Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

A.G. GancarskiSeptember 28, 2017

The case of Jacksonville City Councilman Reggie Gaffney and his troublesome license plate rages on, a full ten days after he was pulled over by police officers for driving with a license plate he had previously reported stolen. Since then, Gaffney has profusely apologized for his conduct during the stop — first at the front of […]

A.G. GancarskiSeptember 28, 2017

Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry, Sheriff Mike Williams, and 4th Circuit State Attorney Melissa Nelson talked to press at City Hall Thursday. And as such meetings go, this one had myriad purposes. One such purpose: to discuss public safety spending in the new $1.27B city budget, passed Tuesday unanimously by the City Council. The other, more holistic purpose: to […]

A.G. GancarskiAugust 22, 2017

Gary Snow, a provocateur who came to Jacksonville during the height of the 2016 campaign and continued his ad vocacy for Donald Trump after the election, was arrested in Bradenton for protest antics on Monday. Snow, reports Jenna Bourne of Action News Jax (via the Bradenton Herald), was charged with “misdemeanor riot,” after police interfered in a scuffle between Snow […]

A.G. GancarskiAugust 17, 2017

The Thursday morning agenda for the Jacksonville City Council’s Finance Committee’s budget review was filled with an assortment of departments. The Public Defender and the State Attorney. The Tax Collector. The Supervisor of Elections. All of these and a couple more besides. Of the greatest interest: the PD and the SAO, both of those offices […]

A.G. GancarskiAugust 9, 2017

Wednesday saw 4th Circuit State Attorney Melissa Nelson address the Southside Business Men’s Club. Nelson, who assumed office at the start of the year, is in the tail end of her honeymoon period. She’s been given a wide berth by many locals — media and otherwise — who remember the excesses of the Angela Corey era and […]

A.G. GancarskiJune 16, 2017

A year ago, when the city of Jacksonville was formulating its budget, there was a different State Attorney in Florida’s 4th Circuit. Angela Corey was running for her third term, facing a challenge from the woman who destroyed her in the GOP Primary months later: Melissa Nelson. Nelson ran on a platform of “smart justice,” a […]

A.G. GancarskiMay 10, 2017

Fulfilling a campaign promise from 2016, 4th Circuit State Attorney Melissa Nelson rolled out on Wednesday an initiative designed to increase the use of civil citations for juvenile offenders, via a memorandum of understanding among various local and regional agencies. “This new agreement for pre-arrest diversion will expand and enhance the juvenile civil citation program uniformly […]

A.G. GancarskiMarch 28, 2017

The national observation of Sexual Assault Awareness Month is in April, yet Jacksonville kicked off the month days early on Tuesday, with city leaders convening in the atrium of the city hall. Jacksonville’s Sexual Assault Advisory Council was created in 1998, intending to bring awareness to the issue and to let victims know they have […]

A.G. GancarskiMarch 13, 2017

As we previewed last week, Jacksonville City Councilman Tommy Hazouri is looking to implement the next phase of the city’s response to human trafficking. In 2016, the city began a response, with awareness signs posted in strip clubs and massage parlors. However, Hazouri believes more can be done — and on Monday, the veteran pol met […]

A.G. GancarskiFebruary 15, 2017

Wednesday morning saw Jacksonville leadership announce and discuss a new initiative that stakeholders hope will abate the surge in gun violence in the Northeast Florida city. This initiative, conceived during a conversation between the mayor and the state attorney last month, may prove to be an indispensable investigative tool at a reasonable price. Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry, Sheriff Mike […]

Tag: Melissa Nelson

Jacksonville Sheriff, State Attorney talk Reggie Gaffney’s ‘Plategate’

Public safety – and reform – a big focus in Jacksonville’s new budget

Gary Snow, pro-Trump provocateur from Jacksonville, busted in Bradenton

Jax City Council mulls Public Defender, State Attorney budgets, processes

Melissa Nelson outlines reform path, accomplishments of State Attorney’s office

IT the focus of Melissa Nelson’s first budget as State Attorney

Melissa Nelson rolls out juvenile civil citations MOU

Jacksonville leaders observe sexual assault awareness month

Jacksonville leaders move on human trafficking, an ‘industry without borders’

Could NIBIN stem the tide of gun violence in Jacksonville’s streets?