Eye on Jacksonville

Month: January 2019

  • Is JEA a political pawn for Mayor Curry?

    It’s unfortunate when trust has been broken…because it’s hard to trust again. And the trust between the JEA Board, the Mayor and the rate payers is badly broken. It started when Mayor Curry put cronyism into play with asking for resignations of JEA board members and putting his own people on the board. Then there…

  • Eye on Jacksonville Teenage Reporter gives us great hope for the future!

    This article was written by Dailey Jackson, Eye’s Teenage Reporter. She wrote it for her high school friends.  Yet – it could also apply to adults too.  Dailey is running for Ms. Bishop Kenny and we will be cheering her on.  She’s a lovely, sweet, smart young woman and we are proud to have her…

  • Jacksonville: Does the border wall debate affect you? Yes!

    Too many people are missing the real issue that has Congress and the White House in a stalemate, U.S. Rep. John Rutherford, R-Jacksonville, says. Everyone in the media talks about the $5.7 billion at issue as being for a wall but the issue is border security. “The actual barrier is just part of the $5.7…

  • “Oldest school buildings in Florida?” That sounds like a tax increase.

    We just saw a posting from the Duval County School Board. The headline caught our attention. They are claiming the school buildings are the oldest in Florida. Hummmm Maybe they are. We don’t know. But one thing is certain. That’s a warning that your School Taxes may go up. They are planning community meetings and…

  • Politicians throw money at issues their policies make. Yep, local politicians do it too!

    The 1960’s ushered in a myriad of government programs designed to help low-income families. Fast forward to 2019 where crime, violence, drugs, and poverty is flourishing in most of our nation’s inner cities along with the explosion in the growth of single parent homes. Our government engineered a problem in subsidizing the single parent family.…

  • Old City Hall tumbles down but Mayor Curry’s wall is still up.

    Mixed feelings from seeing the old City Hall turned into dust. I spent many hours in that building, day and night, covering local government as a reporter. In 1970, the Jacksonville Journal took a new approach to covering local government. It created the “governmental affairs team.” Instead of covering physical buildings such as City Hall…

  • A well-deserved WINK to the Florida Times Union’s Nate Monroe.

    It’s not often we see the media writing well-done, well-researched articles these days so we are happy to report, there is one in town with the mainstream media. Nate Monroe at the Florida Times Union. Nate Monroe’s twitter description states: “Florida Times-Union city hall columnist (@jaxdotcom). Louisiana expat. References to “the Syndicate” = Jacksonville donor…

  • BREAKING NEWS: 0% Loans available for Federal workers YET Mayor Curry hands out FREE money! WHY???

    The breaking news was stunning. It’s only been 5 days since Federal Workers were affected by the shutdown. Five days. You would think the world has gone into a new Depression and bread lines are every where. And could our Mayor be using this historical event to win votes for his upcoming re-election campaign. Lenny…

  • Do you believe crime is down in Jax? What say you?

    Mayor Lenny Curry says crime is “down” in Jacksonville. Curry’s claim apparently relates to criticism from City Council Member Anna Lopez Brosche, who has filed as a candidate for mayor in the spring elections. His claim is impossible to fact-check. If you look at the major crimes (called “index” crimes) reported by the Jacksonville Sheriff’s…

  • Transparency, the lack thereof: Why opponents to Mayor Curry are running.

    Friday Anna Brosche was talking “transparency” in our local government — the lack thereof that is… (Read more about Anna’s challenge to run for Mayor here: https://www.jacksonville.com/news/20190111/anna-brosche-challenges-mayor-lenny-curry) and… Today Jimmy Hill, another candidate for Mayor, was on his band wagon about “Transparency, the lack thereof” too. Check out an interview with him here: https://www.firstcoastnews.com/article/news/jacksonville-is-not-operating-in-transparency-jimmy-hill-discusses-campaign-for-mayor/77-1e5c76fc-e124-434a-8ff6-0c7a1a7b4d98 Eye…

  • Mayoral Candidates ready to go. Already seeing new levels of mud-slinging.

    At the last minute, City Council Member Anna Lopez Brosche filed to run against Mayor Lenny Curry, setting up an interesting race to be decided in this spring. Just by mentioning she might run and criticizing Curry recently, Brosche had unleashed Curry’s attack dogs, who hit her with a series of blistering, and mostly misleading,…

  • May the best man or woman win!! Local elections underway. Be nice!

    The Duval County elections are now underway. Truthfully, I’m not looking forward to them. I’ve been involved in many campaigns — especially in the last ten years when we started the tea party. The one thing I understand about campaigns is this — “Blood bath.” The tactics of bloodying up your competition takes precedence over…

  • Will new City Council President spend large amounts of money on a problem that is shrinking?

    City Council President Aaron Bowman is continuing to push for a strategic plan that will focus on crime and safety as the No. 1 priority, he said at a meeting of former council presidents Monday. Since taking office, Bowman has been advocating a longer-term vision by the city government in the form of a strategic…

  • COJ politicians resent employee, reduce his pension. Legal battle/fees mount. What do you think?

    If you are a fan of court cases with political overtones, one to keep an eye on is the effort by a former city employee to get back his full pension, which the city took away from him. The plaintiff is John Keane, former deputy, former firefighter, former union lobbyist and former director of the…