• There’s been some hand-wringing locally about the failure of the Pro Football Hall of Fame voters to include Jacksonville’s Bob Hayes when the announcement of this year’s class was made over the weekend at the Super Bowl in Houston. But there’s a sneaking suspicion among some insiders that the fix is on, and that Hayes will be voted into the hall next year when the Super Bowl is here.
• We hear the next layoffs at CSX will come Thursday. Our friends in the building say the consultant’s security so far is impenetrable, so no one knows who’s staying and who’s going.
• Neptune Beach’s search for a new city manager has irritated some residents who say the “nationwide” search was a waste of taxpayer dollars. Of the three finalists, Jimmy Jarboe, former Atlantic Beach city manager and Neptune Beach resident, is ranked as the top candidate. Some are saying that was decided long before the search ever began.
• Reminder: the Jacksonville Women Lawyers Association’s monthly luncheon is Wednesday at noon at River City Brewing Co. Guest speaker is School Board chair Martha Barrett.
• Former Business Journal staff writer Devan Stuart is now at Jacksonville magazine.
• The City Council’s Finance Committee pointedly questioned mayor’s office representatives about the Equestrian Center’s fundraising shortfall Monday. Taxpayer displeasure over the City’s plans to spend $1 million to build a barn for the facility has hit close to home for one Council member. “I’m getting a lot of calls and a lot of complaints about this,” said Lake Ray. “One of which is a particularly close constituent, my wife.” The mayor’s policy chief, Steve Diebenow, told the Council not to point fingers at the mayor’s office for the Equestrian Center shortfall. The mayor, he said, was trying to solve a problem created by the failure of private fundraisers to raise $5 million as promised. “The outside folks said they’d raise the money, and they haven’t,” said Diebenow. “The mayor is equally frustrated.”
• Florida Attorney General Charlie Crist will visit the I.M. Sulzbacher Center for the Homeless today, and he comes bearing gifts. He’ll present a check to center officials as part of lawsuit settlement involving children’s vitamins.
• Better Jacksonville Plan project manager Rex Holmlin has become a fixture at the Finance Committee meetings due to his knowledge of the library projects, but at Monday’s meeting he showed off his rhythm as well. When his comments were interrupted by a cell phone’s musical ring, Holmlin launched into a dance routine complete with finger–pointing disco moves. City Council member Alvarez teased him for “dancing around the questions.”
• Open House tours at the Eartha M.M. White Historical Museum began Monday and will be held throughout Black History Month. Tours will be given from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday at the museum in the Clara White Mission, 613 W. Ashley St. The cost is a donation.