Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

A.G. GancarskiOctober 19, 2016

Everyone knows what October in Jacksonville is famous for: clearly, our local celebration of ‘National Seafood Month,” which always earns a commemoration from a local politician. Last October, Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry proclaimed it to be “Seafood Nutrition Partnership” month. As GroceryHeadquarters.com reported contemporaneously, Curry was “delighted to share in the observance of Seafood Nutrition Partnership Month.” “The […]

A.G. GancarskiSeptember 27, 2016

Opioid abuse has ravaged the country in recent years. In 2015, a staggering 19 million people are estimated to have misused prescription medicines. Most obtained them from friends or relatives. And many of those who misused the drugs were first-time users. In response to that epidemic, Walgreens kicked off its Safe Medication Disposal Program last April […]

A.G. GancarskiSeptember 23, 2016

For the Duval County School Board, the slogan might be “wake me when September ends.” Earlier in the month, the board evaluated Superintendent Nikolai Vitti, deeming him “effective,” even though below the surface questions loomed about widening achievement gaps inside demographic categories of the student population. From there, board chair Ashley Smith-Juarez, according to Vitti, scheduled a meeting […]

A.G. GancarskiSeptember 1, 2016

Wednesday afternoon, we ran a piece: Winners and Losers in the NE Florida primaries. The piece was intended to document who won and who lost on primary night, going beyond the results to look at whose bets paid off and whose calculations did not. For those listed as winners, the read was lauded … even as […]

A.G. GancarskiAugust 31, 2016

The northeast Florida primaries have been in the books for almost 24 hours at this writing. A review of the winners — and the losers — goes beyond the election returns to look at what happened to create these outcomes that will, in historical retrospect, seem inevitable. Winners Lenny Curry — The chattering classes told him he couldn’t get […]

A.G. GancarskiAugust 29, 2016

The last eight months in Jacksonville politics have been dominated by one referendum. County Referendum 1, which would allow Jacksonville to extend a current 1/2-cent sales surtax past its sunset and to dedicate it to a $2.8 billion unfunded pension liability, is that referendum. Mayor Lenny Curry and his political machine have done everything they could […]

A.G. GancarskiAugust 16, 2016

Those who have waited for opposition to Jacksonville’s proposed “pension tax” are finally seeing it manifest, just in time for early voting. With oppressive humidity in the air and a non-affiliated crackhead milling around the parking lot engaging with the media, the Duval Democrats made their stand against Jacksonville’s County Referendum 1 in a parking […]

A.G. GancarskiAugust 16, 2016

State Sen. Audrey Gibson voted to authorize Jacksonville to have a ballot referendum to extend the current half-cent tax devoted to infrastructure past its 2030 sunset date to address the unfunded liability. She even co-introduced the bill. But that’s the last vote she’ll cast for the measure. On Monday night, Gibson saw her name on the […]

A.G. GancarskiAugust 7, 2016

Rep. Corrine Brown opened her Jacksonville campaign headquarters Sunday, but the media was more interested in her federal trial and her other challenges. She delivered hot quotes on that, relating her situation to the trial of Marissa Alexander. “As horrible as this is for me, I’ve learned a lot,” Brown said, saying prosecutors were spending […]

A.G. GancarskiJuly 13, 2016

In Jacksonville, Associated Industries of Florida held the last of three planned town hall meetings Wednesday to discuss the impact of the state’s workers’ compensation system on employers and employees. The Jacksonville event included Sens. Aaron Bean and Audrey Gibson and Rep. Cyndi Stevenson in the audience. This is a timely initiative for AIF: the insurance industry seeks a nearly 20 […]

Tag: Audrey Gibson

Audrey Gibson celebrates ‘National Seafood Month’ with Jacksonville seniors

With legislators on hand, Walgreens unveils Florida drug disposal kiosks

‘Broken’ Duval County School Board castigates media, each other in contentious conclave

Audrey Gibson: ‘Standing up for what you believe in is brave’

A rundown of the winners and losers from northeast Florida’s primary elections

Jax referendum opponents coalesced, but too late to matter

Duval Dems slam ‘sham flyer,’ ‘smoke and mirrors’ pension tax

After flyer flap, Audrey Gibson comes out against Jax pension tax

Corrine Brown: Federal prosecutors ‘make it up as you go’

AIF sounds alarm on workers comp changes in Jacksonville