Polling genius, Consolidation expert & Jax native Pat Caddell: “Dems hijacked by a confederacy of gangsters”
(In the run-up to the 50th anniversary of consolidation, we have written several columns on the history of that local political miracle.) During the heated process of bringing about consolidation, one of the lesser known parts was played by Pat Caddell. Today, Caddell...
Special Report: JEA…Who or What caused this Stinking mess?
In 1973, JEA seemingly was sitting pretty: 100 percent dependent on oil to produce electricity and invested in a long-term fuel contract to buy oil. Suddenly, a little known outfit called OPEC – an Arab oil cartel – decided to triple the price of oil. The wise men who...
Jacksonville Transportation Future: BIG Dreams. BIG Visions. BIG Debt.
Last week I attended an event, Infrastructure: Beyond the Pavement, put on by the North Florida Urban Land Institute moderated by Daniel Davis, President & CEO of Jax Chamber. Present were representatives from local government, contracting companies, technology...
The Past:Unadorned facts about things that mattered and clearly labeled opinions backed up with facts.
If I had not retired 14 years ago, I would now be preparing to move into a new building for the fourth time. When I went to work for the Jacksonville Journal at Church and Laura streets, the Russians were about to put the world’s first satellite into orbit and federal...
Consolidation: White hats and Black hats were part of the story!
In a few weeks, the city will celebrate a momentous event that only a few people seem to remember or appreciate. In 1967, the voters decided by a 2-to-1 margin that they wanted to consolidate the city and county governments in Jacksonville. It was a bold move. A...
Preschool Teacher “schools” the adults about shooters on campus
Duval County Public Schools and some local private schools are using training videos to educate our children regarding active shooters on campus. We heard from a retired 37 year preschool teacher who was horrified with the videos. She said the videos were...
Want to know how to make Jacksonville’s downtown Great Again? Tough love!
We were excited to spend Saturday night with my son and daughter in love celebrating her birthday. We decided on the coolest, most expensive restaurant in downtown Jacksonville, Cowford Chophouse. We drove downtown and our path took us by The Landing. We all looked...
Guest Writer from Tallahassee knows Dem Gubernatorial Gillum well. Duval helped Gillum win.
NOTE FROM EYE FOUNDER, BILLIE TUCKER: Duval County helped Socialist Gubernatorial Candidate Gillum win. Without Duval County, he would have lost. What's up with Duval County? Are our citizens ready for socialism? We asked Friends of Eye from Tallahassee to give...
Teacher Sex with Students in Duval County Schools. We had to pay for this information & now we wait!
This story is based on public records. Records that Eye purchased. The only time in my life – most of which has been spent in the newspaper business – that we were required to purchase information the public is entitled to know. First, a few observations. The fact...
Former Mayor Brown calls for “gun control.” That’s not the issue, sir.
Another day, another “mass” shooting. This time in Jacksonville. The usual responses: We must find an answer. March in the street. Protests. And, of course, the liberal agenda. This time, it came from former mayor Alvin Brown. More gun control. If you had to make a...
We can dream of a better land where all my brothers walk hand in hand. Thank you to the first responders of Jax.
We had just arrived downtown for our Sunday afternoon date. We have been attending the Florida Theatre these past few months for their Summer Movie Series. We were happy to get out of the hot weather and chill inside the theatre watching The Big Lebowski. As we...
Eye on Jacksonville welcomes new City Council President, Aaron Bowman
City Council President Aaron Bowman is taking steps to change the notoriously short-term thinking of politicians into a mindset that takes a longer view. Because of term limits, and the annual change of council presidents, the council tends to operate in one-year...
Killing our children and children killing children. We need some LOVE, friends.
I woke up this morning to the horrible news of a gunfight at Raines High School. Presently one young man is dead and two are wounded. It occurred on property shortly after Raines High School Friday night football game ended. The only incident at the stadium prior...
Hypocrites at the NFL owe our hometown hero, Tim Tebow, an apology.
Well it begins again. The NFL 2018 Season is upon us and we all waited to see what would happen. Would they kneel? Would they stand? Would they place their hand over their heart? It was a mixed bag across the NFL and 4 Jaguar team members decided to stay behind in...
Mob tactics: Erasing your enemies. It’s happening nationally & locally too.
I was excited to see the new website for the City of Jacksonville Office of Special Events. My social and business calendar is filled with local events. I enjoy every venue in my hometown and am proud of all we have to offer for fun and relaxation. So - I eagerly...
Sex in our Eye headline created outrage in a subscriber. A WINK to her!
This week we published an article about the school board's response to Eye's Sr. Editor, Lloyd Brown's request for information about teachers having sex with their students. It took a while for the Duval County School Board to respond and when it did - we were...
What do you think? Should school systems be “union driven” or “student driven?”
Members of the School Board have gone on record opposing Amendment 8. Board member Becki Couch led the effort to oppose the constitutional amendment, which will be on the ballot in November. The proposed amendment does three things: Imposes term limits school board...
Shoot outs in Jacksonville. Is any one or any place safe? No.
Once again innocent people are gunned down by thugs (and yes we know that word is politically incorrect but you tell us a better word to use and we'll fix it). Yesterday an innocent 7 year old girl was caught in the cross fires of a shoot out in a parking lot of a...
Are school teachers having sex with students in Duval County? Who knows.
School teachers in Jacksonville may or may not be having sex with students. We would like to tell you which, but we can’t afford to buy the information from the school system. We asked the question a couple of months ago. The school system got back to us, eventually,...
