Staff Reports
These are settled political times in Jacksonville City Hall, the most in some time.
With all but five City Council elections wrapped up, Mayor Lenny Curry waltzed to re-election, undeterred by the lack of challenge offered by opponents and their surrogates.
In the end, the critique was weak: “Which such low turnout, there isn’t a mandate.”
Caveats aside, the Mayor’s Office has the players it wants in place. The City Council will be friendly and “aligned.”
The donor class is in sync. They are yoked to the Mayor.
Some grouse, of course, but are they the central players in this Mayor’s perception?
Curry is looking to make a legacy play these next four years. The goal is to do what is practicable to fulfill the “One City One Jacksonville” vision/branding.
Will Northwest Jacksonville look like the Town Center in the next four years? That’s not in the cards. There are real structural problems in Jacksonville, such as neighborhoods without the spending power to support essential services.
The Mayor’s Office can’t fix that.
The bet that is happening: bringing in economic activity, such as downtown development, is key to creating the kind of tax base that allows Jacksonville to move forward.
The Better Jacksonville Plan is poised, at this writing, to be paid off closer to 2027 than 2030. This means that the city will be able to dedicate that half-cent sales tax to the pension paydown.
All this happens, of course, against a national backdrop of looming uncertainty. It will be interesting to see what Curry —having as much political juice as he could want — will do to fulfill his vision as time runs off the clock.
Catch fire
The federal Department of Housing and Urban Development reached a settlement with property owners over a fire at a senior housing high-rise in 2017.
WJCT reports that to “avoid court proceedings, Jacksonville Elderly Tower I Limited Partnership, its general partner Jacksonville Elderly Tower I GP and management company Cambridge Management Inc. agreed to pay HUD $75,000 in administrative fees.”
The fire displaced 250 residents. Five residents were injured, and investigation revealed chronic and unresolved issues with the fire pump and sprinkler system.
Breaking it down, each resident’s inconvenience was worth a few hundred dollars in “administrative fees.” What remains is how much of that will go to compensate residents for mental anguish.
Oh, Wilbur
Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross likely has not elicited a prettier paragraph than this lede from the Fernandina Observer.
“Under bright skies with light breezes, elected officials, business and port representatives assembled on the lawn of the Port’s former Quartermaster House, 501 N. 3rd Street in Fernandina Beach in the early afternoon of March 29, 2019, to welcome U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, who was visiting to promote economic development, opportunity zones, and increasing exports of agricultural and other products through the Port.”
Some might have called Ross “late” to the event.
Not the Observer. He was “running slightly behind schedule.”
The wait was worth it.
Ross lauded the port and Florida in general in his remarks, “terming the city of Fernandina Beach a gem.”
He vowed to endorse the port’s M-95 application, which would help the port improve its ability to export. Almost 70 percent of the port’s cargo is export.
Peanut pride
Sen. Marco Rubio gave some spotlight to a Jacksonville peanut company, naming the Sunshine Peanut Company the U.S. Senate Small Business of the Week.
“Founded in 2005, Sunshine Peanut Company is Florida’s only peanut butter producer and processes more than 10 million pounds of peanut butter every year. Sunshine Peanut Company completes every phase of production, from roasting to packing, entirely in-house,” Rubio said.
Don’t expect to see the brand in stores though.
“Sunshine Peanut Company sells its peanut butter to schools, prisons and jails. But their work with the Florida Department of Corrections goes far beyond just peanut butter,” Rubio said.
See the video message here.
TODAY: Chairman @marcorubio names Sunshine Peanut Company as the Senate Small Business of the Week. pic.twitter.com/6zcTcbeFrh
— Senate Small Biz (@SmallBizCmte) April 1, 2019
Cordial, so far
Sen. Travis Hutson, vying to lead the Republican caucus in 2002, characterized the race with Sen. Kathleen Passidomo as “cordial” thus far.
“I think it is a very tight race between the two of us. I think at the end of the day, her and I will work this out,” Hutson told News Service of Florida reporter Ana Ceballos this week.
“We have not had other presidential fights like you have seen in the past where there’s finger-pointing, jabbing and elbows being thrown. We are very cordial every day when we see each other. Big hugs, how are you doing and talking about our families,” Hutson said.
“It is not the knockdown drag-out fights that you’ve seen before, but at the same time we are locked dead on a lot of the issues and at the end of the day we are going to figure this out over a nice cordial dinner. I couldn’t ask for anybody better as a friend and adversary at this time,” Hutson added.
