The political implications for Mayor Alvin Brown could be big now that the JAX Chamber board of directors recommended nixing his pension proposal.
Last week, the 45-member chamber board, led by Chair Greg Smith, landed a body blow to Brown's $1.2 billion pension reform deal when it recommended City Council reject the plan.
Smith is president of Bank of America Merrill Lynch in Jacksonville.
The chamber board recommendation followed a similar rejection of the plan by the politically potent Jacksonville Civic Council.
Led by Steve Halverson, the council dissected the pension plan and labeled it as "not enough."
Halverson is CEO of The Haskell Company.
With the Civic Council and chamber on record against the deal, what does this do to the new Jacksonville Retirement Reform Task Force?
Brown appointed attorney Bill Scheu to lead the 11-member group that is charged with making a recommendation to City Council about the pension reform deal.
Facing a Brown budget proposal that has more than a $60 million deficit and do-or-die pension legislation, where can City Council members seek cover?
Are we possibly looking at a revenue increase to fund vital public services?
It has long been acknowledged that Civic Council members helped propel Brown to victory in the 2011 mayor's race. They financially backed him in a big way.
Chamber members helped Brown defeat Mike Hogan and has held a high profile with Brown's administration.
If the plan Brown unveiled in May is supposed to be the shining accomplishment of his first term, what does it say when so-called Brown-friendly business leaders are challenging his plan?
It should be noted the Civic Council has about 55 members, many of whom are very active in politics, including former Mayor John Delaney, public affairs consultant Marty Fiorentino, developer/investor Peter Rummell, investor Ed Burr, and Halverson.
The chamber board also includes some political veterans, such as Delaney, former Sheriff Nat Glover, Florida Blue Vice President Mike Hightower and political consultant Bruce Barcelo.
The mayor's first two re-election campaign finance reports have shown limited support from big pockets in the business community.
Another observation — and one hard to overlook — is that new chamber CEO Daniel Davis is the face and voice of the latest recommendation to reject Brown's plan.
Davis remains a member of the state Legislature and was rumored to be a possible candidate to run against Brown in 2015.
However, he removed himself from the mayoral conversation when he accepted the chamber job.
Since he took over at the chamber, Davis has been high-profile and maintained an aggressive schedule.
Now, he's the person quoted as saying, "Duval County's first responders deserve to have their service rewarded with a pension that is funded, accountable and predictable. The legislation in front of City Council simply does not go far enough."
Ironically, the quote makes it sound like Davis, who always has had the political support of the police and fire members, and the chamber are on the side of firefighters and police officers who agreed with Brown on the deal.
Is it too far-fetched to imagine Jacksonville's top business and political leaders reconsidering giving Davis a temporary pass from the chamber to back him in the 2015 mayoral election against Brown?
Ocean County, Part II?
As City Council President Bill Gulliford launches a task force to review City consolidation, I'm reminded of when he was Atlantic Beach mayor in the early 1990s.
He was dead set on separating the communities of Jacksonville Beach, Neptune Beach, Atlantic Beach and Mayport from the consolidated City of Jacksonville.
Twenty years ago, Gulliford was the catalyst in attempting to create a new government called Ocean County.
He said consolidated Jacksonville was overcharging Beaches taxpayers and responding poorly.
In addition, relations between Downtown and the Beaches were weak.
When consolidation of the City of Jacksonville and Duval County was approved by voters in 1967, the Beaches voted to remain autonomous as cities inside the county.
Gulliford, as mayor of Atlantic Beach, stirred the political pot and in separate elections voters of Atlantic Beach, Neptune Beach and Jacksonville Beach voted to secede.
Mayport decided to stay in Duval, primarily because residents thought it was the best way to ensure continued operation of the ferry.
Jacksonville Mayor Ed Austin and other City leaders didn't think much of Ocean County, and eventually the idea died a natural political death.
Some people are wondering if Gulliford is trying to take another bite of that apple by creating this task force.
Will there be a new push from Beaches residents to secede and create Florida's 68th county, Ocean County?
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