A.G. Gancarski
It’s an interesting political week in Jacksonville. And on Tuesday, Mayor Lenny Curry discussed a potpourri of current topics.
At Monday evening’s ICARE event, a consortium of local pastors upbraided Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry for not showing up to commit to a homeless day resource center.
And on Tuesday evening, expectations from the city council were that Curry’s administration would introduce 11 pieces of legislation — necessary for the enactment of pension reform.
And on Wednesday, it’s possible that a political ally — Duval County School Superintendent Nikolai Vitti — may be hired to run the school district in Detroit.
The mayor offered insight on all of the above in a gaggle setting.
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ICARE: “I’m surprised that they were surprised that I wasn’t going to be there,” Curry said.
“We communicated with them, as we do with any number of organizations, that we had a conflict last night. I wasn’t publicly available last night. I was at a baseball game with my son, my family, that was previously scheduled,” Curry added.
“I’ve had numerous meetings with ICARE, as have many members of my administration, so I was surprised they were surprised,” Curry continued.
The big policy question: is the homeless day center off the table?
“There have been a number of discussions with them on their priorities and my priorities. Some we align on. Some we’re still working through,” the mayor said.
“For example,” Curry added, “ex-offender re-entry programs. I went to Tallahassee last year and brought a significant amount of money back for that issue.”
The state appropriation last year in that category for Duval: $900,000.
“Homelessness is an issue,” Curry said, “but as you probably saw in the Times-Union today, many experts on the issue have stated concerns: did the day resource center really work?”
“We’re evaluating in a thoughtful way the best way to move forward to take care of the least of those in our community,” Curry said.
Pension reform: The mayor also addressed legislation expected to be filed Tuesday, which would allow the city council to ratify the collective bargaining agreements negotiated with unions in recent months.
And he discussed meetings with councilors, five of which are being conducted Tuesday ahead of the council meeting.
“The first thing to recognize is my gratitude to the unions,” Curry said. “Employees, police and firemen haven’t been treated well over the years. That comes to an end now with these agreements.”
“Taxpayers have been disrespected,” Curry continued. “These agreements that we’ve reached respect taxpayers and will, once and for all, stabilize our budgets.”
“Meetings with council members — we’re talking conceptually, big-picture. It’s important that we lay the information out so they can make a responsible decision. They’re all getting that information together.”
“In the weeks ahead, in a big, public, transparent workshop,” Curry continued, “we’ll be laying all of this out.”
“I would remind you that all of the collective bargaining, all of the agreements that have been reached, were done in the sunshine — transparent for the public to see.”
That workshop, slated for Apr. 6, will “lay out the budget impact and the actuarial impact … everything that council needs to make a decision will be laid out for them publicly and you’ll all have that information available for you.”
Vitti: Curry noted that Vitti is “working through what he thinks is the best option for him and for his family.”
“He’s been a strong advocate for our schools. Has been a reformer. Whatever he decides to do,” Curry said, “I’ll stand in support.”
