Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

A.G. GancarskiOctober 13, 2015

Finally, Jacksonville City Council meetings are lively again. Between reactions to a good chunk of Council being sued for texting a lobbyist during a budget meeting, the removal of a Lenny Curry appointment of Jay Demetree from the consent agenda, and a public comment protest campaign planned in reaction to the replacement of Planning Commission member Joey McKinnon […]

A.G. GancarskiOctober 9, 2015

One of the controversies that won’t go away in #jaxpol is the narrative revolving around Jacksonville City Council members Reggie Brown, Katrina Brown, Scott Wilson, Tommy Hazouri, and Reggie Gaffney texting with Jacksonville firefighters union head Randy Wyse during city budget deliberations. Wyse was pushing, as Chris Hong reported in The Florida Times-Union, to ensure […]

A.G. GancarskiOctober 8, 2015

The persistent, percussive oomph of oom-pah polka filled the air, drowning out the off-record conversations among elected officials and those they represent in Hemming Plaza on Wednesday night, as Jacksonville’s storied Art Walk held its third Oktoberfest celebration. The main attraction for political watchers: Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry, who was joined by longtime Jaguars mascot Curtis “Jaxson […]

A.G. GancarskiOctober 7, 2015

During the budget deliberations of the late summer, concerns were raised about Jacksonville’s Public Service Grants process. Complaints ranged from arbitrary scoring and a less-than-committed group of scorers to a process that had been overtly politicized in the past. To that end, Council President Greg Anderson authorized a committee to look into refining the process […]

A.G. GancarskiOctober 5, 2015

The long-awaited JTA presentation to the Jacksonville Transportation, Energy, and Utilities Committee on the way forward for the much-maligned Skyway finally occurred on Monday afternoon. Scheduled originally for a committee meeting in September, scheduling confusion pushed back the original presentation. The options on the table range from overhauling vehicles, creating new vehicles, decommissioning the Skyway once obsolete, […]

A.G. GancarskiOctober 5, 2015

The Jacksonville City Council Finance Committee resumed on Monday morning after a three week hiatus. Highlights abounded. Finance Committee Chair Bill Gulliford addressed the stalled out forensic audit of the Police and Fire Pension Fund, and the preliminary findings were not good. Essentially, the auditor got stonewalled for “informational needs” and Gulliford urged that the Finance Committee […]

A.G. GancarskiSeptember 25, 2015

On Thursday, when walking to Jacksonville’s City Hall, I talked with a couple of Jacksonville Fire and Rescue personnel (in separate conversations) who were pretty happy about the Jacksonville City Council’s decision, made on a second vote, to take $320,000 from the stormwater fund and put it toward maintaining the positions of 17 district chiefs. […]

A.G. GancarskiSeptember 22, 2015

Sitting in his office on the fourth floor of Jacksonville’s City Hall just twelve hours after the Fiscal Year 2016 budget was approved by Council, District 7 Councilman Reggie Gaffney is interested in what comes next. “Now that the budget’s over,” Gaffney said, he intends to “turn [his] attention to downtown development.” His timeframe is compact. […]

A.G. GancarskiSeptember 21, 2015

The Jacksonville City Council officially approved the FY 16 budget and related bills on Monday evening. Leading off the meeting, Council President Greg Anderson quipped, regarding the jampacked Chambers, “I wonder why you’re all here tonight.” The Capital Improvement Plan was approved without discussion or exception (though a floor amendment at the end changed that), as […]

A.G. GancarskiSeptember 14, 2015

On Monday, the Jacksonville City Council Finance Committee mulled a packed agenda, including pushing forward on inquiring into the validity of the Police and Fire Pension Fund Senior Staff Voluntary Retirement Plan, a measure that will yet again be considered by the full Council next Monday. • 2014-769, which was referred back to Finance under […]

Tag: Reggie Gaffney
Image via Facebook (Gainesville Regional Utilities).

Planning Commission drama enlivens Jacksonville City Council

Jax City Council “Text-ghazi”: much ado about nothing?

Lenny Curry leads Jax Artwalk Oktoberfest celebration

Jax Public Service Grants committee wrestles with process

Jacksonville Transportation Authority presents Skyway options to Council TEU committee

Jax Finance Committee proposes subpoena of PFPF forensic audit records

Did text messages sway the Jax City Council firefighter pay boost vote?

With Jax budget done, Reggie Gaffney looks ahead

Jax City Council approves FY16 budget

Jax City Council Finance Committee OKs PFPF probe