A.G. Gancarski
“Tell Lenny JEA is not for sale”: the latest digital ad from Florida Committee for Infrastructure Investment.
The spot, which will have a $5,000+ ad buy, began airing Monday on digital channels and Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, per the press release.
The spot weaves together a narrative from local media accounts, charging Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry with attempting to move forward with a sale of Jacksonville’s public utility in spite of a declared agnosticism to the topic beyond a “mature conversation” about the value of the “asset.”
“Everyone connected with the sale is also closely connected to the mayor,” asserts the copy. “According to a city auditor, Curry’s administration has been working behind your back preparing for a sale.”
A local union head expressed the rationale for the spot.
“While Lenny Curry continues to say that he is not a proponent of selling JEA, his actions are not matching his words. Our ad simply connects the dots based on evidence provided by local media. We do hope that the Mayor will listen to the will of the people and stop this push to sell JEA,” asserts D. Jason Baber, Vice President of the Professional Employees Association.
“While we understand it takes a vote of council to actually sell JEA, we are asking that the Mayor as the leader of this city publicly end what we believe he started. We are asking that he publicly come out and say he is against the sale of JEA,” Baber adds. “If he is unwilling to do this, we know he and any candidate he supports wishes to sell JEA against the will of the people.”
Local unions released a statement opposing the exploration of a sale of the utility last week; this week, they continue pushing the narrative.
It remains to be seen if this will ultimately affect Curry’s re-election bid, however. The Mayor has no credible opposition and raised $1.5 million in campaign funds in March, his first month as a filed candidate.
