Jacksonville Bold for 8.14.24: No good options

Jacksonville, Florida, USA downtown city skyline at dusk.

ABC News recently examined Duval County voters and their potential movements in this year’s presidential election.

It was, like any other competently rendered “man on the street” piece, chock full of dissatisfied quotes.

One of them is from the longest-tenured Republican on the Jacksonville City Council.

“I’ve never seen a time when politicians run on things that aren’t really related to issues; they’re running on slogans … running on how to make the other person look so bad,” said Matt Carlucci.

“I think 60% of the country is looking for answers to real issues,” he added. “The middle doesn’t have a chance to be heard because they’re too busy taking their kids to school, going to work, paying their taxes, going to church, coaching their kids’ Little League, doing things that regular, normal, productive citizens do.”

Carlucci, who has been willing to cross party lines in a way people in Jacksonville did around the turn of the century more than today, makes an interesting point. It also applies to local politics, including in the City Council, where the most extreme voices have a disproportionate impact during public comment and where the discourse sounds more like that in national media.

For his part, Carlucci expects more movement nationally to drive out the most committed voices on either side, essentially doubling down on a scripted, toxic discourse focused on “cultural issues” rather than pocketbook concerns.

“It’ll come down to turnout — how many Democrats turn out, how many Republicans turn out — and a lot of that has to do with the excitement behind the candidate,” Carlucci told ABC News. “And with the candidates we have now … [they] will have to do everything they can to turn out their base.”

The Chair of the local Republican Party likely relishes those base plays more than Carlucci might.

“What’s made Duval County sort of this epic battleground county in America is really [that] it’s a voter registration war,” said Rep. Dean Black, who relishes partisan battles as much as any elected leader in the state.

Republicans have gotten closer to Democrats in voter registration and are now within 11,400 of catching up, which is especially interesting given just last year, the city elected a Democratic mayor.

Joe Biden carried the county in 2020, the first Democratic to accomplish that feat since Jimmy Carter in 1976. And Kamala Harris may well do the same this year.

But in some respects, Duval is not like the rest of the state, where Republicans are celebrating a 1-million-vote advantage over the opposition party. And even if Harris carries the county, she will not be so lucky in Clay, Nassau and St. Johns counties, validating base plays on the other side.

Denied!

Gov. Ron DeSantis says he “denied” a push to turn the annual football game between Georgia and Florida into a home-and-home series that would have moved it from Jacksonville, where it’s been for decades, despite the theory that UF would make more money hosting the game.

“As a conservative, I understand my job is just as much to prevent bad ideas from going into place as it is to facilitate good,” DeSantis said Friday during an appearance at “The Gathering.”

DeSantis noted that “a couple of years ago,” he “had some people come to (him) with an idea and they said, ‘Governor, we have calculated that we could make more money for the University of Florida if we moved the Florida-Georgia game from Jacksonville to a home-and-home series.'”

“And I said, you know that very well may be true, but I am not going to be the Governor that loses the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party,” DeSantis said, referring to the old nickname for the game foisted upon it back in 1958 by a former sports editor for The Florida Times-Union as a commentary on the public drinking.

As he has before, DeSantis complained about Florida’s reduced preeminence in college football, saying Georgia was “the college football center of the universe.”

Again, DeSantis complained about getting high school athletes props for leaving the state.

“I remember my first year as Governor when National Signing Day happened for the football recruits. I told my staff to ‘give me letters for all the kids. I’m going to sign (their) letters saying congratulations.’ So, they did,” DeSantis said.

“And we have a lot of great high school football in Florida, great talent. So, I’m signing these letters and reading, ‘Dear Johnny, congratulations on signing with the University of Georgia. Dear Michael, congratulations on signing with Alabama,” DeSantis added. “I’m like, wait a minute, why am I congratulating them for leaving (Florida)? We used to keep all the blue chips in-state.”

See ya in court

Rep. Corrine Brown has been a defendant in plenty of lawsuits.

Here’s a twist: she is set to be a plaintiff, suing Rep. Angie Nixon for promulgating fake Quick Picks that suggest Nixon, and not Brenda Priestly-Jackson, is the endorsement choice in HD 13.

Ben Becker of Action News Jax first reported the news.

“Brown filed a complaint for injunctive relief against Nixon on Friday, Aug. 9. She says in the lawsuit that Nixon falsified her “Quick Picks” voter guides to show the former Congresswoman endorsing Nixon, but Brown has endorsed Nixon’s opponent, Priestly-Jackson. Brown has produced the guides for decades.”

