Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

A.G. GancarskiJuly 31, 2018

The symbiotic relationship between Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry and the city’s public safety unions was memorialized anew Tuesday, with the police and fire unions both endorsing Curry’s re-election. The Fraternal Order of Police endorsement lauded Curry for “budgets that give us the tools we need to do our jobs” and “the resources we need to take […]

A.G. GancarskiJune 27, 2018

In a telephone interview Wednesday afternoon, former Jacksonville Mayor Alvin Brown addressed current and past issues that still occlude his bid for the Democratic nomination in Florida’s 5th Congressional District. Among the issues: incumbent Congressman Al Lawson calling Brown “absent Alvin” and other issues from Brown’s mayoralty, including failure/unwillingness to get LGBT rights legislation through Council, and […]

A.G. GancarskiJune 22, 2018

At this writing Friday morning, it’s unclear if two Jacksonville Democrats running for state office will have competitive elections or not. State Sen. Audrey Gibson was presented with a primary challenge from Jacksonville City Councilor Reggie Brown. That challenge, which people in Gibson’s orbit believed was a setup by Jacksonville Republicans irked by Gibson not supporting the […]

A.G. GancarskiMarch 14, 2017

In February, the Jacksonville Police and Fire Pension Fund Board of Trustees balked at a Mar. 15 deadline to vote on the city’s latest pension plan. The board had worried that there would not be enough time to review the data of the new plan, which offers raises and uniformity of benefits for current employees, […]

A.G. GancarskiFebruary 24, 2017

This is a pivotal time in Jacksonville’s city hall. With complete turnover in the city’s delegation to Washington and opportunities created by the new President, majority turnover in the city’s representation in Tallahassee, a revolutionary pension deal currently being approved by the city’s unions, and the imperiled fate of Enterprise Florida, this is a make […]

A.G. GancarskiFebruary 11, 2017

The city of Jacksonville on Saturday struck a historic, revolutionary (and still tentative) pension accord with the Fraternal Order of Police and the Jacksonville Association of Firefighters. And not a moment too soon: Feb. 11 was the city’s “deadline” for the unions to take its offer. The deal offers long-delayed raises to current employees (a […]

A.G. GancarskiJanuary 25, 2017

On Monday, a political ally of Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry filed a bill that would close the Florida Retirement System’s defined benefit plan to new cities. This is particularly relevant to Jacksonville’s police and fire unions, both of which want to see new hires put in the FRS defined benefit plan as a condition of collective bargaining. […]

A.G. GancarskiJanuary 23, 2017

Earlier on Monday, FloridaPolitics.com reported on bills filed in both chambers of the Florida Legislature that would foreclose the defined benefit plan of the Florida Retirement System to new municipalities. This bill is especially topical in Northeast Florida because a major sticking point in collective bargaining between the city of Jacksonville and its police and fire […]

A.G. GancarskiJanuary 11, 2017

On Wednesday morning, the city of Jacksonville enhanced its pension/benefits offer to the police union. Wednesday afternoon saw a similar conversation with the fire union. Just as with the police union negotiations, Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry was on hand at the fire union. The tone was more genial, with Curry and Wyse joking about some matters ahead […]

A.G. GancarskiDecember 7, 2016

[Updated: 6:40 p.m. with commentary from Mike Weinstein, at the bottom of the piece.] In the Jacksonville City Council Finance Committee Wednesday, Mike Weinstein, the city’s CFO, and Tim Johnson, the director of the Police and Fire Pension Fund, discussed a “waiver” in pension cost allocations that had been controversial in recent news cycles. Their joint appearance was […]

Tag: Jacksonville Association of Fire Fighters

Jacksonville police, fire unions want four more years of Lenny Curry

Alvin Brown talks HRO, Barack Obama, Shad Khan, and his pathway to Congress

Audrey Gibson, Tracie Davis to celebrate qualifying with firefighter union

Jacksonville PFPF expected to vote on pension deal Friday

Lenny Curry outlines Jacksonville’s legislative priorities, talks pension and Enterprise Florida

Jacksonville strikes historic, tentative pension accord with police, fire unions

Jacksonville offers seven year agreement to firefighters in collective bargaining

Jacksonville mayor ‘not surprised’ by FRS reform legislation

Jacksonville, fire union make conceptual progress in pension reform talks

Jacksonville CFO: money in $44M pension “waiver” is “hiccup” compared to total liability