Drew WilsonJanuary 23, 2023
3min0
'Raul Arias will be a strong partner with us in our fight to keep Jacksonville safe.'
Tag: Randy WyseImage via DFS
Drew WilsonJanuary 23, 2023
A.G. GancarskiDecember 4, 2018
4min349
Jacksonville City Council committees on Monday and Tuesday approved changes in collective bargaining for fire and police employees that could change health plans. Ordinances 2018-756 and 2018-757 would allow the unions to separate from the city health care plan in 2020. They were passed without opposition in both committees of reference (“Neighborhoods, Community Services, Public Health and […]
A.G. GancarskiFebruary 17, 2017
13min327
On Friday, the Jacksonville Police and Fire Pension Fund held its monthly meeting of trustees. It was the first such meeting since the city agreed to tentative pension deals with the police and fire unions last weekend. As part of that deal, the city will no longer be obligated to the terms of the 2015 […]
A.G. GancarskiFebruary 11, 2017
5min323
The city of Jacksonville on Saturday struck a historic, revolutionary (and still tentative) pension accord with the Fraternal Order of Police and the Jacksonville Association of Firefighters. And not a moment too soon: Feb. 11 was the city’s “deadline” for the unions to take its offer. The deal offers long-delayed raises to current employees (a […]
A.G. GancarskiJanuary 25, 2017
10min660
On Monday, a political ally of Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry filed a bill that would close the Florida Retirement System’s defined benefit plan to new cities. This is particularly relevant to Jacksonville’s police and fire unions, both of which want to see new hires put in the FRS defined benefit plan as a condition of collective bargaining. […]
Peter SchorschJanuary 13, 2017
49min362
Close Call: On Wednesday evening, the reports trickled in from Washington, D.C. Rep. John Rutherford had suffered a medical episode in the U.S. House of Representatives, one which led him to require hospitalization through Thursday. The fear expressed by many: a massive heart attack. That speculation went out on Twitter, and the hours between the incident […]
A.G. GancarskiJanuary 11, 2017
9min286
On Wednesday morning, the city of Jacksonville enhanced its pension/benefits offer to the police union. Wednesday afternoon saw a similar conversation with the fire union. Just as with the police union negotiations, Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry was on hand at the fire union. The tone was more genial, with Curry and Wyse joking about some matters ahead […]
A.G. GancarskiDecember 7, 2016
14min495
[Updated: 6:40 p.m. with commentary from Mike Weinstein, at the bottom of the piece.] In the Jacksonville City Council Finance Committee Wednesday, Mike Weinstein, the city’s CFO, and Tim Johnson, the director of the Police and Fire Pension Fund, discussed a “waiver” in pension cost allocations that had been controversial in recent news cycles. Their joint appearance was […]
A.G. GancarskiNovember 28, 2016
11min284
Steve Zona, the head of the Jacksonville branch of the Fraternal Order of Police, got some backup over the holiday weekend from leaders of the state and national FOP in the biggest debate his union has had in some time. They conveyed a clear message: the FOP has support in what looks to be a protracted […]
A.G. GancarskiNovember 23, 2016
15min538
Tuesday saw the Jacksonville Association of Fire Fighters slamming a pension reform proposal from City Hall. Wednesday saw the Fraternal Order of Police doing the same, offering its own proposals for police and corrections that include raises for all employees, pension benefits rolled back to 2015 levels for extant employees, and the Florida Retirement System […]