• Mayor John Peyton was 30 minutes late to a meeting of the Oceanside Rotary Club earlier this week in Atlantic Beach because of traffic congestion on Atlantic Boulevard, which didn’t play well with beaches residents. One man yelled from the crowd that if Peyton thought it was tough coming to the beach, he should consider what it’s like for beach residents who commute to downtown. Peyton told the group that one of the City’s biggest challenges is to keep traffic moving.
• The JEDC is now searching for two members. Louis Siplin resigned due to time constraints from running his own business, Louis Siplin Enterprises. “His business is doing well enough that he hasn’t been able to make it to the meetings,” said JEDC executive director Kirk Wendland. “He wanted to resign rather than become an absentee commissioner.” There are now five commissioners.
• During a ceremony today at Jefferson Park, Mayor Peyton will launch a new program to put a stop to predatory lending tactics in Jacksonville. Attorney Lynn Drysdale of Legal Aid will explain how the initiative will operate.
• Chamber executive vice president Jerry Mallot says the first fiscal quarter has been “pretty good but not robust” in terms of local job creation. Mallot said the Chamber is working with the City on seven projects that could provide 732 jobs. “We keep hearing about a jobless recovery, but I don’t think it will be jobless for long,” said Mallot.
• The Association of Legal Administrators’ officers for the 2004-05 term have been chosen and will take over their new duties April 1. They are Alice Robison, president; Rhonda Benizzi, president-elect; Angie Coker, vice president; Terri Frame, secretary; and Tracey Gutierrez, treasurer.
• Accurate Reporting Service has added videoconferencing to its list of services for the legal community, says company president Pamela Roach.
• Attorney Stephen Davis has moved his office to Metro South Executive Park.
• JEDC commissioner Charles Appleby has recommended the City provide a list of jobs created with City incentives. The jobs could be listed on a website as they are created Appleby said, providing a resource for job seekers in the area. JEDC executive director Kirk Wendland says the idea is worth looking into.
• Career Academies will hold a Youth Skills Rally from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. today at the Worksource Business Center in Gateway Mall. Students will be given tips on business attire and decorum that will help them enter the work force. About 50 business owners will also be there to go over the skills that students have and talk to them about the skills they need. The rally is sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce.
• The Adam’s Mark Hotel will host a U.S. Export Regulations Expo Tuesday. Experts from the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Bureau of Customs and Border Protection will be available to help sort through new regulations going into effect this year.