Jax

A.G. GancarskiAugust 17, 2015

During Monday’s meeting of the Finance Committee of the Jacksonville City Council, a discussion point was the so-called forensic audit of the Jacksonville Police and Fire Pension Fund. Councilmen Crescimbeni and Matt Schellenberg raised concerns about the record keeping over at PFPF. Council Auditor Kirk Sherman mentioned that no one anticipated, including the independent investigator, the burdens […]

A.G. GancarskiAugust 17, 2015

In a Monday afternoon news release from the office of Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry containing a letter to Drew Bartlett of the Central Florida Water Initiative Steering Committee, the administration’s opposition to water withdrawals from the St. Johns River was made official. Curry has asked that water withdrawals from the upper and middle basins of the […]

A.G. GancarskiAugust 17, 2015

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The phrase “pre-9/11 mentality” is usually uttered as a foreign policy pejorative. Yet in Duval County, one thing that hasn’t changed since before Sept. 11, 2001 is the pay of substitute teachers, which has withstood the test of time since March of that year. This doesn’t sit well with one group, apparently: longtime substitute teachers. […]

Melissa RossAugust 17, 2015

As former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush continues to take heat over calling Common Core education standards “poisonous,” Duval County’s superintendent is taking a more positive spin about the new state curriculum being unveiled this fall. “We’re going to see another level of instruction at the elementary level, especially when it comes to writing and reading,” Superintendent Nikolai […]

A.G. GancarskiAugust 17, 2015

“August is a tough month if you’re on Finance, because you’re keeping up with your regular council work and the Finance Committee meetings,” Greg Anderson said Monday, providing a preamble to the regular Finance Committee meeting. There will be a special committee on public service grants, Anderson said, and in about two weeks there will […]

A.G. GancarskiAugust 17, 2015

One Spark is one of Jacksonville’s cornerstone events, and the man behind it, Peter Rummell, is also one of the key behind-the-scenes supporters of the Lenny Curry administration, as has been amply documented. With that convergence in mind, it’s perhaps inevitable that Curry’s City Hall would be considered as a platform for art at the 2016 One Spark […]

A.G. GancarskiAugust 17, 2015

Last week, during the Jacksonville City Council Finance Committee budget review sessions, a point of controversy revolved around whether or not the Lenny Curry administration was devoting sufficient resources to UF Health. The discussion of the hospital, referred to in the block quote as Shands, lasted about a quarter hour: 11:14 a.m.: Still on Shands. Money […]

A.G. GancarskiAugust 17, 2015

There are no polls, as far as I know, in the all-important Duval County Republican Executive Committee race. But based on an email going around this weekend, it’s fair to assume that state Rep. Lake Ray III might have the inside track in Monday night’s election. With the party poised to pick its third chairman […]

A.G. GancarskiAugust 14, 2015

Hot on the heels of Ernest Isaac being denied his “last hurrah” on the Jacksonville Aviation Authority, another Alvin Brown board appointee is bidding farewell as of the end of September. Local attorney Edward Booth, appointed by Brown in 2013, on August 12 “was advised by Jordan Elsbury of Mayor Curry’s office that my services would no […]

A.G. GancarskiAugust 14, 2015

It’s hard to say no to free swag. Especially when it’s presented to a new mayor under the auspices of membership in the United States Conference of Mayors (a bargain at just $26K a year). Yet the Lenny Curry administration appears to have done just that. An email came through earlier in July from CGI, a […]

Jax
Image via X (Duke Energy).

Jax PFPF fund forensic audit draws scrutiny

Lenny Curry: No to St. Johns River water withdrawals

In Duval, substitute teacher pay is old-school

Nikolai Vitti: Florida Standards will be “another level of instruction”

Council, Curry administration joust in Jax Finance Committee

Jax City Hall to be One Spark art gallery?

UF Health gives Lenny Curry vote of confidence

One last bit of intrigue in Duval GOP chairman race

Another Alvin Brown appointee bounced from Jax Aviation board

Jacksonville says no to free aerial videos