Jax

A.G. GancarskiDecember 23, 2016

12670400_104095169983536_5251851944185911362_n-3500x5000.jpg

Just as a cat has multiple lives, so too does Sam Shiver, who will be employed in the 4th Circuit Public Defender’s office once Charlie Cofer takes over in January. Shiver was first introduced to Florida Politics readers in December 2015, when he confirmed that Matt Shirk would be running for re-election. Cofer told us that he had heard Shiver […]

Associated PressDecember 22, 2016

Federal civil rights attorneys have sued the city of Jacksonville for refusing to allow a nonprofit organization to convert an old apartment building into housing for the homeless. The Florida Times-Union reports that lawyers with the U.S. Department of Justice’s civil rights division on Tuesday asked a federal judge for an injunction blocking the city’s […]

A.G. GancarskiDecember 21, 2016

The front entrance to Jacksonville’s City Hall is substantially renovated, and is open ahead of the anticipated January 2017 date of completion. The schedule was “purposely accelerated to have the project complete before the holidays,” even as “minor grouting and cleanup work remain.” That’s the good news. The bad news is that the project, budgeted […]

A.G. GancarskiDecember 21, 2016

According to the Jacksonville City Council auditor’s report, FY 2016 was a good year for the city of Jacksonville’s budget, highlighted by a $29 million favorable variance in a $1.1 billion budget. Revenues were $15 million above budgetary expectations, and expenditures were $14 million under projections. However, underneath the rosy picture, the report spotlighted issues with pension […]

A.G. GancarskiDecember 21, 2016

Johnnie-Carter-on-crime-sce_1467820869751_7233524_ver1.0_640_360.jpg

The job of a big city mayor includes receiving a lot of accolades, but there is the flip side as well. That flip side: being the person who deals with the grief of a city, and the specific mourning of individuals who seek redress. One such individual — a mother who outlived her son — […]

A.G. GancarskiDecember 20, 2016

On Monday, Jenna Bourne of Action News Jax revealed that Robbie Foster, communications director for 4th Circuit Public Defender Matt Shirk, “barely swipes in at work.” By “swipes in,” Bourne meant Foster using his ID badge to get in the building. And by “barely,” Bourne meant that Foster used his card to get into the building […]

A.G. GancarskiDecember 20, 2016

The saga of Jerome Brown BBQ, the family business of Jacksonville City Councilwoman Katrina Brown, took a turn for the legalistic Tuesday. Action News Jax and News4Jax report that the BBQ company’s warehouse on Jacksonville’s Westside was raided Tuesday morning. The raid appears to be multi-jurisdictional, involving the FBI, the IRS, HUD, the Small Business Administration and […]

A.G. GancarskiDecember 20, 2016

Compared to other members of Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry‘s administration, Policy Director Robin Lumb has a behind the scenes role. He’s rarely at meetings of the city council – an irony, of sorts, given his term spent among that body. However, Lumb has been working on the policy side, on issues that largely are under the radar […]

A.G. GancarskiDecember 19, 2016

Friday saw an official meeting between Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry and former Mayor Alvin Brown. And with that meeting, a message to #jaxpol: the bitterness of the 2015 election was finally consigned to memory. The picture above: worth a thousand words. Acrimony expunged, replaced by bonhomie. The campaign for Jacksonville mayor was the most expensive local campaign […]

A.G. GancarskiDecember 19, 2016

It’s been a rough stretch for the Jacksonville Children’s Commission, and the week before Christmas brought even more coal for its stocking. This month had already seen the Jacksonville City Council’s Finance Committee taking JCC CEO Jon Heymann to task for an unusual amount of “emergency” appropriations bills in recent years, and keeping the council in the […]

Jax
Image via AP.

Former Matt Shirk spox to find second life in Charlie Cofer’s office

Feds sue Jacksonville over city refusal of homeless housing

Jacksonville City Hall renovations done, but $80K over budget

FY 16 a boon for Jacksonville’s budget, but questions loom

Grieving mother: ‘Jacksonville’s Westside finally destroyed me’

Matt Shirk comms director blasts Action News Jax for ‘out-of-context attack’

Family business of Jacksonville City Councilwoman raided

Behind the scenes, Robin Lumb guides Jacksonville’s public policy

Reading the tea leaves of the Lenny Curry-Alvin Brown meeting

Lenny Curry demands audit of Jacksonville Children’s Commission