• Very interesting request made recently by Mayor-elect John Peyton’s Transition Team. They asked for the salaries of all appointed City employees (the list does not include the mayor’s office or mayoral appointees). Look for Peyton to make a few changes.
• Today is the deadline for online applicants for department head and division chief jobs with the Peyton administration. Transition team staffer Benny Seth said their human resource department was sorting through 1,125 applications so far.
• After requesting an opinion from the General Counsel’s Office, City Council member Ginger Soud has been informed the Lex & Terry billboards around town (the ones with the image of a woman’s breasts with “What a pair” written across them) are legal. Deputy General Counsel Tracey Arpen cited a 1985 Gainesville case that raised similar questions.
• City Council member Pat Lockett-Felder has declined Council president-elect Lad Daniels’ appointment to the Value Adjustment Board. Fellow Council member Suzanne Jenkins rejected an appointment to the board earlier in the week.
• According to Lyn Briggs of Downtown Vision, Inc., they’ve signed up 15 blocks for the Good Neighbor Program. The program seeks to join merchants and business owners in an effort to clean up and self-regulate their downtown neighborhoods.
• Sandra Washington, King Holzendorf’s City Council aide, is leaving City Hall at the end of the month when Holzendorf’s term expires. A registered nurse for over 20 years, Washington is going to work full-time at Shands Clinical Management of Home Health.
• The Neptune Beach City Council is forming an economic development committee to address vacancies in several of the city’s commercial strip malls. Neptune Beach Mayor Dick Brown is seeking nominations for the committee and one name has already surfaced — Mayor John Delaney, a Neptune Beach resident.
• The City’s Neighborhoods Department is hosting half a dozen special guests today. Six women from Armenia Azerbaijan will meet with members of the Mayor’s Commission on the Status of Women in the large conference room at 3 p.m.
• The Whalebone Grill is now open for lunch and dinner in Five Points on Park Street. The menu features plenty of seafood.
• Why wasn’t former Florida Gators running back Errict Rhett at Thursday’s Georgia-Florida Hall of Fame Induction luncheon? Missed his flight out of Ft. Lauderdale. Luggage made it to Jacksonville, though.
• Speaking of the luncheon, former Georgia kicker Kevin Butler was on hand and word is he may be looking to return to the NFL. The long-time Chicago Bear has hired an agent and is talking to teams, one of which is apparently the Jags.
• Annette Hastings, the assistant to City Council member Ginger Soud, won’t have to look for a job once Soud leaves office (she’s a term limit casualty). She’s the new Tourist Development Council administrator.
• Most big-name athletes here live at the beach but one is moving into town. Golfer Blaine McCallister is selling his TPC home and is buying in Epping Forest. Reason: his wife has severe vision problems and needs to be closer to her physician.
• The Chamber leaders get their chance to hear Mayor-elect John Peyton’s plans for the business community Thursday. Only board and staff are invited.
• The Jacksonville Transportation Authority is looking for nominees to serve as representatives on a Public Advisory Group. A park and ride facility is being planned for the Atlantic Boulevard/San Pablo Road area and JTA is seeking public input. The process should start late this month or early next with a conceptual plan expected in November.
• The Regency Wood homeowners association in Arlington requested a school rezoning request be postponed from City Council consideration because their lawyer, Patrick McCormack, was called up for reserve duty in the Persian Gulf. The Council’s Land Use and Zoning Committee heard the proposal anyway.
• Apologies to Mike Miller of the mayor’s office. He and his wife Peggy recently celebrated their 25th anniversary, not 30th as we said in a City Note Monday.