Former Rep. Corrine Brown is suing a state legislator for erroneously pushing an endorsement via published “Quick Picks,” but that claim is misplaced.

Nixon says one of her colleagues in the Duval County Legislative Delegation is to blame, and the beef has been going on for four years.

“This is simply another attempt by Kimberly Daniels to discredit me. She’s still angry I unseated her four years ago. Now she’s teaming up with my opponent (Brenda Priestly-Jackson) and has singled only me out. KD has an obsession and vendetta against me,” Nixon texted Florida Politics on Monday.

The second-term Democrat says her campaign “didn’t authorize fake flyers being distributed” and adds that she wouldn’t want Brown’s endorsement anyway.

“No disrespect to the former Congresswoman, but I wouldn’t feel comfortable on her Quick Picks,” Nixon said. “We both know there are corporate interest groups that want to jack up your insurance rates that are backing both candidates and want to take me down.”

The former Congresswoman has dealt with fake Quick Picks, most recently in the 2023 mayoral campaign. She has issued them for decades, once likening them to a “cheat sheet” at a “dog track.”

Dog tracks are long gone, but Quick Picks soldier on. But whether they are real or not is another question entirely.

Daniels did not respond to an inquiry asking for comment before publication.

‘Blatant antisemitism’

The ordinarily low-profile races for Duval County’s state committee slots are getting unusual scrutiny, with the only elected Jewish Republican in the Legislature lashing out at a series of tweets from a candidate that amount to “blatant antisemitism.”

That’s the argument from Brevard County state Rep. Randy Fine, who said various X posts from Nathan Tocco are out of bounds due to their embrace of anti-Jewish and anti-Israel language and positions.

“The Republican Party of Florida proudly stands with Israel and the Jewish people. The Florida GOP doesn’t want Nazis like this clown Nathan Tocco anywhere near Republican leadership,” Fine posted.

Fine offered various screenshots to support his position, including one from Dec. 13, 2023, where Tocco suggested that South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem earned “shekels” for denouncing antisemitism, and one from Dec. 22, 2023, where Tocco claimed UFOs were “spiritual beings (Demonic) that our Zionist CIA summoned through occult ritual.”

In another screenshot from Jan. 29, 2024, Tocco takes issue with members of Congress who “hold dual citizenship with Israel.” In another tweet on the same day, he called for deporting those holding dual citizenship.

The next day, Tocco responded to a Joe Biden tweet, suggesting the President isn’t “strong enough to resist the Israel lobby.”

On Feb. 2, Tocco called for expelling U.S. Rep. Brian Mast from Congress for wearing a “foreign military” uniform to the Capitol.

Fine didn’t get to everything Tocco said, including an August call to purge the Anti-Defamation League from X and a July disparagement of Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu as bringing his “laundry” to Washington last month: “demanding hundreds of millions of dollars what’s a few suitcases of dirty clothes to top it off.”

“Crazy after AIPAC spending $400,000 against him (during) his Primary, he didn’t want to show up and clap like a seal while Netanyahu begged for money and bombs,” he added in a response to Laura Loomer.

“This is political theater because they need our money and weapons, just like Zelensky and Ukraine,” Tocco told Jenna Ellis around the same time. “It’s no different. And, just like Zelensky, he enters OUR country as a guest to make demands and preach to us that it is our obligation to support him. He even has the arrogance to bring loads of dirty laundry to have us wash it. He views the U.S. as a vassal state, and I find it insulting.”

Dumping downtown?

The state’s insurer of last resort is considering moving to the Southside in 2026 and is already considering building proposals.

That’s according to The Florida Times-Union, which notes that Citizens Property Insurance may leave its current local HQ Downtown. But that will happen over the objections of Mayor Donna Deegan, who is sweetening an offer to keep the publicly owned company in the Urban Core.

“We are in conversations with them about any opportunities for city support that will keep their office in downtown Jacksonville,” says spokesperson Phil Perry to David Bauerlein.

Meanwhile, Citizens argues the location is inconvenient to its workforce and — ironically, given its role in assessing risk – prone to weather complications.

“Citizens is seeking to negotiate with vendors for Jacksonville office space that provides greater access in bad local weather conditions and enhances its emergency response capabilities by housing equipment and other response assets at a single site,” said Michael Peltier, spokesperson for the agency, to Bauerlein. “Citizens is also seeking a more centralized location for its employees living in the Jacksonville area.”

Per Action News Jax, unhoused people are also a problem for the employees.

