, the budget was too tight.

Since then, changes: the August referendum passed, allowing access to a future sales tax to fund the current unfunded pension liability, pending unions signing off on new pension plans.

Verily, that has come to pass.

Curry has been getting pressure from the likes of Gary Chartrand, a key supporter, to fund the center.

Curry won’t be there to hear ICARE’s arguments, however, casting the future of the facility in doubt for the next budget cycle.

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Jacksonville Zoo ‘ExZOOberation’

The Jacksonville Zoo will hold a fundraiser April 8 that will include food, dancing, a silent auction, and other activities.

The casual, adult fundraiser kicks off at 7 p.m., with a VIP experience including keeper talks, music, cocktails, and appetizers to be held an hour before the main event.

VIP tickets start at $125 for the 35-and-under crowd and are partially tax deductible. Funds raised during ‘ExZOOberation’ will benefit the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens.

Ticket and event organization, including a preview of items up for grabs during the silent auction, is available on the Zoo’s website.

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JAXPORT gets visit from newest vehicle carrier, awards scholarship to UNF student

JAXPORT served as a stopping point for the newest U.S.-flagged pure car and truck carrier, the Liberty Passion, last week.

The 450-car capacity vessel, operated by Liberty Global Logistics of Lake Success, New York, stopped to load cargo from Blount Island and other ports for transport to the Mediterranean, Middle East and Far East.

Also, JAXPORT awarded University of North Florida student Beatrize Gomez a $2,500 scholarship for logistics studies at UNF’s Coggin College of Business.

“A skilled workforce is one of our strengths in attracting top companies to do business through Jacksonville,” said JAXPORT interim CEO Eric Green during a personal visit with the scholarship winner. “By investing in future, dynamic transportation and logistics leaders such as Beatrize, we are ensuring the region’s continued economic vitality and competitiveness.”

Beatrize, who was born and raised in Belize, came to Jacksonville in 2014 to study at UNF. During her time at the university, she has distinguished herself academically and has stood for UNF at the 2016 Intermodal Association of North America Expo and Student Challenge.

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Spotted:

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$11M airport maintenance facility, $8M Greyhound terminal ready for permitting 

The Jacksonville Aviation Authority is ready to start building an $11 million maintenance facility this fall at the Jacksonville International Airport.

“The new facility will bring much-needed upgrades and capabilities for the maintenance department that are not being met in the current building, which was constructed in the late ‘60s, early ‘70s,” said spokeswoman Debbie Jones.

The city is reviewing the permit for the new building, which is planned to be a 47,410-square-foot enclosed building with 20,368 square feet of unenclosed space at 14201 Pecan Park Road.

The city is also reviewing an application for Balfour Beatty Construction to build an $8 million, 9,661-square-foot intercity bus terminal new Greyhound Bus Lines terminal downtown.

When built, the Greyhound facilities at Bay and Pearl streets will move. The new terminal is the first part of the Jacksonville Transportation Authority’s $33 million Regional Transportation Center.

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JU submits plans for campus at SunTrust Tower

Jacksonville University has submitted plans for renovating the 18th floor of the SunTrust Tower for use as a downtown campus.

According to a permit application filed last week, the 12,280-square-foot floor will include four classrooms, offices, conference space, collaboration rooms, open cubicles, IT workspace and a kitchen.

Emerald C’s Development Inc. will helm the $120,000 renovation.

JU spokesman Philip Milano says the new space will be used for graduate-level classes in the Brooks Rehabilitation College of Healthcare Sciences, and in the future, it may also be used for classes in the Davis College of Business.