• Some familiar faces are joining the new ownership team at the Landing. Toney Sleiman has promoted Janice Lowe to general manager and named John Kiddy director of development for Sleiman Enterprises. Lowe has been the marketing and specialty retail manager at the Landing for seven years and Kiddy has served as vice president and general manager since 1997.
• He’s been out of office for nearly six months, but former City Council member Matt Carlucci — who also owns a State Farm office — still gets calls at City Hall from people who think they’re going to get information on insurance. How many? According to the aide of Carlucci’s successor Art Shad, “enough to where I have [Carlucci’s] number memorized.”
• The team charged with selling the City’s finances to New York bond rating agencies will now include Chief Financial Officer Walt Bussells, Mayor John Peyton and . . . Elton John. The City will include some video clips of John’s recent Veteran’s Arena performance to illustrate the value of the Better Jacksonville Plan.
• The Jacksonville Chapter of the Federal Bar Association is hosting its Holiday Dinner Party Dec. 18, beginning at 6 p.m. at San Jose Country Club. Tickets are $35 per person.
• Press Secretary Heather Murphy’s office will be the envy of every bachelor in town. She had four TiVO recording systems installed in her office Tuesday. Murphy uses the digital recorders to compile news clips, which are shown to the mayor during briefings.
• Chief of Staff Scott Teagle told La Cena owner Jerry Moran that the City could not change its after-hours parking policy in front of Moran’s Laura Street restaurant. Moran had asked that the City allow on–street parking after 5 p.m. Teagle said the City’s parking master plan — scheduled for early next year — would address street parking for retail and dining patrons as one of its primary objectives.
• The State’s Department of Community Affairs has scheduled a Dec. 3 workshop on the next round of Base Realignment and Closures. DCA senior planner Bruce Stitt asked Mayor John Peyton to bring zoning and aerial maps to the City Hall meeting, which is intended to identify statewide issues in dealing with military base closures.
• Emergency Preparedness Chief Chip Patterson said he will start lobbying State planners to change the State’s homeland security funding framework. At City Hall’s urging, Patterson will push the idea of giving homeland security funds directly to first responders like the Fire/Rescue and sheriff’s departments. The current structure funds the State, which is then charged with supplying emergency services.