Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

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 […]

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. GancarskiApril 6, 2017

Jacksonville City Council members, upon hearing the details of the Lenny Curry pension reform plan, seemed optimistic upon first hearing. However, as they were not at the bargaining table, they questioned the parameters of collective bargaining agreements, and wanted more detail on the actuarial projections. ____ Councilman Bill Gulliford, instrumental in the 2015 pension reform deal, said […]

A.G. GancarskiApril 6, 2017

The city of Jacksonville is girding up for a looming late-April audit of post-Hurricane Matthew spending, much of which could be reimbursed by FEMA. Reimbursement is contingent on a number of factors, according to a letter from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to Jacksonville CAO Sam Mousa. FEMA requires a lot of detail. Among the asks: […]

Tag: Sam Mousa
TALLAHASSEE, FLA. 4/18/25-Candles and remembrances are left near the Unconquered statue a few hours after the Florida State University Gathering of Unity Vigil held Friday to honor victims of the recent mass shooting. COLIN HACKLEY PHOTO

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

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

Jacksonville Councilors embrace, question details in Lenny Curry pension pitch

FEMA audit of Jacksonville’s post-Matthew spending looms