Hutson talks other pressing issues, including sunscreen bans, here.
Fang bill clears Senate
On Wednesday, the Senate approved a bill that would ratchet up protections for police and correctional dogs and horses.
SB 96, sponsored by Jacksonville Republican Sen. Aaron Bean, would render targeting or killing a canine used in public safety functions a second-degree felony. Those targeting horses, meanwhile, would be subject to a third-degree felony charge.
The inspiration for the bill came in September when a suspect shot and killed Fang, a 3-year-old Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office K-9 officer.
Federal legislation has protected police dogs since 2000. And other states have mulled similar legislation.
In 2018, Utah moved a bill that, like Bean’s proposal, made killing a police dog a second-degree felony. South Carolina likewise moved to enhance penalties for these crimes.
The United Kingdom is likewise exploring harsher penalties for these crimes.
The House bill is on the calendar (HB 67) and is also poised to pass.
Death not the end
All indications are that, at least for this year, Rep. Kim Daniels’ push to make sure every Florida public high school student had access to Bible classes is dead.
The bill stalled out in House committees, and had no Senate companion.
HB 195 would have required high schools — rather than permit, as is the case now — to offer an “objective study of … the Old and New Testaments of the Bible.”
And also the Hebrew Scripture.
Given Daniels’ recent record of getting similar bills through, one might have expected more traction.
She certainly did when she skipped the first day of the Legislative Session to record spots for the Christian Broadcasting Network‘ news division.
The TV hits were a big deal for Daniels. According to an aide, days before the appearances, Daniels was already “fasting and praying” to prep.
No matter. Not this year.
Expect the bill to return this coming year.
And don’t be surprised if Daniels, should she ascend to Audrey Gibson’s Senate post, would carry it there too.
Get well soon
Speaking of Gibson, a note of encouragement to get better soon for the Senate Minority Leader after a spill this week at the Capitol.
Gibson slipped on wet steps and fell.
She suffered some bruising and sprains, got a few stitches, but was back to work Tuesday morning in a Senate committee.
Gibson, a Jacksonville Democrat, is in her first year leading her party’s caucus.
Can’t-miss
That’s the optimistic assessment of a prominent economist, via the Jacksonville Daily Record.
“Industrial is about as close to a can’t miss as there is in the commercial real estate industry,” said Kevin Thorpe of Cushman and Wakefield.
Jacksonville is especially on point. Industrial vacancies: 2.3 percent, the third-lowest among America’s Top 50 markets.
Thorpe expects Jacksonville’s port and railroad system to continue driving growth.
Ryan’s hope
In a surprise to cynics citywide, JEA bucked Shad Khan and his proposal to build the new headquarters at the stadium’s Lot J. Instead, they went with a plan with the Ryan Companies to build on Adams Street in the heart of downtown.
“Throughout the entire headquarters identification process, our goal was to find the best value for JEA, its employees, its customers and the community,” said JEA Board Chairman Alan Howard. “I’m proud of the organized manner in which we evaluated each location’s merit using JEA’s customer, financial, community and environmental value measures as our guide. This is a transformational opportunity for JEA and the Jacksonville community it serves. The Board looks forward to reviewing the final negotiated lease.”
“With the conclusion of this very deliberate and meticulous process of selecting a site and potential development partner for JEA’s new downtown headquarters, we will continue to look to provide a new headquarters for JEA that will save our customers several million dollars compared to the status quo of remaining in the existing building. Additionally, it will provide a stable base of operations for JEA employees while allowing us to focus 100 percent on serving our customers. The JEA Board vote reflects the company’s commitment to driving all four (4) of JEA’s Corporate Measures of Value — Customer Value, Financial Value, Environmental Value and Community Impact Value,” said Aaron Zahn, JEA managing director and CEO.
JEA has spent $8 million on building maintenance in the last decade, per the media release.
From TV to Suite 400
A familiar face for Jacksonville television viewers, Nikki Kimbleton, is about to assume a new role: Curry’s head of public affairs.
“This is a crucial role and requires extensive communications experience, and also a passion and love for our city,” Curry said. “Nikki’s positive attitude and history of listening and addressing people’s needs in the community complements my own vision for One City/One Jacksonville. I am excited to welcome her to my team.”
