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A.G. GancarskiJune 27, 2017

The annual review of departmental budgets continued Tuesday morning in the office of Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry, with Public Works on tap. Though not exactly a hot topic, the discussion was made more lively by repeated questions from the Mayor’s Budget Review Committee to Public Works people about specific line items. And made more lively still, […]

A.G. GancarskiJune 26, 2017

Jacksonville, like all major Florida cities, faces health challenges. And the Health Department budget, via City Hall, is a great starting point to seeing priorities. One such priority has to do with Jacksonville’s youngest residents: the aftermath of a lapsed co-location with Agape Health Services, which has now secured other space on the Westside. They […]

A.G. GancarskiJune 26, 2017

The office of Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry continued its budget review Monday, with a romp through the Finance and Administration budget. The department is more fully-staffed than it was two years ago, when it was “decimated,” per Chief Administrative Officer Sam Mousa, yet points for discussion abounded. As is often the case with these hearings, the news […]

A.G. GancarskiJune 20, 2017

Just months ago, Jacksonville passed its pension reform package, which will give the city approximately $150M of budget relief from costs of its unfunded pension liability in terms of next year’s budget. While raises for city workers, to be phased in over the next three fiscal years, will consume a lot of that relief, rest […]

A.G. GancarskiJune 19, 2017

In May 2016, Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry and Councilman Garrett Dennis came together to announce a drowning prevention initiative. Swim lessons for children in poorer areas of town were paid for by private grants, and at the time it was one of those stories that some observers didn’t even think was worthy of coverage. Over a year […]

A.G. GancarskiJune 19, 2017

A little over two weeks ago, Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry and a number of City Council members called a presser to announce a stopgap resolution of a problem months in the making: insufficient funding for summer camps. The Jacksonville Children’s Commission, which greenlighted the process, was trying to privilege quality over quantity. Yet, as camp […]

A.G. GancarskiJune 16, 2017

As part of our continuing coverage of the budget process in Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry’s office, we were on hand for Friday’s consideration of non-departmental expenditures heading into the next fiscal year. The biggest news? A potential increase of the city’s emergency reserve level, something that was discussed in Jacksonville City Council committees months back. The city […]

A.G. GancarskiJune 16, 2017

A year ago, when the city of Jacksonville was formulating its budget, there was a different State Attorney in Florida’s 4th Circuit. Angela Corey was running for her third term, facing a challenge from the woman who destroyed her in the GOP Primary months later: Melissa Nelson. Nelson ran on a platform of “smart justice,” a […]

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 […]

Tag: Sam Mousa

Fireworks animate Jax Public Works budget review

Health Department concerned about infant mortality in Jacksonville

Jax Mayor’s Office plows through Finance & Administration budget

Hard choices loom for Lenny Curry’s staff in Jax capital budget

What $200K for swim lessons says about Jax fiscal philosophy

How reform might look for Jacksonville’s children programs

Jacksonville considers raising emergency reserve level

IT the focus of Melissa Nelson’s first budget as State Attorney

Looming reforms cast cloud over Jax Journey budget

Jax Fire and Rescue wrestles with staffing, equipment shortfalls