Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

A.G. GancarskiDecember 14, 2017

Jon Heymann, CEO of the Jacksonville Children’s Commission, this week announced his plans to step down effective Jan. 2. This was his second and final resignation. Heyman resigned as CEO of the Jacksonville Children’s Commission previously on May 5th, 2017, “but accepted your agreeable offer to serve for a little longer while the Kids Hope […]

A.G. GancarskiOctober 18, 2017

A week after the Jacksonville City Council passed his Kids Hope Alliance bill, Mayor Lenny Curry signed the reform bill into law Wednesday. The KHA, a new seven-person board that will replace the Jacksonville Children’s Commission and the Jacksonville Journey, will command a roughly $35M budget for services for what the Mayor calls “at-hope kids,” […]

A.G. GancarskiOctober 10, 2017

Tuesday night saw the Jacksonville City Council pass a bill authorizing the Kids Hope Alliance, a new seven-person board that will replace the Jacksonville Children’s Commission and the Jacksonville Journey. The bill passed 18-1 , after a chippy discussion that lasted almost four hours, exposing and exacerbating fissures on the Council that have moved from […]

A.G. GancarskiOctober 10, 2017

On one side, there’s the Mayor. Lenny Curry asserts that his proposed Kids Hope Alliance bill is the “real reform” Jacksonville children’s services need. On the other side, there’s Council President Anna Brosche, who asserts the process needs to be more deliberate and transparent. And there’s also Council Finance Chair Garrett Dennis, who has his own bill for […]

A.G. GancarskiOctober 3, 2017

Monday saw a Jacksonville City Council committee move Mayor Lenny Curry‘s children’s program re-orginization — the Kids Hope Alliance (KHA) — through by a 6 to 1 vote. Discussion of the bill to replace the Jacksonville Children’s Commission and Jacksonville Journey was brutal. It took over three hours, and it became clear that one primary skeptic of the bill […]

A.G. GancarskiOctober 2, 2017

Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry‘s Kids Hope Alliance bill cleared the first of three City Council committees Monday. And he was on hand, at least at the outset of a discussion that sprawled for almost three hours, to make sure that happened. The bill, which seeks to consolidate functions and programs of the Jacksonville Journey and Jacksonville Children’s […]

A.G. GancarskiAugust 24, 2017

Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry unveiled ambitious reforms to Jacksonville children’s programs earlier this summer. And when he launched the bill at a press conference, 14 Jacksonville City Council members raised their hands in support of the bill he sold to them, one by one, in the days before that high-profile presser. The Jacksonville Children’s Commission and […]

A.G. GancarskiAugust 8, 2017

Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry and City Councilman Garrett Dennis agree that more money is needed for Duval County’s after-school programs. However, they are on what Dennis called “different pages” regarding how much is needed. A need for resolution looms and will be provided at Council Tuesday night. And that resolution looks likely to come out of one-time, […]

A.G. GancarskiAugust 2, 2017

After months of deliberation, Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry rolled out long-promised reforms of the Jacksonville Children’s Commission and Jacksonville Journey this week. After a summer of bumpy news cycles for the JCC, in which summer camp funding issues were revealed, followed by after-school program funding issues, with an exasperated email from Curry’s chief administrative officer saying that […]

A.G. GancarskiJuly 31, 2017

Monday morning saw Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry and City Council President Anna Brosche announce that $1.071M of new money would be available for after school programs this coming academic year. With reforms to be announced Wednesday morning at a press conference for the Jacksonville Children’s Commission and the Jacksonville Journey this week, this is another short-term solution to a problem […]

Tag: Jacksonville Children’s Commission

Deja Vu: Jon Heymann resigns from Jacksonville Children’s Commission

With Kids Hope Alliance bill, Lenny Curry consolidated Jax City Council behind his vision

Mayor wins: After acrimony, Jacksonville City Council passes Kids Hope Alliance bill

Jax Council bucks President, moves Kids Hope Alliance to vote

Panel defers Lenny Curry’s ‘Kids Hope Alliance’ proposal

Despite pushback, ‘Kids Hope Alliance’ bill clears first Jax City Council committee

Jax Councilors won’t ‘rubberstamp’ Mayor’s children’s program reforms

After-school funding showdown looms in Jax City Council

With Council behind him, Lenny Curry introduces Jax children’s program reforms

More money for Jax after-school programs as Lenny Curry pushes for reform