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A.G. GancarskiSeptember 22, 2015

At Large Jacksonville Councilman Tommy Hazouri experienced numerous budget processes as mayor, as state legislator, and as Duval County School Board member. However, Monday night’s budget was his first as Jacksonville City Council member. During the floor amendments portion of the program, he scored a coup after a reconsideration. A shift of $330,779 from drainage […]

A.G. GancarskiSeptember 22, 2015

Sitting in his office on the fourth floor of Jacksonville’s City Hall just twelve hours after the Fiscal Year 2016 budget was approved by Council, District 7 Councilman Reggie Gaffney is interested in what comes next. “Now that the budget’s over,” Gaffney said, he intends to “turn [his] attention to downtown development.” His timeframe is compact. […]

A.G. GancarskiSeptember 22, 2015

Jacksonville Councilman Bill Gulliford introduced legislation (2015-683) on Monday that would amend Jacksonville’s Charter and put checks on the Police and Fire Pension Fund. Clearly, if the 18-to-1 vote to inquire into the legality of the PFPF Senior Staff Retirement Plan from Monday night’s Jacksonville City Council meeting is any indication, the Finance Committee chairman will have […]

A.G. GancarskiSeptember 22, 2015

They didn’t pop bottles in the Council Chambers of Jacksonville’s City Hall after the FY 16 Budget passed. However, they might as well have. Florida Politics spoke to Chief Administrative Officer Sam Mousa after the budget was approved, and he called it a “great budget.” Equally great: the dynamic with City Council. “We defer to […]

A.G. GancarskiSeptember 21, 2015

The Jacksonville City Council officially approved the FY 16 budget and related bills on Monday evening. Leading off the meeting, Council President Greg Anderson quipped, regarding the jampacked Chambers, “I wonder why you’re all here tonight.” The Capital Improvement Plan was approved without discussion or exception (though a floor amendment at the end changed that), as […]

A.G. GancarskiSeptember 21, 2015

A much-discussed bill to increase penalties for snipe signs has cleared committees and was expected to pass the full Jacksonville City Council on Monday, which could end, at least for now, one of the most interminable debate topics this council has faced. Councilman John Crescimbeni explained the bill, which would increase fines while allowing protection for […]

A.G. GancarskiSeptember 21, 2015

During Monday’s Jacksonville City Council meeting, a resolution authorizing an inquiry into the legality and the validity of the Police and Fire Pension Fund Senior Staff Voluntary Retirement Plan was up for a vote. This measure got through Finance and Rules Committees last week on a 6-to-1 vote after it was pushed back to committees at the […]

A.G. GancarskiSeptember 21, 2015

The normally below-the-fold JEA board got headline status over the weekend when the Florida Times-Union posted an article explaining, in great detail, the board’s practice of scripting comments for board members related to a raise and a contract extension for JEA CEO Paul McElroy. This irked senior members of the Lenny Curry administration and set the […]

A.G. GancarskiSeptember 14, 2015

Monday’s meeting of City Councils Neighborhood Improvement and Enhancement Committee was to be highlighted by subcommittee presentations about the persistent issues of vehicle requirements and backing cars into driveways. However, the real highlight ended up being a committee inquiry into federal law, overly restrictive FCC guidelines relative to robocalls, and a potential lawsuit against Google […]

A.G. GancarskiSeptember 14, 2015

On Monday, the Jacksonville City Council Finance Committee mulled a packed agenda, including pushing forward on inquiring into the validity of the Police and Fire Pension Fund Senior Staff Voluntary Retirement Plan, a measure that will yet again be considered by the full Council next Monday. • 2014-769, which was referred back to Finance under […]

Tag: Bill Gulliford
Lake Mary’s team celebrates in the eighth inning of the Little League World Series Championship game against Taiwan. Florida won in eight innings 2-1. Image via AP.

Tommy Hazouri talks budget, HRO, agenda going forward

With Jax budget done, Reggie Gaffney looks ahead

Bill Gulliford files new Jax police and fire pension legislation

Jacksonville’s collaborative budget process vindicates Lenny Curry’s vision

Jax City Council approves FY16 budget

After extended discussion, Jax Council increases snipe sign fines

Jax City Council OKs probe of pension fund senior staff retirement fund

JEA board issues feature at JEA agreement meeting, agenda notwithstanding

Jax NICE committee questions federal law, proposes suing Google in snipe sign discussion

Jax City Council Finance Committee OKs PFPF probe