Residency not an issue in Rose Conry bid for Jax City Council

There are fifteen months until the election, yet mud has already begun to fly in a Jacksonville City Council race.

In Council District 6, where Republicans Michael Boylan and Rose Conry are vying to replace termed-out Republican Matt Schellenberg, questions have emerged about Conry’s recent move to Mandarin.

While that is technically true, a spokesman for the Conry campaign explained the very real caveats.

She had moved from Jacksonville to Orange Park to care for her dying mother, the spokesman said, and she moved back to Mandarin several months ago, after helping her mother through her final days.

Conry is and has been a JaxChamber board member throughout the whole period and also has maintained her StaffTime business.

Worth noting: the narrative emerged not from a supporter of Boylan, who filed his papers this week, but from a Republican with connections to the district.

This is the first — but definitely not the last — bit of narrative that will emerge about this race.

Expect that Boylan’s tenure at WJCT, where he has served as president and CEO for years, will come under scrutiny before it’s all over.

Also expect that at least one other serious Republican candidate will run for this seat.

Conry, who filed in October, had $18,675 cash on hand on the most recent campaign finance report.

Boylan’s first report will be available in December.