City’s website disses the hard work of Citizens Planning Advisory Committees from 400 neighborhoods
Another example of the city government’s failure to design and maintain a Web site that is useful to the public: There are six Citizens Planning Advisory Committees in the city. They are formed of people from the more than 400 neighborhoods in the city and their...
Transparency in our city government DOESN’T exist and it’s shameful. What are they hiding?
It is shocking how the local media have allowed city government to gradually diminish the media’s – and the public’s -- ability to get information. In the late 1960s, Florida became a national leader in “government in the sunshine,” by opening public records and...
Mayor Curry’s new budget. Just in time for re-election campaigning.
Mayor Curry's re-election budget proposal. Is it designed to bolster talking points addressing minorities, special interests, law enforcement, low income families, and human rights issues or are these just coincidences? Interesting fact: Mayor Curry’s first three...
From a High Schooler: Never forget where we (the USA) came from and remember her proudly.
One of America’s most important documents, the United States Constitution, has recently surpassed its 230th birthday, and that, paired with the 4th of July’s passing, made me realize that many Americans don’t know the significance and the history of our great country....
Mayoral Privilege? Transparency in Jacksonville? Eye has its doubts.
Eye on Jacksonville has gotten a response, two months after submitting questions to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office via a public records request. We feel blessed. The Task Force on Open Government, which recently issued its final report, said the police had a...
Downtown Vision has a stinky job and EYE gives them a WINK. Human waste growing in Jax.
Downtown Vision Inc., released their Annual State of Downtown report for Jacksonville's up and coming downtown. The nonprofit's mission is to entice businesses and people to invest or make downtown their new home. They are doing a great job. What we didn't know is...
“Finding Waldo” is a loser with the City of Jacksonville. Playing games with Transparency?
Findings by the Task Force on Open Government appear to be valid. The Task Force said the city’s Web site was less than helpful. Eye on Jacksonville has had considerable difficulty finding information on the site. Finding people to provide the information being sought...
Kneeling in taxpayer funded stadiums. Yep, it’s on the roster again! Will the Jags do it too?
I read that the NFL is reversing it's rule that players can not kneel inside taxpayer funded stadiums. It was a mess last year as football went political and players could not just "do their job." Then we heard all kinds of "we're sorry" and we thought it was all...
Death by Socialism: RIP Florida Times Union from one of your own.
Looks like the “Teamsters with typewriters” movement has succeeded at the Florida Times-Union and that will accelerate the decline of the local newspaper. By voting to join a newspaper union, the liberal reporters in the newsroom have ensured higher labor costs for...
Hanky-Panky City Government. That’s why Eye was formed. Where’s the transparency?
In its final report, the Task Force on Open Government created by City Council President Anna Brosche found serious problems that need to be corrected. Local government “should aspire to greater openness and transparency” the task force headed by Hank Coxe and Sherry...
Nigerians get the rap for bilking Mayor Curry. Silly story with international intrigue and sloppy accounting.
Please check out this article and prepare to get a good laugh. This is such a ridiculous scam that you almost feel sorry for the Nigerians. Like the Russians, they get blamed for everything that goes wrong! When will those who actually made the mistakes take...
Congratulations to the developers of The District, to JEA, & to the Taxpayers who helped fund it.
We are happy to report the District Deal is closer to construction. The developer - Elements of Jacksonville - has closed on the JEA owned land next to the Duval County School Building in San Marco. The 30 acre parcel was purchased by Elements for $18.5 million....
Happy to give a Wink to the Mayor. Military flags should be flown proudly!
Let’s give Mayor Lenny Curry a Wink for ordering military flags to be flown at City Hall. The mayor said: “A week ago, as I sat on the south bank of the St. Johns, my family and I enjoyed the fireworks and celebrations with our downtown as a backdrop. As the fun of...
Eye Welcomes new members to Jax City Council. We wish you well and lots of Winks!
Governor Scott has appointed Republican Terrance Freeman and Democrat Ju’Coby Pittman to replace suspended City Council members Katrina Brown and Reggie Brown. Katrina Brown and Reggie Brown were both suspended by Governor Scott on June 1 when they were indicted by a...
Trickery in the City Budget? Spending “saved” money by accounting skulduggery.
“As mayor, I hold an unwavering respect for the effort behind every tax dollar the city receives,” Mayor Lenny Curry wrote in his June 22 letter of transmittal to the public accompanying the Comprehensive Annual Finance Report for the past fiscal year. The...
Consolidation: Tax relief doesn’t wear out yet politicians hate to give it out. Why?
Oct. 1 will mark the 50th anniversary of the consolidation of the city and county governments in Jacksonville. How has it worked? Pretty well, most would say. Just as one example, property tax rates were reduced for the first 10 years of the new government. However,...
Jacksonville Magazine: Wonderfully done. Great info. Beautiful display of our city.
We love Jacksonville Magazine and find it filled each month with lovely stories about local happenings, community events and the unique people who live here. I read their Mission Statement and thought you would love to see it too: JACKSONVILLE MAGAZINE tells the...
Mayor Curry is the worst person of the week AGAIN and doesn’t care about low income nobodies.
I read about the latest "squeeze play" by Mayor Curry to take back the Landing (per his internal plan). I wasn't surprised by this new bully tactic. We expected it. But, I WAS disappointed in the Mayor -- someone who once stood with me at The Landing and rallied...
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...
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...
$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....
