• Add another title to Daniel Davis’ resume. As well as being City Council president and executive director of the Northeast Florida Builders Association, Davis told the crowd at Tuesday’s Jacksonville Regional Chamber of Commerce Luncheon he will perform the wedding of his assistant, Sarah Balme, Friday.
• David Diaz at the River City Brewing Company says the Chamber’s Downtown Council switched locations because of a price increase. “We wanted them to stay but we couldn’t afford the price we were giving them,” he said. The Council now is meeting at the Aetna building.
• The United States Department of Commerce is looking to establish an office in Jacksonville for the purpose of taking the 2010 census. Overall, the Department will open 17 early local census offices in Alabama, Georgia and Florida. Recruitment for staffers including an office manager and several assistant managers began Monday. For more information, log on to www.census.gov/roatl/www/emply.html.
• Charles Curley has lost his position as a member of the Taxation, Revenue and Utilization of Expenditures Commission. According to TRUE Commission Chair John Palombi, a section of the City’s Ordinance Code says that when any member of an appointed board or commission misses two of three consecutive meetings without just cause and without permission of the chair, that seat can be declared vacant. Palombi says Curley has a “substantial number of unexcused vacancies over the past year” and has asked Mayor John Peyton to replace Curley through June 30, 2010.
• Speaking of Peyton, he’s giving an interview to TBS Friday that will become part of a documentary the network is filming based on kids and getting them back outside to play. The interview will coincide with Peyton’s Environmental Luncheon at the Main Library.
• Clarification. Michele Rollins of the Dalton Agency isn’t an attorney — yet. She did graduate from the University of Georgia with her law degree and has a pending application to the Florida Bar. She’ll take the Bar exam this summer and hopes to be sworn in by the end of the year.
• Shelby’s Coffee Shop at the Main Library recently changed its hours. The shop will now close at 3 p.m. with the kitchen closing at 2 p.m.
• Members of the Meninak Club visited the Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay June 3 and enjoyed a tour of a nuclear submarine. The group’s next event is the 75th Annual Lifeguard Ocean Swim on July 26. The contest involves a 3.5 mile ocean swim at Jacksonville Beach for members of the American Red Cross Volunteer Life Savings Corps. Meninak organizes the event to honor the area’s volunteer lifeguards.
• JEA COO James Chansler is the recipient of the Rotary Club of South Jacksonville’s 2008 Good Government Award. He is a past president of the club and was chosen from this year’s 12 nominees. Chansler has a 35-year career in utilities management and was at one time a professor of engineering at Western Kentucky University.
• Also, the Rotary Club of South Jacksonville has decided a change of venue is in order for its weekly meetings. Effective July 1 the club will no longer meet at the Wyndham Hotel. Members and guests will gather each Tuesday for lunch at River City Brewing Company.
• Tax Collector Mike Hogan is looking to extend the lease on his University Boulevard branch office until Sept. 30 of 2010. According to the legislation that needs Council approval, this will allow for time to finish the construction of the Hogan’s Corner replacement branch.
• The Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens was recently awarded the first “Recognizing Best Practices in Access” award at the VSA (formerly Very Special Arts) Arts Festival. The award is given to organizations that improve access to arts and cultural programs. The museum is one of 15 organizations to receive the award and one of five to receive a $1,000 professional development stipend to continue accessible programs.
• According to Jacksonville Symphony Association Board Chair Jim Van Vleck, the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra may have a new executive director soon. Van Vleck said the search committee formed to replace Alan Hopper has interviewed four finalists and there’s a favorite among the four. “Hopefully, we can reach a resolution within a week,” he said. “If we can’t get closer, we may extend the search.”
“Success is not a place at which one arrives but rather the spirit with which one undertakes and continues the journey.”
– Alex Noble