Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

A.G. GancarskiApril 12, 2017

A Wednesday afternoon meeting of the Jacksonville City Council was intended to facilitate deeper inquiry into Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry‘s ambitious pension reform package. However, the big news was the downward impact of adjustments to payroll growth projections and COLA calculations after Monday’s meeting of the Police and Fire Pension Fund. “We still save a lot. […]

A.G. GancarskiMarch 29, 2017

The future of CRAs, or Community Redevelopment Agencies, is in flux on the state level, with CS/HB 13 and SB 1770 both proposing substantial alterations to the process. Meanwhile, on the local level, a robust debate has occurred related to whether or not the JIA CRA should be phased out. District 7 Councilman Reggie Gaffney, as reported in […]

A.G. GancarskiMarch 27, 2017

Earlier this month, “KJB Specialties D/B/A Jerome Brown BBQ” a business owned by the family of Jacksonville City Councilwoman Katrina Brown, filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy. With that filing comes a need to work out details: among them, salaries of the company’s officers. Last week, the councilor’s parents, JoAnn Brown and Jerome Brown, filed motions for an emergency hearing […]

A.G. GancarskiMarch 9, 2017

The city of Jacksonville has thus far been frustrated by its dealings with CoWealth, LLC, the family business of Councilwoman Katrina Brown. Frustrations continue this week, with a curious legal filing from CoWealth on Wednesday that led to a sharp response from the city on Thursday. CoWealth LLC, one of the Brown family’s group of nebulously named […]

A.G. GancarskiMarch 8, 2017

Wednesday saw the Jacksonville City Council’s Finance Committee pass bills related to small business microfinancing, city contractor jobs for ex-offenders, and the council travel budget for groups like the Florida League of Cities. The full council will vote on these bills Tuesday night. ____ Microfinance: 2016-486 revives the city’s Access to Capital program for Jacksonville’s Small and […]

A.G. GancarskiMarch 6, 2017

KJB Specialties, a business owned by the family of Jacksonville City Councilwoman Katrina Brown, was slapped with a $3,130 sales and use tax lien last Friday. The Browns’ various shell companies are deeply in hock to public and private creditors, related to a barbeque sauce plant expansion that failed to create jobs (or, apparently, fiscal sustainability). […]

A.G. GancarskiFebruary 23, 2017

A bill filed earlier this year in the Jacksonville City Council to ensure more job opportunities for ex-offenders got deferred in its third committee stop Thursday. The Associated Builders and Contractors pushed back on the bill throughout the committee process, and council members fell in line, with increasing resistance in Wednesday’s committees leading to the pause on […]

A.G. GancarskiFebruary 23, 2017

Hours before the Thursday morning meeting of the Jacksonville City Council Finance Committee, we can report that a member’s business faces a foreclosure suit. CoWealth LLC, the family business of Jacksonville City Councilwoman Katrina Brown, was named Tuesday as a co-defendant in a foreclosure suit filed by BizCapital of New Orleans. Other co-defendants include two more Brown […]

A.G. GancarskiFebruary 21, 2017

The long and winding battle of KJB Specialties, a business owned by the family of Jacksonville City Councilwoman Katrina Brown, may be reaching a denouement. In response to a foreclosure action was filed in Duval County by Florida Capital Bank on a property associated with “KJB Specialties.”, KJB filed a motion this week to extend time to file a […]

A.G. GancarskiFebruary 14, 2017

While the Human Rights Ordinance expansion is the biggest item being considered Tuesday by the Jacksonville City Council, it’s not the only one. Below, a preview of what to watch in Council Chambers. *** Margin Call: On Tuesday, the Jacksonville City Council has a decision to make: will the city protect LGBT rights as other major […]

Tag: Katrina Brown

‘Slight adjustments’ drive City Council pushback to Jax pension reform projections

Jacksonville councilors fight proposed JIA CRA sunset

Emergency hearing looms in Jax councilor’s family biz bankruptcy case

Jax councilor’s family business, Jacksonville spar over eco dev default

Access to Capital, ex-offender jobs, travel budget bills cleared for full Jacksonville City Council

Jacksonville councilor’s family business hit with another tax lien

Jacksonville ex-offender jobs bill gets deferred by council panel

Jax City Councilwoman’s business hit with yet another foreclosure suit

KJB Specialties hires attorney specializing in bankruptcy cases

HRO expansion is not the only story in Jacksonville City Council Tuesday