“JSO’s calls for service to the EverBank Center address show since 2021 that the area has received more than 230 calls. It’s unclear how many are related to the homeless, but of those calls, about 25 of them dealt with either a suspicious or insane person,” reports Annette Gutierrez.

Per the administration, “this speaks to the need for full funding of the comprehensive homelessness plan we have presented and proposed in the budget.”

Wrong picks

It’s not just the “fake news” that conservatives in St. Johns County need to watch out for.

They also have to keep their eyes peeled for a slate of phony endorsements, claims the Chair of the St. Johns County Republican Party.

Chair Denver Cook says the party “learned that a fraudulent voter guide has been mailed to many Republican voters across the county.”

“This fraudulent guide includes the St. Johns County GOP logo, has a slate of candidates that were not endorsed by the party, does not have legal disclaimers stating who paid for it, and represents the most obvious case of voter fraud I have witnessed to date,” Cook claims.

“The Republican Party of Florida and the St. Johns County Republican Party are the only organizations qualified to speak officially on behalf of our party in St. Johns County. We are taking this matter very seriously and are investigating. No Florida voter should be misled by anonymous, phony groups pretending to speak for the GOP,” affirms state party Chair Evan Power.

The St. Johns REC is backing Mara Macie in her latest challenge to U.S. Rep. John Rutherford of Florida’s 5th Congressional District. One of two Primary challengers to Rutherford in 2022, she was unsuccessful, getting 18% of the vote and finishing in a distant second place, with Rutherford taking 66% in that election.

The local REC is also bucking the political establishment down the ballot, supporting Gerry James in his bid to replace term-limited Travis Hutson in SD seven and Kim Kendall in HD 18. Rep. Tom Leek and former Gov. Ron DeSantis lawyer Nick Primrose have the inside track in these races.

Five local candidates also got the nod. Ann-Marie Evans, Clay Murphy, and Ann Taylor received the REC’s backing in County Commission races, while Francis Cummings and Linda Thomson were picked for the School Board.

However, the fake mailer has Leek as the pick in SD 7, Primrose in HD 18, Brandon Patty for county clerk, Christian Whitehurst, Henry Dean and Roy Alaimo for County Commission, Lynn Straughan for School Board, and Tamara Renuart for committeewoman.

“If you are a voter and receive an envelope like the one pictured, please notify us so we can collect them as evidence – preferably unopened to facilitate fingerprint analysis,” Cook urges the party faithful.

Board backing

Partisan divides about “radical ideologies” promulgated by the “far left” and how to resist them continue to surface in purportedly nonpartisan School Board races.

The latest example: State Rep. Kiyan Michael’s endorsement of Tony Ricardo in the Duval County School Board race.

“It’s my pleasure to endorse Tony Ricardo for Duval County School Board,” said Michael. “He will be an advocate for our children and will stand up to the radical ideologies being pushed on our kids by the far left.”

“In order to protect the hearts and minds of our students and ensure they receive a high-quality education; we must continue to elect leaders to our school boards who will be champions for common sense and truth in the classroom. I look forward to working with Tony to make our Duval County schools the best in the state,” Michael adds.

“I’m very grateful to have State Representative Kiyan Michael’s endorsement in my race for Duval County School Board,” said Tony Ricardo. “In our state legislature, she has been an ally to Gov. Ron DeSantis in combating illegal immigration and has never failed to fight for the issues important to her constituents in House District 16, especially our students and their families. We are blessed to have such a strong voice representing our values and best interests in Tallahassee.”

Worth noting: Ricardo is one of nearly two dozen School Board candidates endorsed by DeSantis this cycle, and Michael has been loyal to the Governor since before she ran for office.

Meanwhile, the Duval County Democratic Party has targeted Ricardo as one of four candidates in the race who Moms 4 Liberty unduly influences. They support Nadine Ebri in this race.

Nerve center

Per the Jacksonville Daily Record, the $40M JTA “urban circulator” project is progressing.

“The city issued a permit on Aug. 9 for Balfour Beatty Construction LLC for construction on the almost $40.54 million Bay Street Innovation Corridor at 650 W. Bay St. in LaVilla. As part of the project, the city’s permit is for a two-story, 15,019-square-foot structure designed on 1.28 acres on a site near Broad and Water streets in LaVilla as the nerve center for the JTA’s Ultimate Urban Circulator system of automated people movers,” reports Karen Brune Mathis.

The building will include office space and other amenities, including “a rooftop solar microgrid that will supply power to recharge the shuttles, an education center for conversations about automated vehicle technology and electric vehicle charging stations that will be available to the public.”

Meanwhile, expect the autonomous shuttles to be rolling down Bay Street next year.

