Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

A.G. GancarskiNovember 14, 2017

The opioid overdose epidemic continues in Jacksonville, and a Jacksonville City Council Special Committee is still addressing the matter. Even as legislators mull a path forward on treatment, the city is also considering legal action against pharmaceutical companies — continuing a trend we are seeing nationwide. Committee Chairman Bill Gulliford told a story of a 29 […]

A.G. GancarskiNovember 13, 2017

It looks like there will be a competitive race for the Jacksonville City Council District 14 seat after all. Last month saw Earl Testy file as the second Republican in the field, joining Randy DeFoor in the race to succeed Jim Love in the district that runs from Riverside through Avondale and Ortega toward NAS […]

A.G. GancarskiNovember 8, 2017

Three year old Amari Harley and 74 year old Ashley Miller Kraan had very little in common — except that they both drew their last breaths in Jacksonville parks this fall. Harley fell down a hole above a septic tank; the rubber lid was missing. Kraan was stabbed in broad daylight by a man with mental issues. Park […]

A.G. GancarskiNovember 7, 2017

District 12 on the Jacksonville City Council is the heart of the true Westside of Jacksonville, where the accents are authentically local, the politics are right of center, and a person’s word is his bond. Current Councilman Doyle Carter is termed out as of 2019 — but a candidate who has filed to replace him embodies […]

A.G. GancarskiNovember 6, 2017

A Jacksonville City Council bill that would lower distance requirements between the residences of sexual predators and day care centers/schools was deferred Monday in its first committee. Current ordinance mandates a 2,500 feet distance; the bill would lower the distance to 1,500 feet, which is still higher than the state requirement of 1,000 feet. Councilman Bill Gulliford, the […]

A.G. GancarskiOctober 24, 2017

Tuesday evening was, by and large, a typical legislative agenda for the Jacksonville City Council. Not a lot of drama, even on the one bill they voted down. Pension tension: That rejected bill mentioned above; legislation from Danny Becton that attempted to sock more money away for the city’s $3.2 billion unfunded pension liability. Becton’s bill would […]

A.G. GancarskiOctober 24, 2017

Among Jacksonville City Council agenda items this week: moving forward on a lawsuit against Big Pharma for opioids and a study of the future of the Hart Bridge’s off ramps. (Not on the agenda, but worth watching: whether a move to censure two Councilmembers happens or not.) ____ Opioid action: Resolution (2017-674) would allow the city’s general […]

A.G. GancarskiOctober 17, 2017

Last November, Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry made an audacious ask of the Duval County Legislative Delegation: $50M to remove and replace the Hart Bridge offramps. “The ramps were originally designed to bypass the industrialized waterfront,” Curry said in 2016, a purpose outmoded in the half-century since the original construction. Curry’s ask: “To knock the [current] ramp […]

A.G. GancarskiOctober 11, 2017

Tuesday night was rough for Jacksonville City Council President Anna Brosche. Her attempts to stall out a vote on Mayor Lenny Curry‘s children’s program reform, the Kids Hope Alliance, failed. And her allegations of Curry Administration attempts to keep the bill from public view, by having a Councilman introduce a substitute in committee earned a sharp rebuke from […]

A.G. GancarskiOctober 5, 2017

Jacksonville City Council President Anna Brosche took a chance in the wake of Charlottesville violence this summer when she requested an inventory of the city’s Confederate monuments, followed by a potential removal of the monuments. Brosche got hate mail and harassment, and her proposal catalyzed public comment at a number of Council meetings, along with grousing […]

Tag: jacksonville city council

Jax moves closer to opioid lawsuit; lawyers to be chosen in December

Second Republican, Earl Testy, files for Jax Council District 14 seat

Park deaths loom over Jax City Council panel

Randy White seeks Westside seat on Jax City Council

Jax Council panel defers bill changing sexual predator distance requirements

Jacksonville City Council rejects added pension payments

Opioid lawsuit, Hart Bridge study await Jacksonville City Council Tuesday

Hart Bridge ‘design criteria project’ cleared for Jax Council vote

Anna Brosche talks Confederate monuments, censure for Council colleagues

Momentum stalls for Jacksonville Confederate monument removal