Kimbleton said that “joining Mayor Curry’s staff when so many exciting things are happening within the city is a dream come true. Under Mayor Curry’s leadership, I truly believe Jacksonville’s brightest days are in front of us. I look forward to the journey ahead.”
Almost to the day Kimbleton left the airwaves on WJXT-4, she established herself as a Curry backer, giving to his political committee (as we reported exclusively).
“I should’ve thought twice,” Preede-Kimbleton said regarding the timing.
However, she didn’t regret the donation.
And she certainly doesn’t at the moment.
Kimbleton will replace Marsha Oliver, who left the Mayor’s Office earlier this year for the private sector.
Game on
Jacksonville sports journalism fixture Sam Kouvaris offered a sympathetic treatment Curry’s fixation with sports this week.
Curry, like former Mayor Jake Godbold, brands heavily around sports. Curry is the Jaguars’ 54th man on the team plane, and Godbold pulled out all the stops to get the NFL to notice Jacksonville in his two terms.
It’s more than money, Curry says.
“The economic piece is important; these events drive bed tax, sales tax, they’re huge economic engines … But for me, sports is part of my ‘One City, One Jacksonville’ effort in the next four years.”
“We put $150 million in the budget for infrastructure,” he noted. “And a lot of that is for sports and recreation.”
“We feel a sense of urgency,” he said. “You’ll see some pretty aggressive stuff. My first year in office we got Daily’s Place done right away.”
Record exempt
Murder was the case, but the Florida Times-Union reports that it’s harder to find out who actually got killed.
The issue: Marsy’s Law, passed via constitutional amendment in November. The law requires protection of victim identities.
This creates challenges, per T-U scribe Andrew Pantazi.
“Police will no longer identify a crime’s location if it happens at a victim’s address, and the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office crime map shows no new local crimes since Friday. While Florida had long had records laws that are more transparent than other states, that changed when voters overwhelmingly approved Amendment Six.”
Victims are now “record exempt.”
Hero bus driver saves child
Jacksonville Transportation Authority driver George Brooks is being hailed as a hero for saving a child on his route.
“I was driving down Commonwealth and Superior, and I [saw] a little baby about 2 or 3 years old standing in the middle of the (driveway),” Brooks told News4Jax.
Brooks, a six-year veteran of the agency, couldn’t believe that the child was outside alone.
“As I approached, the baby was standing there by himself looking at me like, ‘I’m not going to move. I’m not coming out.’ It shocked me at first, and I know kids be out playing. It shocked me and I was scared and I was frightened.”
Despite his fear, Brooks took action as cars began passing the little boy.
“I just stopped the bus and jumped out of my seat and ran and grabbed the little baby,” he continued. “There were cars passing by, and right as I grabbed the little baby, a car came down the street really fast so it would’ve been a disaster.”
While he did save the child from danger, Brooks insists he’s not a hero.
“I’m not a hero,” he said. “I’m just here to do what God wants me to do, and I’m just his servant and do what he asked me to do.”
Officials have not identified the child’s parents.
Jags add free agents
The free agent signing period continues to move along with the Jaguars addressing several needs. While most of the attention remains on new quarterback Nick Foles, the team worked to fortify the offensive line and create depth at the running back position.
Jacksonville hopes star running back Leonard Fournette can stay on the field this season, but with a history of injuries, the front office signed running back Alfred Blue from Houston and most recently Bennie Cunningham from Chicago.
Neither were stars for their former teams but look to play a bigger role in the Jacksonville offense. Cunningham was a former teammate of Foles when both played with the Rams.
“I can’t wait to call Nick, talk to him and catch up,” Cunningham said.
Blue is projected to be Fournette’s primary backup, but Cunningham is expected to see extensive action on offense or with special teams, where he spent most of his time in Chicago.
The most significant improvement to the Jaguars offensive line will be the return of left tackle Cam Robinson from injury. While Jacksonville did not sign any immediate starters, they added depth all along the line.
Coming in is right tackle Cedric Ogbuehi from Cincinnati, who is currently behind Will Richardson. Along with re-signing tight end James O’Shaughnessy, the Jags lured Dallas tight end Geoff Swaim.
Head Coach Doug Marrone said the off-season moves are putting the pieces into the plan designed to return the Jaguars to the team they were in 2017.
“You are always looking to get better, and you are adding people, and you are talking about positions where you may not have someone that you are comfortable with, or you may have to replace someone,” Marrone said. “You are doing these things, and as you are going through this process, you feel good because you always feel you are working to get better.”