Even steven

Equilibrium at last?

After a real estate market oscillating from hot to cold over recent years, the Northeast Florida Association of REALTORS® says stability is upon the region, with a buyers’ market finally in sight.

That’s good news for renters and newcomers to the area who want to achieve homeownership.

“July statistics showed a continued stabilization of the real estate market in Northeast Florida toward a traditional balanced marketplace,” said 2024 NEFAR President Rory Dubin. “Despite a worsening economy and high inflation, median prices were down slightly, and the Home Affordability Index was up. Days on market are longer, and inventory of homes to purchase is higher.”

The increased inventory has incrementally lowered the average home price in the six-county region to $398,970, while the Home Affordability Index increased 1.6% to 65.

“July’s median for days on the market rocketed up 20% to 42 days, and the active inventory of homes shot up 11.6% to 7,897 homes, indications that the market is more conducive to buyers. Other metrics of note: Month-to-month, closed sales in the six-county region dropped 4.8% to 1,868. Pending sales plummeted 20.3% to 1,387, while new listings rose 3.9% to 3,318,” NEFAR notes.

Two competing trends regarding home prices characterize the region.

In Duval, Clay, and St. Johns, prices increased incrementally, ranging between 1.6% and 2.5%.

However, the more rural counties see a different story.

“In Putnam County, the July 2024 median price of single-family homes plunged to $214,000, a 16.4% drop from June 2024 … In Nassau County, the July 2024 median price of single-family homes was $436,700, a 6.5% decrease from June 2024 … In Baker County, the July 2024 median price of single-family homes plummeted $225,000, a 47.1% drop from the month before.”

Debby Business

It’s been a week since Hurricane Debby plowed through Florida from the Gulf Coast to the Atlantic Ocean, battering more states.

However, the storm’s aftermath in the Sunshine State is still under assessment, and the Florida Small Business Development Center (SBDC) at the University of North Florida is trying to tap First Coast businesses to see what help they need in recovery efforts.

The Northeast Florida SBDC is urging businesses in its region, which covers 18 counties, to provide an accounting of physical damage to businesses and lost revenue and wages for workers due to the natural disaster. The agency that helps establish, maintain, and sustain small businesses is encouraging North Florida entrepreneurs to participate in a Business Damage Assessment Survey.

“Please be aware that the survey is not an application for disaster assistance. Rather, the results of the survey help state and federal officials determine the need for assistance and help expedite disaster recovery resources,” SBDC officials said in a memo emailed to the thousands of businesses in its communications network.

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Bucs battle

Sometimes, football fans get the best of it in the preseason. In the past, fans wanted home games in weeks two and three of the preseason, when starters typically played the most. With three preseason games, the third and final game is when the starters play the most these days.

That is especially true when teams hold combined practices before a preseason contest, as with the Jaguars and Tampa Bay Buccaneers this week. The Jags and Bucs will work with and against one another on Wednesday and Thursday before the two teams meet at EverBank Stadium on Saturday.

This is becoming a more frequent approach by NFL teams. Coaches tend to favor a more controlled environment and the chance to measure individual players and position groups against another team is beneficial in the evaluation process.

“You get to pick the situations, the scenarios,” Jaguars’ head coach Doug Pederson said this week. “It’s very controlled. There’s no live tackling or anything like that, but they’re physical practices. You can get quite a bit out of them.”

Before the 2017 season, the Jaguars held combined practices with the New England Patriots. This was in Tom Brady’s glory days. The Patriots were one of the AFC favorites, and the Jaguars proved something to themselves and those paying close attention. That year, the Jaguars made the playoffs for the first time in a decade and nearly beat Brady and Co. in the playoffs.

The Buccaneers don’t offer quite the same measuring stick, but Tampa Bay won the NFC South and made the playoffs last year. However, the Jaguars’ coaches have been preparing for these sessions for months.

“We’ve been talking since May, quite honestly, and putting everything together,” Pederson said. “Kind of sign off on it back then so that now the coordinators can just get together and do the scripting and things of that nature.”

The other big question for this week is how many snaps Trevor Lawrence will take in Saturday’s game. If Lawrence gets a lot of positive work in the combined practices, expect him to be limited, perhaps even held out of the game against Tampa Bay. Lawrence played just two series and completed three of four passes in the preseason opener against the Kansas City Chiefs.

The Jaguars will wait another week to see Arik Armstead debut in a Jacksonville uniform. The free-agent defensive lineman remains on the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list and expects to return before the preseason finale in Atlanta against the Falcons next week.