Jax

A.G. GancarskiFebruary 2, 2017

On Thursday, opponents of Jacksonville’s proposed expansion of the Human Rights Ordinance had their say in the Council Chambers. Councilman Bill Gulliford, launching the meeting, noted the passion surrounding this issue, which is now in its fifth year of being debated citywide. “I decided to have this meeting for several reasons,” Gulliford said, including “objective discussion” of […]

A.G. GancarskiFebruary 2, 2017

With less than a week to go before 2017-15, the latest attempt to expand the Human Rights Ordinance, hits three Jacksonville City Council committees, advocates are rightly optimistic and proud of the progress they’ve made in educating the council. The HRO expansion bill would include sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression as categories in […]

A.G. GancarskiFebruary 1, 2017

Tuesday night as Jacksonville’s ArtWalk event began, Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry called a press conference on the steps of City Hall, where just a day before, a different scene had transpired. Curry’s press conference on Tuesday night had to do with reassuring Jacksonville that ArtWalk is a safe event to attend. Such assurance was needed […]

A.G. GancarskiFebruary 1, 2017

Former Jacksonville Mayor John Peyton is poised to soon have a new public visibility, as the JAX Chamber announced Wednesday his election as chair-elect. Peyton served as mayor of Jacksonville from 2003 to 2011; since his mayoralty, he has not been politically prominent, except for a strong endorsement of Lenny Curry in 2015. Darnell Smith, the current […]

A.G. GancarskiFebruary 1, 2017

How much longer can a Jacksonville city councilwoman, whose family businesses have bombshell news reports every couple of days for failure to pay debts, stay on the council’s Finance Committee? That’s the question in Jacksonville right now, as the saga of the family businesses of Jacksonville City Councilwoman Katrina Brown continues to move from sauce to […]

A.G. GancarskiFebruary 1, 2017

There is something comfortingly familiar about a protest in Jacksonville, and Tuesday afternoon’s anti-Donald Trump protest was no exception. The chants heard at the Duval County Courthouse were, at least many of them, heard before. At this point, “No Trump, no KKK, no fascist USA” has been workshopped repeatedly in the Jacksonville DMA, and may have […]

A.G. GancarskiJanuary 31, 2017

There are three local bills that the Duval County Legislative Delegation have to carry this session. Two of them involve relaxed restrictions for drinking. Rep. Tracie Davis will sponsor those. And one involves governance of the Duval County School Board, a subject that inspires drinking. Rep. Jason Fischer, an alumnus of the school board, will sponsor […]

A.G. GancarskiJanuary 31, 2017

A message from Jacksonville Sheriff Mike Williams to the Fraternal Order of Police was conveyed Tuesday: take the city’s pension deal. Jacksonville has been in the process of renegotiating the pension plans of all of its unions, but police and fire have offered the most urgency. The real sticking point, beyond finding an appropriate level of […]

A.G. GancarskiJanuary 31, 2017

Though some religious organizations, such as the Catholic Diocese of St. Augustine, liken expanding Jacksonville’s Human Rights Ordinance to the “darkest days of World War II,” other groups have different takes. On Jan. 26, the Anti-Defamation League sent Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry a letter, urging Jacksonville to take a “leadership role by adding sexual orientation and […]

A.G. GancarskiJanuary 31, 2017

Mayor-Lenny-Curry-Florida-State-Capitol-02242016-1024x1024.jpeg

Jacksonville’s big legislative accomplishment in the 2016 session was getting an unprecedented bill through Tallahassee, one which would allow the city to access the guaranteed revenue from a future sales tax extension, once it closed one of its three pension plans. As collective bargaining continues between the city and its unions, the 2017 session also […]

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Image via AP.

Jacksonville LGBT rights opponents speak; Bill Gulliford talks HRO referendum

Jacksonville’s HRO expansion is in sight, but questions loom

Lenny Curry touts ArtWalk, defends right to City Hall protest

John Peyton chosen Jax Chamber chair-elect

Foreclosure action filed on Jacksonville councilor’s troubled family business

Jacksonville protest of Donald Trump sees protesters protesting

Duval Delegation talks local bills, hears from Melissa Nelson

Jacksonville sheriff backs Lenny Curry’s pension reform proposal

Anti-Defamation League backs expanded Jacksonville Human Rights Ordinance

Pushback emerges against bill closing FRS defined benefit plan to new cities