Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Peter SchorschAugust 11, 2017

Those who work at Jacksonville City Hall have received a political education of late, demonstrated by a recent City Council bill on funding after-school programs. With apologies to Ric Flair, but his famous catchphrase “now we go to school” applies here … and not just because this bill was education-related. Finance Chair Garrett Dennis wanted […]

A.G. GancarskiAugust 8, 2017

Have the promises made when the city of Jacksonville consolidated with Duval County half a century ago been fulfilled? That’s an open question, and one with a spectrum of answers ranging from “nope” to “things have actually gotten better for most of the city.” On Tuesday, members of the Jacksonville City Council convened to discuss […]

A.G. GancarskiAugust 3, 2017

Jacksonville City Councilman Bill Gulliford has been instrumental in spearheading Jacksonville’s response to its opioid overdose epidemic. He was successful in formulating a pilot program for in-patient treatment for addicts who are ready to accept help, and he is now chairman of a special Council committee on the opioid epidemic. As is typical with Gulliford, he […]

A.G. GancarskiJuly 26, 2017

As the old saw goes, victory has many fathers, but defeat is an orphan. In that context, a decision to postpone a decision — such as that made by the Jacksonville City Council during yet another attempt to push through a referendum that could scuttle current term limits (changing limits from two consecutive terms to […]

A.G. GancarskiJuly 25, 2017

Jacksonville City Council President Anna Brosche released charges last week for three special committees that will convene over the next year. Brosche previewed these committees during her inauguration speech last month. The Special Committee on Parks will deal with a continued decline of Jacksonville’s park system. “The Trust for Public Land recently ranked Jacksonville’s park system […]

A.G. GancarskiJuly 14, 2017

Is Pope Francis a Catholic? Or is the Pontiff a communist? Jacksonville City Councilman Bill Gulliford has a take. “I am a Catholic and he is a Communist,” Gulliford said of Pope Francis on Facebook Thursday, reacting to an online publication (M2 Voice) that said the Pope asserted that “world government must rule the United States ‘for their own […]

A.G. GancarskiJuly 13, 2017

Jacksonville City Councilman Bill Gulliford got shut out of Council committees for the next year, a consequence of having worked against the election of new Council President Anna Brosche. But that’s not stopping Gulliford from offering insights into not just local issues, but the global scene. A recent example of that hit Facebook Thursday morning, when Gulliford […]

A.G. GancarskiJune 27, 2017

The skinny: A bill that got pilloried while making its way through committees — $1.5M for a six-month opioid treatment program — passed the Jacksonville City Council Tuesday night. The vote: 16-1, with Danny Becton as the no vote … after a lot of noise and drama, documented below. But as in committees, discussion was robust at […]

A.G. GancarskiJune 27, 2017

Just as there are some who look at a tranquil lake and assume the depths are likewise tranquil, there are those who look at a change of leadership in Jacksonville’s City Council and assume a similar tranquility. For the previous two years, that was true. When Greg Anderson in 2015 and Lori Boyer in 2016 took over […]

A.G. GancarskiJune 21, 2017

After committee stops for the legislation that seemed, at times, like outtakes from an Edward Albee script with all the personal attacks, Councilman Bill Gulliford‘s bill to slot $1.5M into a 6 month pilot program to treat opioid addiction cleared its final committee Wednesday. Less successful: Councilman Garrett Dennis’ bill to allocate $200,000 for swim lessons for […]

Tag: Bill Gulliford

Jacksonville Bold for 8.11.17 — Now we go to school

Did Jacksonville’s Consolidation work? Or is it a work in progress?

Jacksonville mulls lawsuit against opioid producers

How the Jacksonville City Council effort to scuttle term limits went wrong

Charges released for Jacksonville City Council special committees

Jacksonville Councilman doubles down on describing Pope Francis as a ‘communist’

Jacksonville councilman claims Pope Francis is a ‘Communist’

Jax City Council greenlights opioid treatment pilot program

Will the Anna Brosche era be trouble for Lenny Curry?

Jax Council bad blood spills over into fractious Finance Committee meeting