A.G. Gancarski, Author at Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

A.G. GancarskiOctober 12, 2016

Despite a contentious meeting between JEA CEO Paul McElroy and the Jacksonville City Council Tuesday evening, odds are good council members will continue their complaints regarding the slow pace of power restoration on Wednesday and perhaps beyond. The JEA Outage Map shows 23,914 JEA customers are still without power as of 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, almost five days after the […]

A.G. GancarskiOctober 12, 2016

Some things don’t change in Jacksonville. Just as was the case before August’s County Referendum 1, an overwhelmingly approved vote that allows the city to extend a current half-cent sales tax to address the unfunded pension liability, there is a November County Referendum 1 also. The first mailer selling the slots vote looks just like the […]

A.G. GancarskiOctober 12, 2016

Though the major story of Tuesday’s city council meeting was that the city may have to spend $100 million and that JEA may have to spend $30 million (in funds that should be reimbursed) to get back to normal after Hurricane Matthew, bills nonetheless were deliberated and passed. **** On Tuesday night, the Jacksonville City Council passed […]

A.G. GancarskiOctober 11, 2016

The post-Matthew blame game has started in Jacksonville, as the initial rush of emergency preparation has devolved into finger-pointing and excoriation. At the center of the storm is the local utility, which was criticized heavily during Tuesday’s meeting of the Jacksonville City Council for sewage spills and restoration timeframes that turned out to be fictional. […]

A.G. GancarskiOctober 11, 2016

On Tuesday, Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry‘s Chief Administrative Officer Sam Mousa addressed the city council on how recovery efforts are going after Hurricane Matthew. There is lots of work ahead, and that work will have to be exhaustively documented for reimbursement purposes, and it will cost millions of dollars. Mousa noted the process, including engaging contractors, would be done outside […]

A.G. GancarskiOctober 11, 2016

House District 18 Rep. Travis Cummings has the safest of safe re-election bids: a Republican running in a deep red Northeast Florida district. Yet, since he has a general election opponent in Libertarian Ken Willey, Cummings continues to bank money he likely won’t need this cycle. In the last two weeks of September, Cummings brought in $5,500 […]

A.G. GancarskiOctober 11, 2016

Even though it’s mid-October, the state of Florida continues to battle the Zika virus. And on Tuesday, Gov. Rick Scott announced $7.4 million in additional state funding to Miami-Dade County to combat Zika’s spread. The money will be allocated toward mosquito control, including increased spraying of insecticide and hiring additional staff. Since June, Gov. Scott has authorized […]

A.G. GancarskiOctober 11, 2016

Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry is going to address the Jacksonville City Council Tuesday on hurricane damage and recovery. He will have no shortage of subject matter, as hurricane mitigation and recovery has been the signature test of his administration so far. After Hurricane Matthew’s impact on Jacksonville, there are known knowns and known unknowns. A known […]

A.G. GancarskiOctober 11, 2016

Among the impacts of Hurricane Matthew: beach erosion, an especially acute problem in St. Johns, Flagler, and Volusia counties. Tuesday, State Sen. Travis Hutson, who represents the affected area, called on the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to review the Atlantic coast erosion problem and move toward meaningful redress. “Hurricane Matthew has caused severe beach erosion threatening […]

A.G. GancarskiOctober 11, 2016

A review of the financial disclosure of Glo Smith, the GOP nominee in Florida’s Congressional District 5, shows there’s not much to hide … and not much in the way of personal assets to use if she wanted to self-finance to boost her campaign’s fairly anemic cash-on-hand. Smith, who reported having $11,908 on hand as […]

A.G. Gancarski
Image via Florida Poly

Nearly 24K JEA customers remain without power Wednesday morning

Pro-slots political committee gears up in Jacksonville

Jacksonville City Council tightens false burglar alarm penalties

JEA CEO lambasted by Jacksonville City Council for hurricane performance

Up to $100M needed to get Jacksonville to normal after storm

Travis Cummings keeps raising money in HD 18 campaign

Miami-Dade to get $7.4 million more in state money to fight Zika

Days after Matthew, a ‘resilient’ Jacksonville soldiers toward recovery

Travis Hutson calls on FDEP to review ‘severe beach erosion’

Glo Smith’s financial disclosure: modest means, limited assets