• Mayor John Peyton will discuss his upcoming budget with former mayors John Delaney, Ed Austin and Tommy Hazouri before presenting it Tuesday to the City Council. Peyton met with former mayor Jake Godbold last week and will continue working on the budget until Tuesday afternoon.
• The City Council is likely to approve a lease agreement Tuesday night between the City and the Jacksonville Transportation Authority authorizing the usage of a trolley terminus on A. Philip Randolph Boulevard near the sports complex facilities. The JTA is getting a pretty good deal, having only to pay $1 annually.
• Attorney Michael Prendergast is the president-elect of The Rotary Club of West Jacksonville.
• No Downtown Development Authority meeting this month. Reason: too many board members on vacation.
• Local entertainment venues are displaying their opposition about a proposed ordinance to tighten the laws surrounding the adult entertainment industry. T-shirts have been printed urging City Council members to “Vote no on 2003-755.”
• The Florida League of Cities has asked Mayor Peyton to consider an appointment to its board. Governmental Relations Director Brad Thoburn suggested Peyton instead direct his energy to the Florida Urban Partnership, a subset of the FLC restricted to major cities such as Miami, Orlando and Tampa. Thoburn recommended Peyton appoint somebody else, possibly City Council vice president Elaine Brown, who asked former mayor John Delaney to put her on the board.
• Following the mayor’s July 15 budget address, one of the Peyton administration’s first priorities will be to maximize use of the City’s Empowerment Zone designation. Chief Financial Officer Walt Bussells is setting up a late-July conference call with federal officials to discuss the City’s best use of the zone, which offers tax incentives for downtown business investment and hiring.
• You might not have an interest in trade with Puerto Rico, but you might be interested in socializing at the Port’s Puerto Rico Trade Summit here next month. Happy hour is sponsored by “Rums of Puerto Rico.”
• The Northeast Florida Community Action Agency, Inc. has just published its first issue of the “Advocate,” a quarterly newsletter serving Duval, Baker, Nassau ad St. Johns counties. In the inaugural issue: a story about City Council member Pat Lockett-Felder’s project, the Manson “Bull” Felder Park.
• A newly formed labor union, the Jacksonville City Employees Union, is set to challenge the Professional Association of City Employees to represent City workers in collective bargaining. The two-year “election bar” that prevented attempts to reorganize PACE’s workers closed July 5.