Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

A.G. GancarskiJune 23, 2015

Tuesday’s Lenny Curry transition team budget meetings continue with a foray into Court Administration with Sam Mousa and Judge Mark Mahon. 1:55: A discussion of the new courthouse and the ability to bring services in-house, related to family court services. 1:56: “The growth area is in paternity.” Children born out of wedlock, et al. 1:57: They need […]

A.G. GancarskiJune 23, 2015

The first week of Chief Administrative Officer Sam Mousa‘s budget reviews of city departments for the Lenny Curry transition team is in the books. However, there are limited schedules Tuesday through Thursday. The day starts off with the State Attorney and the Public Defender offices. Fun Fact: Mike Weinstein is a filed candidate for the Public Defender office for […]

A.G. GancarskiJune 23, 2015

A review of public record emails indicates that some veteran hands are poised to brought into the Lenny Curry adminstration. Charles Moreland, like Sam Mousa, is going to be brought onto Lenny Curry’s staff from the transition team in a significant role at $135K per annum. Moreland, a former Fire Department Chief and Director, was an integral […]

A.G. GancarskiJune 23, 2015

This past week, there were four days of Lenny Curry Transition Team Budget Reviews, helmed by new Chief Administrative Officer Sam Mousa. There are three more days of them this week, running Tuesday through Thursday afternoons, but there already is ample opportunity to gauge the winners, and losers, so far. Winner: Mousa. The “Godfather” has gotten laudatory coverage […]

A.G. GancarskiJune 22, 2015

The seventh stop in Florida Gov. Rick Scott‘s “victory lap” across the state was in one of his political strongholds: Jacksonville. The Monday appearance, at the Mudville Grille in Arlington, was an appropriate venue. Known for its hamburgers, it is a great place to serve up red meat for the Republican faithful. The crowd was […]

Peter SchorschJune 22, 2015

There are few people in Florida politics with more influence than Susie Wiles. She’s a managing partner for mega-lobbyist Brian Ballard; she ran the 2010 campaign of little-known outsider, now two-term Gov. Rick Scott; and she has been a gubernatorial appointee to the Republican Party of Florida’s Executive Committee. Wiles’ reach extends outside of Florida […]

A.G. GancarskiJune 22, 2015

Though this reporter’s focus has been on the Sam Mousa budget review marathon, Lenny Curry‘s transition committee meetings continue apace at Jacksonville University. Today, we are sitting in on a couple of these; the first, as the title suggests, is Operations, Human Resources, and Productivity. The big news out of this: a Neighborhoods Department, cut in recent […]

A.G. GancarskiJune 22, 2015

The solipsism of the paper of record. It never gets touted as a subscription benefit for the Florida Times-Union, but it’s a much more reliable feature than their website. You can always count on it, as a recent column from the paper’s editor Frank Denton indicated. It started off fine enough, talking about how Lenny Curry […]

A.G. GancarskiJune 19, 2015

A lot of the discussion regarding the Jacksonville Police and Fire Pension Deal that was approved by the Pension Board by a 4-1 margin on Friday revolved, justifiably, around the yeoman’s work that Mayor Alvin Brown, his Chief of Staff Chris Hand, and the rest of the team did toward getting the basic framework in place. However, the man […]

A.G. GancarskiJune 18, 2015

To borrow a phrase, “here’s what we know (and don’t know) about the Lenny Curry administration.” What we know: Sam Mousa is the new Chief Administrative Officer. What can Jacksonville expect? Well, I’ve spent the last four days listening to the man talk as real with me in the room typing every word as he would if […]

Tag: Lenny Curry

Lenny Curry Transition Budget meetings: Court Administration

Lenny Curry Transition Team Budget Review: State Attorney and Public Defender

Lenny Curry’s staff continues to take shape

Winners, losers from first week of Lenny Curry budget reviews

Rick Scott, Duval Republicans celebrate tax cuts, Session wins

Tax troubles for Jacksonville insider Susie Wiles?

Will Jacksonville have a Neighborhoods Department under the Lenny Curry Administration?

The solipsism of Frank Denton

Lenny Curry on Jax Pension Deal: “A Tremendous Step”

What’s up with Susie Wiles? What about Mike Weinstein?