Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

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. GancarskiMarch 13, 2017

A current Jacksonville Sheriff and a former Heisman Trophy winner both have speaking engagements in Jacksonville Monday evening. ____ Jacksonville University Public Policy Institute students will have a unique opportunity to hear local Sheriff Mike Williams on Monday at 6 p.m. Williams will be involved in a “classroom presentation and policy discussion” via a class at […]

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 […]

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 31, 2017

A message from Jacksonville Sheriff Mike Williams to the Fraternal Order of Police was conveyed Tuesday: take the city’s pension deal. Jacksonville has been in the process of renegotiating the pension plans of all of its unions, but police and fire have offered the most urgency. The real sticking point, beyond finding an appropriate level of […]

A.G. GancarskiDecember 28, 2016

Subpoenas with a side of sauce. That’s one way to sum up the year. In Jacksonville politics, 2016 started with subpoenas being delivered to Rep. Corrine Brown and her clique at a barbecue place on the Northside. And it ended with a raid on Councilwoman Katrina Brown’s familial barbecue sauce plant on the Westside. Katrina […]

A.G. GancarskiDecember 14, 2016

The crossroads for pension plans for new hires in Jacksonville is here, and is casting a shadow over virtually every aspect of the city’s future. The latest bond rating trip for the city, for example, saw the pension issue – and whether or not Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry will succeed in getting at least one […]

A.G. GancarskiDecember 12, 2016

On Monday afternoon, FloridaPolitics.com caught up with Jacksonville Sheriff Mike Williams and got his thoughts on an issue of key importance to the rank and file. Specifically, the pension negotiations currently underway between the city of Jacksonville and the Fraternal Order of Police. Sheriff Williams and Mayor Lenny Curry have messaged symbiotically on public safety concerns; however, […]

A.G. GancarskiNovember 21, 2016

More transparency. More community engagement. More meetings. More body cameras. And higher millage rates. And that August pension reform referendum? Spoiler: that sales tax extension is not going to provide enough money to pay for what’s needed. Such insights abounded in the long-awaited final report from the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office‘s strategic initiative task forces. It […]

A.G. GancarskiNovember 14, 2016

Jacksonville’s epidemic of gun violence in 2016 (106 homicides thus far) has been bookended in 2016 by the deaths of two of the youngest, most innocent victims imaginable. In January on Jacksonville’s Eastside, 22-month-old Aiden McClendon was gunned down as the toddler sat in a car with relatives. Another car drove by, and bullets sprayed […]

Tag: Mike Williams

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

Mike Williams, Tim Tebow to speak on Monday in Jacksonville

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

Jacksonville police union advances individual pension contract proposal

Jacksonville sheriff backs Lenny Curry’s pension reform proposal

Subpoenas with a side of sauce: The 10 biggest #JaxPol stories of 2016

John Rutherford, a former Jacksonville sheriff, discusses police pensions

Mike Williams wants ‘competitive pay and benefit package’ for new police hires

Transparency, taxpayer money billed as solutions to Jacksonville police problems

Murder of Jacksonville infant illustrates a larger struggle