Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

A.G. GancarskiJanuary 4, 2017

While the introduction of another legislative attempt to expand Jacksonville’s Human Rights Ordinance drew the TV cameras Wednesday, another bill designed to remedy discrimination was introduced the same day. Councilman Garrett Dennis filed Ordinance 2017-16, “encouraging the City of Jacksonville and its independent agencies and authorities under the code to provide positive steps to correct or eliminate […]

A.G. GancarskiJanuary 4, 2017

Jacksonville’s homicide rate gets all the press. Yet the rate of deaths via drug overdose exceeds it. And a prominent city councilman wants action. An email from Duval County’s Medical Examiner’s office laid it out: from the beginning of January until mid-November, Jacksonville experienced 345 drug overdose deaths. In terms of casualties, whites and males […]

A.G. GancarskiJanuary 4, 2017

For the second time in ten months, the city of Jacksonville will bring aboard a new chief of real estate. Renee Hunter, an alumna of the University of Wisconsin’s journalism school and of the Florida Coastal School of Law, will be “official” pending confirmation by the city council. Hunter is no stranger to work in […]

A.G. GancarskiJanuary 3, 2017

Tuesday morning saw the Jacksonville City Council Neighborhoods, Community Investments, and Services committee greenlight a bill that frustrated it in December. The bill would increase city-imposed ticket surcharges for the Veterans Memorial Arena, the Baseball Grounds of Jax, and the Times Union Center for the Performing Arts, while adding surcharges for events at the under construction amphitheater and […]

A.G. GancarskiJanuary 2, 2017

Now that 2017 is all but upon us — after a tumultuous 2016 electorally — what’s next for Northeast Florida politics? One assurance: unlike in 2016, with a massive electoral turnover in the region’s Washington and Tallahassee delegations, as well as in both the state attorney and public defender offices, 2017 won’t see that. With […]

A.G. GancarskiDecember 30, 2016

The biggest moment in Jacksonville politics in 2016 was the August passage of a referendum unlocking future local sales tax proceeds to address pension debt, provided collective bargaining closes at least one of the city’s current pension plans. Considered to be an audacious, high-risk play when the initiative was formally launched early in 2016, former […]

A.G. GancarskiDecember 28, 2016

Subpoenas with a side of sauce. That’s one way to sum up the year. In Jacksonville politics, 2016 started with subpoenas being delivered to Rep. Corrine Brown and her clique at a barbecue place on the Northside. And it ended with a raid on Councilwoman Katrina Brown’s familial barbecue sauce plant on the Westside. Katrina […]

A.G. GancarskiDecember 27, 2016

When 2016 kicked off, the world was different, and our political prognoses reflected those false assurances. We didn’t imagine President Donald Trump on a national level. We figured Hillary Clinton would end up taking on Jeb Bush or Marco Rubio in the general election. And we expected the rhetoric would sound like the previous two or three campaigns. Regarding #jaxpol, we had a pretty good […]

A.G. GancarskiDecember 21, 2016

The front entrance to Jacksonville’s City Hall is substantially renovated, and is open ahead of the anticipated January 2017 date of completion. The schedule was “purposely accelerated to have the project complete before the holidays,” even as “minor grouting and cleanup work remain.” That’s the good news. The bad news is that the project, budgeted […]

A.G. GancarskiDecember 21, 2016

According to the Jacksonville City Council auditor’s report, FY 2016 was a good year for the city of Jacksonville’s budget, highlighted by a $29 million favorable variance in a $1.1 billion budget. Revenues were $15 million above budgetary expectations, and expenditures were $14 million under projections. However, underneath the rosy picture, the report spotlighted issues with pension […]

Tag: Jacksonville

Jacksonville City Council to mull equal opportunity ordinance

Jacksonville councilman decries drug overdose ‘epidemic’

Former assistant state attorney to become Jacksonville real estate chief

Ticket surcharge hike, school board governance bills clear Jacksonville council panel

A.G. Gancarski’s 10 predictions for Jacksonville politics in 2017

Future sales tax referendum bills could be restricted to general election ballot

Subpoenas with a side of sauce: The 10 biggest #JaxPol stories of 2016

A.G. Gancarski surveys the wreckage of his 2016 predictions

Jacksonville City Hall renovations done, but $80K over budget

FY 16 a boon for Jacksonville’s budget, but questions loom