Jax

A.G. GancarskiJanuary 5, 2017

Florida House Speaker Richard Corcoran may abhor the influence of lobbyists in Tallahassee. But Jacksonville and its independent agencies have them anyway, as do other regional entities in Northeast Florida. The calculus is not complicated for Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry, who parlayed $150,000 last year into a sustained and successful lobbying effort helmed by the Fiorentino Group and […]

A.G. GancarskiJanuary 4, 2017

On Wednesday, Jacksonville City Council members and community leaders met in a packed conference room in city hall. The subject: expanding Jacksonville’s Human Rights Ordinance to include members of the city’s LGBT community. The bill is expected to be filed by 3 p.m. January 4, with an eye toward committees and a full council vote […]

A.G. GancarskiJanuary 4, 2017

While the introduction of another legislative attempt to expand Jacksonville’s Human Rights Ordinance drew the TV cameras Wednesday, another bill designed to remedy discrimination was introduced the same day. Councilman Garrett Dennis filed Ordinance 2017-16, “encouraging the City of Jacksonville and its independent agencies and authorities under the code to provide positive steps to correct or eliminate […]

Christiaan DeFrancoJanuary 4, 2017

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Outside the Thrasher-Horne Center for the Arts, protesters gathered. Inside, hundreds of people packed into the lobby, where the public swearing-in of Clay County Sheriff Darryl Daniels was held Monday evening. Organizers delayed the start of the ceremony for 40 minutes while they figured out where to put all the supporters, colleagues and curious citizens […]

A.G. GancarskiJanuary 4, 2017

The Jacksonville City Council Rules Committee approved resolutions backing three local bills they would like to see the State Legislature consider this session. Two of them involve drinking. And one involves the school board, which drives people to drink. **** One local bill, “J-2”, asks for “special zones” in older neighborhoods, such as Murray Hill, […]

A.G. GancarskiJanuary 4, 2017

A prominent Jacksonville pastor who teamed up with Pastor Ken Adkins to oppose the 2016 version of the Jacksonville Human Rights Ordinance expansion was cleared by the Jacksonville City Council Rules Committee to serve on the JEA Board Wednesday. Despite two of the HRO co-sponsors, Jim Love and Tommy Hazouri, serving on Rules, no questions were asked of Newbill […]

A.G. GancarskiJanuary 4, 2017

Jacksonville’s homicide rate gets all the press. Yet the rate of deaths via drug overdose exceeds it. And a prominent city councilman wants action. An email from Duval County’s Medical Examiner’s office laid it out: from the beginning of January until mid-November, Jacksonville experienced 345 drug overdose deaths. In terms of casualties, whites and males […]

A.G. GancarskiJanuary 4, 2017

For the second time in ten months, the city of Jacksonville will bring aboard a new chief of real estate. Renee Hunter, an alumna of the University of Wisconsin’s journalism school and of the Florida Coastal School of Law, will be “official” pending confirmation by the city council. Hunter is no stranger to work in […]

A.G. GancarskiJanuary 4, 2017

Expansion of Jacksonville’s Human Rights Ordinance appears to yet again be a consideration for Jacksonville’s City Council. And opponents have taken notice. Those opposed to HRO expansion have been emailing Mayor Lenny Curry, with sentiments such as these. “I am against any HRO resolution that attempts to bestow special rights to any person or group that […]

A.G. GancarskiJanuary 3, 2017

For those watching to see how Rep. John Rutherford will function in Congress, the Jacksonville freshman congressman may have passed his first test. Rutherford opposed Monday’s move by House Republicans to eviscerate the independent Office of Congressional Ethics. That move has already been reversed, vindicating Rutherford’s position. Rutherford committed to working across the aisle during a primary […]

Jax

The Fiorentino Group helms Northeast Florida lobbying efforts again in 2017

Jacksonville human rights ordinance expansion push begins … again

Jacksonville City Council to mull equal opportunity ordinance

Clay County Sheriff Darryl Daniels pledges transparency at impassioned swearing in

Jacksonville City Council Rules committee backs three local J-bills

Jacksonville City Council Rules panel OKs Fred Newbill to JEA Board

Jacksonville councilman decries drug overdose ‘epidemic’

Former assistant state attorney to become Jacksonville real estate chief

Jacksonville HRO expansion foes gear up for 2017 fight

John Rutherford opposed controversial House ethics changes