Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

A.G. GancarskiJuly 20, 2015

As our Reggie Brown interview indicated, there is a mood of what Ronald Reagan called “trust but verify” regarding the new Lenny Curry budget. This mood permeated Monday’s Finance Committee meeting, as one might expect. Powerful local lobbyist Paul Harden pushed for action on a bill that would push $1.2M for one of his clients, Steve Leggett, for repayment […]

A.G. GancarskiJuly 17, 2015

The Jacksonville City Council has set its 2015/2016 finance budget hearing meeting dates for Lenny Curry’s first budget. Fans of municipal budget hearings can look forward to seven daylong meetings over the course of 15 days. The meetings will take place Aug. 13 and 14. Then, a break until Aug. 20 and 21. Finally, the cycle […]

A.G. GancarskiJuly 3, 2015

At Thursday’s lunch meeting between the Jacksonville City Council and Mayor Lenny Curry, a surprisingly robust topic was the issue of grants. Councilman Tommy Hazouri said that the city had “missed the boat” on effective grant writing during the Alvin Brown administration. John Crescimbeni talked about the use of outside grant writers, and how $30,000 over two years […]

A.G. GancarskiJune 10, 2015

The big news that came out of Jacksonville’s City Council meeting on Tuesday night is the passage of 2015-304: the Police and Fire Pension Deal, by a 14-4 margin. Those against it (Lori Boyer, John Crescimbeni, Bill Bishop, and Matt Schellenberg) made their arguments. But the fact was that Councilman Bill Gulliford and his impassioned […]

A.G. GancarskiJune 3, 2015

There are, to be sure, a few secrets that are closely guarded in Duval County politics. However, the new Jacksonville City Council president and vice-president were not among them. Councilmembers-elect were confirming even last week that the new president would be Greg Anderson and Lori Boyer would be the next vice-president. So it was written. And […]

A.G. GancarskiJune 2, 2015

On Tuesday morning, the Finance Committee of the Jacksonville City Council met and deliberated a number of key bills, including the Police and Fire Pension Deal and the funding for the much-advertised “90 Day Audit” that Mayor-elect Lenny Curry promised during the campaign. The pension deal was the main event, of course, and it passed through committee […]

A.G. GancarskiJune 1, 2015

The big news out of the first Jacksonville City Council Rules Committee meeting of June is that 2015-304, an iteration of the Police and Fire Pension Deal (one which is in many respects similar to the deal that was spiked by the full council 9-9 in March) passed 5 to 2, and will hit the […]

A.G. GancarskiMarch 30, 2015

Jacksonville’s First Election, held last Tuesday, settled the majority of the Council district races: Aaron Bowman, Matt Schellenberg, Garrett Dennis, John Crescimbeni, Doyle Carter, Reggie Brown and Jim Love all won outright, joining Bill Gulliford, Lori Boyer, and Danny Becton, who ran unopposed. There are still five Council races headed toward a May 19 runoff, however, and with that in mind, here is a quick […]

A.G. GancarskiMarch 27, 2015

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With 16 Jacksonville City Council seats up for grabs on Tuesday (three candidates ran unopposed), there were obviously winners and losers to be found across the board. This post will evaluate the five At Large races, looking at who might have outperformed expectations and who didn’t achieve what seemed possible before the election. A separate […]

Kevin MeerschaertMarch 26, 2015

The Jacksonville City Council once again rejected a police and fire-pension reform plan championed by Mayor Alvin Brown. The proposal was defeated on a 9-9 vote, falling short of the majority needed to pass. There was a long debate on several amendments that if approved likely would have gotten the legislation approved. One would have […]

Tag: John Crescimbeni

Jax City Council: On Lenny Curry budget, “the devil’s in the details”

Jax City Council Finance Committee sets budget hearing dates

Military and police grants going Jacksonville’s way

Bill Gulliford wins: Jacksonville passes police and fire pension deal 14-4

Greg Anderson, Lori Boyer elected as Jax Council officers

Jax Police and Fire Pension deal moves through Finance Committee

Bill Gulliford police, fire pension bill clears Jax Rules Committee

Jacksonville City Council runoff elections are full of drama and intrigue

Jax At Large council races: winners and losers

Jax City Council rejects (again) pension reform plan