Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

A.G. GancarskiAugust 27, 2015

Thursday morning’s Jacksonville Finance Committee budget hearing includes a cavalcade of departments. Interesting talkers include the Human Rights Commission, Downtown Vision, the Jacksonville Journey, and the Jacksonville Children’s Commission. The latter department occasioned a robust discussion of salary raises in independent authorities, with accord from senior administration members and council members that the process needed […]

A.G. GancarskiAugust 27, 2015

Thursday morning’s Jacksonville Finance Committee budget hearing is set to include a potpourri of departments. The first big talker was the budget for the Talent Management program, related to a tuition reimbursement program of $125,000 for Jacksonville Fire and Rescue promotional requirements. That led Councilman John Crescimbeni to ask whether it was part of collective […]

A.G. GancarskiAugust 26, 2015

The Jacksonville City Council Finance Committee continued its budget reviews on Wednesday afternoon. Documents were sparse in terms of change recommendations from Council Auditor Kirk Sherman, yet with the Jacksonville City Council, the potential is always there for lively discussion. The discussion of the Court budget, with Chief Judge Mark Mahon, was notable more for its […]

A.G. GancarskiAugust 26, 2015

Beyond the Liberty Street discussion, there were discussion points of note during Wednesday morning’s Capital Improvement Projects review by the Finance Committee of the Jacksonville City Council. This is by no means an exhaustive recap of these. John Crescimbeni asked for a total recap of this CIP budget compared to the last. About $71 million […]

A.G. GancarskiAugust 26, 2015

On Wednesday morning, the Jacksonville City Council Finance Committee considered the Capital Improvement Projects Budget. As these things go, it was not a spectator sport. The big story: the Liberty Street issue, described as “unsightly” and the consequences of “deferred maintenance” by Council President Greg Anderson. The Liberty Street Collapse was a big talking point for Lenny […]

A.G. GancarskiAugust 14, 2015

Finance Committee Chair Bill Gulliford removed his prop bottle of Advil from his desk before the Friday session. Perhaps that was too optimistic a move. The Jacksonville City Council Finance Committee budget hearings on Friday morning started off with interesting exchanges between Sam Mousa and John Crescimbeni about Fire and Rescue structural issues, before going into a discussion of […]

A.G. GancarskiAugust 13, 2015

The Jacksonville City Council Finance Committee Budget Hearing Day One commenced with the administration overview, then a bracing 165-minute romp through capital improvement projects with Council Auditor Kirk Sherman. As the old song goes, “Let’s get this party started right; let’s get this party started quickly.” Overall, it was a very smooth session, with minor […]

A.G. GancarskiAugust 11, 2015

As the new Jacksonville City Council settles in and bills wend their way through committees, Jacksonville City Council meetings haven’t truly heated up as they will during September’s budget deliberations. However, Jacksonville’s City Council is always a hotbed of entertainment and public interest, and Tuesday evening’s Council conclave was no exception. The Hemming Park funding […]

A.G. GancarskiAugust 10, 2015

What 4th District State Attorney Angela Corey describes as a “grassroots” campaign has an awful lot of long green at its base. About $179,000 of it, according to the July report. Of the $42,635 raised by the Corey campaign in July, many donations came from assistant state attorneys and members of the law enforcement community. Her […]

A.G. GancarskiAugust 4, 2015

For more than a year, the only filed candidate for public defender in Florida’s 4th Judicial Circuit was Mike Weinstein. The former Jacksonville mayoral candidate filed in March 2014, and his filing was active as late as last month. However, his filing has been withdrawn. Weinstein, the chief financial officer in Jacksonville for the Lenny Curry administration, […]

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Sen Rick Scott in Sarasota. Photo by Jacob Ogles.

Lenny Curry addresses Jax Finance Committee budget hearing

JFRD tuition reimbursement under fire at Jax Finance Committee budget review

Jax Finance Committee looks at regulatory compliance, debt affordability

Jax Finance Committee mulls CIP, banking fund

Liberty Street fix highlights Jax CIP budget discussion; Finance backs 2 year plan

Fireworks at Friday morning Jax Council budget hearings

Jax Council budget review morning session addresses UF Health, other issues

Jax City Council approves Hemming Park deal 18-1

Angela Corey raises more than $179K; Wes White has a $700 July

No one now in running for 4th Circuit public defender