Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

A.G. GancarskiAugust 21, 2018

David Taylor, a former Jacksonville City Council Republican candidate who has not been immune to controversy over the years, saw his lawsuit against the Duval County Supervisor of Elections thrown out Tuesday by Judge Robert M. Foster. Taylor’s charge: The special election in District 12 was not publicly announced in a publication of record. The only qualified […]

A.G. GancarskiAugust 16, 2018

A federal court in Jacksonville sided Wednesday with the city of Jacksonville over a challenge filed by former Police and Fire Pension Fund head John Keane because of cuts in his pension benefits. Keane saw his benefits boosted to $234,000 a year by the board instituting the Senior Staff Voluntary Retirement Fund. Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry said […]

A.G. GancarskiJuly 10, 2018

As we reported this morning, Republican Terrance Freeman was selected by Gov. Rick Scott to represent Jacksonville City Council District 10. District 10 is just 19 percent Republican, which suggests that an appointment (in the wake of the suspension of the incumbent) would be the only way a GOP member would get seated. But Freeman, an agreeable […]

A.G. GancarskiJune 1, 2018

Jacksonville’s political class is reeling from Thursday’s federal indictment of City Councilors Katrina Brown and Reggie Brown, which saw the two Democrats slammed with a 38-count conspiracy to defraud. Councilwoman Brown was named in 37 counts; Councilman Brown in 32. Per prosecutors, the two misappropriated federal and city money provided to fund an ultimately failed BBQ sauce […]

A.G. GancarskiFebruary 8, 2018

Empower Jacksonville, a group seeking to allow referendums to change Jacksonville’s charter, received a major, perhaps fatal, setback Thursday from the city’s Office of General Counsel. Empower Jacksonville, associated with the Liberty Counsel, wanted two ballot items voted on in August 2018. The first: a referendum to change the city’s charter to allow citizens to challenge […]

A.G. GancarskiApril 10, 2017

Prologue: A Monday meeting of the Jacksonville Police and Fire Pension Fund centered around the ultimate actuarial impact of Lenny Curry‘s pension reform package, with presented actuarial analysis from the board proving to be more pessimistic than that of the city about rates of tax revenue growth, payroll growth, and amortization schedule. Ultimately, not much of that mattered […]

A.G. GancarskiMarch 27, 2017

A Monday “lunch and learn” of the Jacksonville City Council involved members getting educated on the finer points of collective bargaining. Not a moment too soon for that, as the council will have to vote later this spring on whether or not to ratify the latest pension reform package from the mayor’s office via 11 […]

A.G. GancarskiMarch 17, 2017

The slow walk by the Jacksonville Police and Fire Pension Fund toward policy marginalization continued apace Friday, as the five-person board of trustees offered “review and discussion” of the city’s latest pension proposal. The General Counsel contended earlier this week that the PFPF had no role in the pension decision, arguing that the 2015 pension […]

A.G. GancarskiMarch 17, 2017

On Wednesday, Jacksonville General Counsel Jason Gabriel informed the Jacksonville Police and Fire Pension Fund that it has no voice in the current pension reform package. And ahead of the PFPF meeting on Friday morning, it appears the trustees have taken his message to heart. After a “break” on the agenda, the trustees have scheduled “review and […]

A.G. GancarskiMarch 8, 2017

Though the legislative process for the expansion of Jacksonville Human Rights Ordinance is over, questions have been raised about the unique advocacy role of John Stemberger in the process. Stemberger, an Orlando attorney and head of “Florida Family Action” who also was just appointed to the Constitutional Revision Commission, registered briefly as a lobbyist on the […]

Tag: Jason Gabriel
Supporters celebrate the opening of a wheel-chair accessible playground at Anastasia State Park. Image via Florida State Parks Foundation.

Court throws out Jacksonville City Council special election challenge

Fed court sides with Jacksonville in pension challenge

Jacksonville officials: Rick Scott’s City Council appointee poised to meet residency requirements

Jacksonville in wait and see mode regarding Rick Scott suspending indicted councilors

‘Legally defective & fatally misleading’ – ballot access DQ for Jax anti-LGBT rights group

Jax PFPF questions payroll growth assumptions in city pension plan

Ahead of ratifying pension reform, Jacksonville City Council looks backward

Jax PFPF Board Chair: ‘I think the mayor’s plan is terrible’

Jax PFPF slates ‘review and discussion’ of pension surtax for Friday morning

John Stemberger’s Jacksonville HRO advocacy raised eyebrows in Jacksonville’s city hall