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A.G. GancarskiJanuary 16, 2017

For the second straight cycle, the Jacksonville City Council is running its committees on a Tuesday — Thursday cycle — a consequence of Monday’s Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. The council mulls a series of bills ahead of next week’s meeting, starting bright and early Tuesday morning in the Neighborhoods, Community Investments, and Services Committee. […]

A.G. GancarskiJanuary 5, 2017

Emails between senior staff in the Jacksonville mayor’s and sheriff’s offices offer a unique look at how legislation is nurtured through the process. The subject of the emails: the ShotSpotter technology that Jacksonville leaders have touted as a possible corrective to the hail of gunshots in high-crime areas. Ordinance 2016-795 will, among other things, “appropriate $435,001 […]

A.G. GancarskiJanuary 3, 2017

Tuesday morning saw the Jacksonville City Council Neighborhoods, Community Investments, and Services committee greenlight a bill that frustrated it in December. The bill would increase city-imposed ticket surcharges for the Veterans Memorial Arena, the Baseball Grounds of Jax, and the Times Union Center for the Performing Arts, while adding surcharges for events at the under construction amphitheater and […]

A.G. GancarskiDecember 6, 2016

A bill allocating $70,000 t0 Jacksonville City Council members for internal costs on “neighborhood events” had gotten some pushback when introduced by Councilman Reggie Brown earlier this year. However, in the current round of committee hearings, the measure is getting traction. The measure cleared Neighborhoods, Community Investments, and Services on Monday. And on Tuesday, the Rules Committee […]

A.G. GancarskiNovember 16, 2016

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On Wednesday afternoon, Jacksonville City Council members convened to discuss a recurrent topic: enforcing regulations in Hemming Park. The so-called “front door to city hall” has encountered challenges of late, with the most recent narrative twist being the mayor’s office saying last week that it was time that the “Friends of Hemming Park” experiment end. […]

A.G. GancarskiNovember 15, 2016

At a press availability Tuesday afternoon across the street from the Cleveland Arms apartment complex, a group of Jacksonville City Council members united to declare that enough is enough when it comes to gun violence. To that end, they are proposing solutions to an epidemic that has seen multiple people shot — most in Northwest Jacksonville […]

A.G. GancarskiNovember 14, 2016

The revival of the Jacksonville Journey was a signature campaign pledge of Mayor Lenny Curry. But over 16 months into his term, violent crime continues in Jacksonville, with a spree of shootings over the weekend. Though the Jacksonville Journey has never been represented as a quick fix for violent crime so much as a program to drive […]

A.G. GancarskiNovember 2, 2016

When Jacksonville City Council President Lori Boyer took the helm this summer, she sought to expand the council’s role as a policymaking body. Primary to that charge were “special committees,” set to immediately follow the regular committee meetings every two weeks. Though some council members have voiced concerns that the special committees present a time burden, committee […]

A.G. GancarskiOctober 19, 2016

Can new rules and stricter enforcement help to regulate the unruly denizens of one of Jacksonville’s showcase parks? Jacksonville City Council members John Crescimbeni and Scott Wilson convened Wednesday to discuss issues related to code and ordinance enforcement in Hemming Park. A recurrent issue over years is problems with park regulars drinking and engaging in other illicit […]

A.G. GancarskiOctober 13, 2016

On Thursday, Jacksonville City Council members Scott Wilson, John Crescimbeni, and Greg Anderson convened to discuss an issue of interest to Wilson: commercial corridors in need of re-development. Wilson, elected in 2015, has contended Jacksonville’s economic incentives policy doesn’t accommodate his district on Jacksonville’s Southside, where many neighborhoods have economic issues, but don’t qualify for incentives in the city’s recently […]

Tag: Scott Wilson
Image via Palatka Main Street.

ShotSpotter gets its shot in Jacksonville council panels

Jacksonville mayor, sheriff’s office prepare for ShotSpotter legislation

Ticket surcharge hike, school board governance bills clear Jacksonville council panel

Neighborhood events bill clears second Jacksonville council panel

Uncertainty over Hemming Park’s future pervades discussion of park rules

Jacksonville City Council members grapple with recent wave of gun violence

Jacksonville Journey discussion reveals fissures on council panel

Jacksonville City Council ‘special committees’ doing well, say chairs

New rules for old problems at Hemming Park

Jacksonville City Council members consider struggling commercial corridors