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Mayor Curry realizes the taxpayer lemon can only be squeezed so much.
Mayor Lenny Curry has the right idea – put off plans for a new convention center. That perennial question had popped up again, and it is premature. Jacksonville didn’t have a convention center until the 1970s. Conventions did their business in the hotel where they were staying, generally. But when the idea got…
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JEA Customers: You best pay respect to the JEA Board’s decision for our new/old CEO.
In May, I wrote an Open Letter to the JEA Board regarding the Board Chair’s Statement, “JEA does not have a “documented CEO selection process.” You can read that letter here: Open Letter to JEA Board A couple of mentions about that letter: It was the most read article at Eye on Jacksonville and is…
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Six Months After Asking – Eye hears from Duval Schools about Sex with Students. Yep it’s happening.
On the day before Thanksgiving, Eye got a gift for which we are thankful. The public school system answered a question we asked last May. In August, they told us we could have the info for $107.60, which we paid. As it turns out, they gave us more than we asked for, so it was…
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Landing Christmas: The Sleiman Family gives to the city in the Spirit of Christmas.
Once again, the Landing Christmas tree lighting ceremony officially declares the beginning of “Christmas in Jacksonville.” Thank you to the Sleiman Family who — against the local government “leadership” — ignored them and created a wonderful night for Jacksonville residents. The fight between Mayor Curry and this local family enterprise has been sad to…
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Billie Tucker’s Op-Ed: Blue doesn’t look good on you Duval. Will Trump lose because of us?
[box] Billie Tucker gives her thoughts on the local mid-term elections. Please comment and share your thoughts.[/box] I just returned from the hospital – unnamed for now to protect the innocent – and it’s been a lousy day. I woke up early to take my brother to the hospital for back surgery. It’s been a…
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Downtown Revitalization: Are we beating a dead horse?
Downtown “revitalization” has been a topic in City Hall for as long as I can remember. In the 1940s, Mayor Haydon Burns led an effort to clean up the city, especially the waterfront, where aged and unsightly docks ruined the view of the magnificent river. Burns parlayed that into “The Jacksonville Story,” which earned him…
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Will we ever know if teachers are having sex with students in Duval County?
Our quest to obtain public records from the local school district has resulted in assurance from the school superintendent that we will succeed. As Eye on Jacksonville readers know, we began asking school officials last May whether any local teachers have been accused of having sex with students. In the past five years or so,…
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Good intentions: They are never that good when it comes to spending OUR money.
Good Intentions The current minimum wage is $8.25 per hour. A very small segment of the population actually earns that amount. What would that do to workers in Florida? Some suggest raising the minimum wage $1 per year until it reaches $15 per hour. That is a 12% increase the first year. The person currently making $10…
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Council President & Mayor’s office: Playing politics & calling names. Cut it out! Do your job.
While the election battle is taking center stage here in Florida, our local city leaders have resorted to calling dissenters names and sending out press releases instead of talking things out and being respectful of differences of opinion. This is not how you run a city government. This is how you run a political campaign.…
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The Pursuit of Open Government in Jacksonville. Does the Mayor care?
We are handing out a WINK to City Council Member Anna Lopez Brosche for doggedly pursuing more open government in City Hall. As council president last year, she appointed a task force to look at whether the local government was giving sufficient access to the public. The report wasn’t good. Since then she has worked…
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Lloyd Brown reports: City of Jax elected officials sealed off from the public – doing God knows what. WHY?
Jacksonville residents will be glad to know that there is at least one person in City Hall who is on their side. Council Member Anna Lopez Brosche doggedly is pursuing a measure she authored seeking to pry open the lid of secrecy that has descended on City Hall over the past few decades. It is…
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Andrew Gillum: Media darling of Fake News & Candidate for Governor of Florida. Is he corrupt?
Corruption, scandals, and cronyism. It appears American politicians have lost their way and instead of representing the people they serve, they use their office for personal gains. Patrick Henry wisely stated, “The liberties of a people never were, nor ever will be, secure when the transactions of their rulers may be concealed from them.” In other…