Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Phil AmmannApril 21, 2017

Is there a politician in Florida right now on more of a hot streak than Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry? This issue of Bold tells the tale. Curry’s pension reform appears to be on a glide path toward ratification — a major accomplishment. His moves toward downtown revitalization have a major shot in the arm, with […]

A.G. GancarskiApril 17, 2017

The press releases promoting Jacksonville’s celebration of National Community Development Week are similar between 2015 and 2017. Both the 2015 and 2017 versions discuss how much money Duval County has derived from federal Community Development Block Grants. This year’s model says that the city has derived $393M from CDBGs since 1975; the 2015 iteration said it […]

Phil AmmannApril 14, 2017

Does Al Lawson ‘get’ Jacksonville? Questions still remain as to whether Congressman Lawson understands Jacksonville, as his visits to the Jacksonville City Council Tuesday, and town hall Wednesday indicate. On Tuesday, one could sense among certain council members (specifically, those representing districts that overlap Lawson’s) a grating irritation over Lawson’s constant use of Eureka Garden […]

Phil AmmannApril 7, 2017

You may notice a running theme with this issue of Bold: much of it deals with crossroads situations (to borrow a phrase from 90s rappers Bone Thugs-N-Harmony). Will the city dredge JAXPORT? Or will years of deliberation and consternation lead — as they so often do — to nothing? Will Corrine Brown beat the rap […]

A.G. GancarskiApril 6, 2017

The city of Jacksonville is girding up for a looming late-April audit of post-Hurricane Matthew spending, much of which could be reimbursed by FEMA. Reimbursement is contingent on a number of factors, according to a letter from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to Jacksonville CAO Sam Mousa. FEMA requires a lot of detail. Among the asks: […]

Peter SchorschMarch 30, 2017

In a sense, Jacksonville is the cradle of Republicanism. The city has a politically active Republican mayor. The City Council: majority Republican. Republican Governor. Republican Legislature. What could go wrong? How about the imminent end of the economic boom? Look at what’s happening to CSX. Hunter Harrison, 72, was brought in to run the operation, […]

A.G. GancarskiMarch 28, 2017

A bill to impose a 90 day moratorium on block parties in Jacksonville was withdrawn from the city council Tuesday evening by NW Jacksonville Democrat Reggie Brown, The legislation (2017-196) posited “a legitimate public purpose in imposing a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 create appropriate local […]

A.G. GancarskiMarch 28, 2017

The national observation of Sexual Assault Awareness Month is in April, yet Jacksonville kicked off the month days early on Tuesday, with city leaders convening in the atrium of the city hall. Jacksonville’s Sexual Assault Advisory Council was created in 1998, intending to bring awareness to the issue and to let victims know they have […]

Staff ReportsMarch 24, 2017

Florida’s unemployment rate held steady at 5 percent in February. This marks the second month in a row the state’s unemployment rate has been at 5 percent, and mirrors the unemployment rate the state experienced in the first two months of 2016, according to the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity. The state added 239,800 jobs […]

A.G. GancarskiMarch 16, 2017

Jacksonville may be Ground Zero for the debate about economic incentives. Local leaders want them, but the local Florida House delegation does not. This week, yet another prominent person in Jacksonville’s City Hall sounded the alarm for state incentives via Enterprise Florida. The Jacksonville Daily Record reports that local OED head Kirk Wendland made the case for […]

Tag: Jacksonville

Jacksonville Bold for 4.21.17 — Political capital, boldfaced

With federal block grants in question, Lenny Curry admin watches and waits

Jacksonville Bold for 4.14.17 — My city was gone

Jacksonville Bold for 4.7.17 — See you at the crossroads

FEMA audit of Jacksonville’s post-Matthew spending looms

Jacksonville Bold 3.31.17 — Too much of a good thing

Fiesta forever: Block party moratorium bill withdrawn from Jacksonville City Council

Jacksonville leaders observe sexual assault awareness month

Florida’s unemployment rate holds steady at 5%

Jacksonville leaders’ arguments for state incentives fall on deaf ears in Tallahassee