Lenny Curry PAC ad too hot for WJXT TV-4

Just in time for Super Bowl weekend, Lenny Curry’s “Together for a Greater Jacksonville” PAC has put out a television spot attacking Mayor Alvin Brown’s administration for fiscal mismanagement  — an ad that has drawn criticism from a local broadcaster for its inclusion of WJXT television newscasters talking about the Brown administration raising fees and taxes.

The ad claims that Alvin Brown “says one thing but does another,” regarding the increase in property taxes by 14% in 2013. The ad also claims that Brown “proposed $240 million in debt” in August of last year.

With longtime anchor Tom Wills describing the station as “caught in the crossfire” of the “first attack ad from the Mayor’s race,” WJXT ran a story during the 6:00 p.m. newscast that addressed the controversy. The reporter, Jacksonville fixture Jim Piggott, claims that because the ad was paid for by a PAC, WJXT does not have to run it. Piggott went on to claim that Curry may form another PAC to run the ad, or “another type of committee made up of several political candidates” (a tactic we’ve already seen from Brown’s side) to run the ad. Piggott then claimed that if the ad complies with federal law, the station would be “required to run the ads.”

Bob Ellis, the general manager of the News4Jax/WJXT operation, issued a statement regarding the ad.

“We expressed our displeasure to the advertising agency that produced the spot. We asked them to consider changing it. To be clear, News4Jax does not endorse any political candidates.”

WJXT is not currently running the advertisement and will not in its current form. The station, routinely the one with the best ratings in the local area, ran a story during the 6:00 p.m. newscast in which they described the soundbites used within the ad, and put those quotations in larger contexts.

The reactions of the two campaigns are yet another battle in a longstanding war of words between the Republican challenger Curry and the Democratic incumbent, Alvin Brown.

When asked about the ad on the phone this afternoon, Brian Hughes from the Curry Campaign said that the “commercial speaks for itself by clearly demonstrating that career politician Alvin Brown says one thing but does another.”

Meanwhile, Brown Deputy Campaign Manager Fabien Levy claimed that the ad was a fundamental misrepresentation of the Brown administration’s record.

“Party boss Lenny Curry is continuing the same sort of negative, partisan attacks he pushed as State Party Chair and is now lying to Jacksonville voters by covering up his support of the politicians that fought Mayor Brown to raise taxes on their own. Mayor Brown has never supported a tax increase and is the only one in this race that has looked for bipartisan solutions to solve Jacksonville’s fiscal issues.”

For months, the Brown administration has fended off attacks from Curry and Republicans on issues like tax and fee hikes and the “pension disaster.”

The Brown and Curry teams fundamentally disagree about who is responsible for the tax and fee increases that have happened in Jacksonville since 2011. Property taxes were raised, for example, by 14% in 2013 — the Brown Campaign attributes that to a City Council decision to do such to avoid deep cuts. Similarly, the Brown campaign contends that the Curry campaign misrepresents its plan to fund public pensions. Contrary to opposition claims that the Brown administration wants to borrow $240 Million to address the issue, the Administration plan involves borrowing $120 Million, with $120 Million being contributed by the Jacksonville Electric Authority, and another $61 Million from Pension Fund Reserves.

Brown has drawn on the help of prominent Republicans, such as Charlie Appleby and Matt Carlucci, in gaining bipartisan acceptance for his pension plan. As the Mayor told this writer in December, “Matt Carlucci, former City Council president, and [business executive and former JEA board member] Charlie Appleby presented the plan to JEA,” Brown told me,  and “the board unanimously approved the working framework.”