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JEA Board: Professional courtesy is lacking and that’s a stinker!
One month ago today I wrote a Letter to the JEA Board. We asked that the Board respond to our questions and we asked them to do so within ten days. We ended that letter with this quote: “JEA is a unique concept as an Independent Agency. It’s well run and employs wonderful people from…
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City Council Committee: JEA should not be sold. Never, ever sell the cow.
A special committee of the City Council has spent months digging into one of the city’s largest assets, Jacksonville Electric Authority (JEA). That hard work and mountains of information has paid off big for JEA customers and all taxpayers. Their recommendation is to keep JEA as a municipal-owned utility and not place it on the…
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$1.8 Million paid by Duval County taxpayers for lawsuits. What say you?
Last year, various mishaps and miscues involving city employees or city property cost the taxpayers $1.8 million. That’s a bite but it is nothing out of the ordinary. It happens in every city. Most of the incidents involved the police and fire departments and the JEA. Vehicles struck cars owned by citizens or other damage…
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What’s up with the Mystery of the Missing City of Jacksonville Audit
For some reason, the city’s annual audit is missing. City Hall says it is because the auditors asked for extra time. But others are wondering. The Comprehensive Annual Financial Report for 2016-17 should have been received and posted online weeks ago. It would show what the city’s income and expenses actually were, compared to the…
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Mayor Curry: Jax on the Rise? Yep. Rising crime and gunfights downtown.
Mayor Lenny Curry is touting in his campaign ads that Jacksonville is on the Rise. I have to agree with him on that point – Crime IS rising in Jacksonville. We woke up Monday morning to this headline: Shootout leaves bullet holes in two downtown Jacksonville office towers No this isn’t the wild, wild…
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Teamsters with typewriters: Florida Times Union going Union?
To cement their credentials as card-carrying liberals – not that there was much doubt – the reporters in the newsroom of the Florida Times-Union now are looking to join a union. Their complaint is that they are not making enough money. Oh, and they lack “dignity.” Of course, there is another route if they wanted…
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Happy to give a WINK to the JEA Board today
The JEA Board has taken a few Stinks of late and we are happy to be able to give a Wink today. The search is underway for a new CEO to run the utility. In an Open Letter to the JEA Board, we questioned why two qualified internal candidates had been crossed over for the…
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JEA customers: Read & Share ’cause something is Stinking at JEA and it’s not sewage
In a recent letter by JEA’s Interim CEO Aaron Zahn (a supporter of Mayor Curry) addressed to the JEA board and city officials he believes…the BULK of the proceeds from a $18.5 million land sale should be DONATED to the City. Donated? Yes you read that right. Donated instead of paying back JEA (that would…
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JTA dreaming big. Could it turn into taxpayers’ nightmares AGAIN?
Is the Jacksonville Transportation Authority getting ahead of the curve? To its credit, the JTA is trying to get away from the seldom-used Skyway, which cost $185 million to build in the 1980s – $42 million of it from local taxpayers. Currently it is costing $6 million a year to operate. There were 2,740 trips…
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Here we go again: City planners are known for making lofty, dreamy, expensive plans and this one seems to fit the pattern.
Downtown boosters have mangled the word “catalyst” pretty badly over the years. Friendship Park was supposed to be a catalyst for downtown redevelopment. Other projects that got hung with the label were Hemming Plaza, new City Hall, the Skyway, etc . But one that seemed to actually earn the title was the Jacksonville Landing. It…
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Iconic Jacksonville Landing’s heart is broken. Can we Make Her Great Again?
Eye has been following the sad situation with The Jacksonville Landing dispute between the Mayor and the Owners. If buildings had a heart, certainly the Landing’s would be broken. The Landing has been used in most every marketing picture by the city and others who want to attract new residents to North Florida. It even…
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A Wink to those with courage on the City Council: Anna Brosche, Garrett Dennis, Al Ferraro, Matt Schellenberg & Doyle Carter
Just as Eye expected, the Jacksonville City Council voted to fund one of the largest private developments in the city’s history. Check out what we had to say about this big deal here: https://eyeonjacksonville.com/city-council-finance-committee-the-district-could-it-be-another-margaritaville/ The District deal is now done. Congrats to Elements for the “great” job they did of politicking to wrestle public incentives for…
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The Great Big Giveaway to a Wealthy Developer happens tonight. Don’t miss it.
Tonight the Jacksonville City Council will “vote” on giving away millions upon millions of tax incentives to a local wealthy developer and a big donor of Mayor Lenny Curry. We do NOT expect the City Council to do the right thing and vote NO on the “Biggest Deal We Have Ever Done.” Why do we…
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Is Jacksonville’s City Government Open and Transparent? Read and see for yourself.
This is the public records law in Florida. In years past, the media could simply ask public officials and employees a question and would get an answer, because public records are open to the public under that law. Then, government agencies that didn’t want to answer questions because they didn’t want the answers published, learned…
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A Wink to those who Speak and a Big Wink to those who Listen!
Yesterday Jacksonville hosted the Small Business Administration Advocacy Council at three listening sessions across the city. Eye on Jacksonville was honored to be asked to coordinate the “fun” one! These Listening Sessions were encouraged by President Trump. He has asked that each department find ways to cut regulation strangulation and all the information they gather…