Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

A.G. GancarskiJune 15, 2017

When Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry ran for office, he pledged to revive the Jacksonville Journey. Once in office, Curry took steps to do just that, reviving and rebranding the John Peyton initiative as Jax Journey, a Version 2.0 of the original. As Curry nears the halfway mark of his first term, his office deals with the reality of […]

A.G. GancarskiJune 14, 2017

Wednesday morning saw the Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department discuss particulars of the upcoming budget with the Mayor’s Office. JFRD faces a number of pressures: a staffing shortfall, challenges from the uptick in opioid overdoses, and equipment needs. As was the case with the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office on Tuesday, enhancements were certainly going to be […]

A.G. GancarskiJune 13, 2017

As the office of Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry gears up to release its third budget, an interesting area of inquiry is the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office. A real tension in Curry Administration planning in preceding years has been balancing an austerity-level city budget with the need to ramp up public safety. In 2016, some items were crossed […]

A.G. GancarskiJune 7, 2017

Councilman Danny Becton‘s bill (2017-348) obligating the city of Jacksonville to earmark 15 percent of all budget increases to paying down pension debt until 2031 has not met favor with Mayor Lenny Curry. It did no better in the Jacksonville City Council Finance Committee … where it was panned by most members before the bill was “put out […]

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. GancarskiApril 10, 2017

Prologue: A Monday meeting of the Jacksonville Police and Fire Pension Fund centered around the ultimate actuarial impact of Lenny Curry‘s pension reform package, with presented actuarial analysis from the board proving to be more pessimistic than that of the city about rates of tax revenue growth, payroll growth, and amortization schedule. Ultimately, not much of that mattered […]

A.G. GancarskiApril 10, 2017

Thursday saw FloridaPolitics.com offer up three stories on discussions of Jacksonville’s pension reform pitch to the Jacksonville City Council. If you are looking to read reportage of Mayor Lenny Curry‘s remarks, long-form presentation of Curry’s chief lieutenants, reaction of the Jacksonville City Council, use the helpful hypertext links below. However, if you’re looking to read analysis of […]

A.G. GancarskiMarch 17, 2017

The slow walk by the Jacksonville Police and Fire Pension Fund toward policy marginalization continued apace Friday, as the five-person board of trustees offered “review and discussion” of the city’s latest pension proposal. The General Counsel contended earlier this week that the PFPF had no role in the pension decision, arguing that the 2015 pension […]

A.G. GancarskiFebruary 6, 2017

On Monday, the city of Jacksonville and the local Fraternal Order of Police continued its collective bargaining efforts, in a five-hour-plus afternoon session that spilled over into the evening. Going into the session, the main sticking point was a small but meaningful disagreement on raises for current employees, and whether or not new hires would […]

A.G. GancarskiJanuary 25, 2017

As with the morning collective bargaining session with the city’s fire union, the city of Jacksonville’s afternoon session with the police union saw a sweetened offer for police and corrections. But with the sweet comes the sour. The Jacksonville Fraternal Order of Police held firm to the #YesToFRS position for new hires … and opened […]

Tag: Mike Weinstein

Looming reforms cast cloud over Jax Journey budget

Jax Fire and Rescue wrestles with staffing, equipment shortfalls

Jax Sheriff seeks budget enhancements in next fiscal year

Jax Council committee downs extra pension payment bill; Lenny Curry wins again

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

Jax PFPF questions payroll growth assumptions in city pension plan

Critics ‘chirp’, while Lenny Curry surges to the end zone

Jax PFPF Board Chair: ‘I think the mayor’s plan is terrible’

Jacksonville police union advances individual pension contract proposal

Jacksonville, police union haggle over body cameras, pensions