Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

A.G. GancarskiMarch 28, 2017

Two of the most veteran politicians on Jacksonville’s City Council, Bill Gulliford and Tommy Hazouri, discussed the newly-introduced pension legislation with Mayor Lenny Curry Tuesday. In what may be a sign of a smooth process to come, as the council spends much of April workshopping and mulling the changes to the city’s pension plans, both Gulliford and Hazouri […]

A.G. GancarskiMarch 22, 2017

Block parties are not a concern in most of Jacksonville, yet in what the sheriff’s office calls Zone 5, the gatherings predominate … and are becoming more popular year over year. In FY 2015, there were 135 of these events in the city. In FY 2016, there were 171. According to Chief Deloris Patterson, the commander for […]

A.G. GancarskiMarch 21, 2017

A bill to impose a 90 day moratorium on block parties in Jacksonville (and not the rest of Duval County) cleared its two city council committees Tuesday. The legislation (2017-196) posits “a legitimate public purpose in imposing a temporary moratorium on permitting recreational street closings … ‘block parties’ within the City, to allow the City time to […]

A.G. GancarskiMarch 21, 2017

February ended with Jacksonville City Council VP John Crescimbeni storming out of the gate in the race for the council presidency. A group of councilmen — Gulliford, Crescimbeni, Greg Anderson, Jim Love, and Tommy Hazouri — signed on very quickly, giving Crescimbeni a real leg up. Rhetoric was pitched in the councilmen’s conclave: lots of talk about “council tradition” dictating […]

A.G. GancarskiMarch 15, 2017

Jacksonville City Councilmen Bill Gulliford and Reggie Brown convened Wednesday to revisit an issue from months back: “community events” in the council districts. Bill 2016-489 allocated $70,000 to be split up among the 19 council members, for the purposes of staging educational community events in districts. For Brown, this issue is critical — his constituents often have questions about city […]

A.G. GancarskiMarch 10, 2017

The numbers are stark for those who care about public policy in Jacksonville. And the need for solutions is urgent. Overdoses, at last count, end four times as many lives as homicides in Duval County, with 2016’s count of 464 casualties more than doubling 2015’s count of 201. Caucasians represent 86 percent of the deaths, […]

A.G. GancarskiMarch 8, 2017

Wednesday saw the Jacksonville City Council’s Finance Committee pass bills related to small business microfinancing, city contractor jobs for ex-offenders, and the council travel budget for groups like the Florida League of Cities. The full council will vote on these bills Tuesday night. ____ Microfinance: 2016-486 revives the city’s Access to Capital program for Jacksonville’s Small and […]

A.G. GancarskiMarch 2, 2017

Jacksonville, like the rest of the country, is wrestling with a problem of increased opioid overdoses. In January, Councilman Bill Gulliford started sounding the alarm. Gulliford noted that “it is a scary number especially when you compare it to homicides which get all the media attention. And, how many of the homicides are drug related? My […]

A.G. GancarskiFebruary 23, 2017

A bill filed earlier this year in the Jacksonville City Council to ensure more job opportunities for ex-offenders got deferred in its third committee stop Thursday. The Associated Builders and Contractors pushed back on the bill throughout the committee process, and council members fell in line, with increasing resistance in Wednesday’s committees leading to the pause on […]

A.G. GancarskiFebruary 21, 2017

On Tuesday morning, a Jacksonville City Council committee mulled the impact of auto repair shops, internet cafes, nightclubs, and liquor stores in certain neighborhoods. Such questionable businesses exacerbate the city’s pervasive blight issues, legislators agree. The fix, it turns out, may be in zoning. But there is no clear consensus on what that fix may […]

Key Jacksonville councilors warm to Lenny Curry pension bills

Jacksonville City Council attempts to hash out block parties … again

Block party moratorium to be voted on by full Jacksonville City Council

Crunchtime for John Crescimbeni in Jax Council President race

Jacksonville City Council ‘community events’ policy up for review

Opioid overdose crisis becomes top priority for Jacksonville policy makers

Access to Capital, ex-offender jobs, travel budget bills cleared for full Jacksonville City Council

Jacksonville prepares to mobilize against opioid overdose crisis

Jacksonville ex-offender jobs bill gets deferred by council panel

Jacksonville council panel weighs blight impacts of sketchy businesses