The more things change, the more they can stay the same.
A 2013 year-end piece in the Daily Record talked about the city’s unresolved issues with the Police and Fire Pension Fund.
“Jacksonville’s longtime pension woes will continue into 2014, but not for a lack of trying the past year,” the story began.
Fast forward a year and the same could be said.
Mayor Alvin Brown and fund board administrator John Keane eventually ironed out an agreement in the summer. City Council passed that deal — with a few changes and a caveat.
Namely, some of the figures relating to returns that current employees make while in the Deferred Retirement Option Plan and the Cost of Living Adjustments retirees receive. Council also said no new deal would go into effect until a funding source was pegged to pay down more than $1.65 billion in the plan’s unfunded liability.
Those changes still need approval from the fund’s board, which could happen in the next couple of weeks. Or the five-member group could make its own changes and send it back to council.
Through it all, the funding source still needs to be found — and approved by council. Meaning long-awaited reform could happen within the next couple of months. Or continue to strain the city’s budget for much, much longer.
Candidates step up
In the year before local elections, candidates for a slew of races began to emerge.
Mayor Alvin Brown filed to defend his post in March 2013, but it wasn’t until a year later when competition began showing up.
First came City Council member Bill Bishop, a term-limited Republican and former council president, who filed paperwork in April. Then in June came Lenny Curry, the former Republican Party of Florida chair many have pegged to be Brown’s toughest competition.
Brown and Curry combined have brought in more than $3 million. Curry has a couple of TV ads in circulation, but the anticipated influx of campaign spots hasn’t begun.
Those likely will be rolled out over the next couple of months leading to the March 24 first election.
And while the mayor’s race tends to dominate headlines, races for council and sheriff also could be tight. To date, six sheriff candidates have raised close to $1 million combined.
On the council front, a couple of incumbents have drawn serious challengers while other open seats have drawn upward of a dozen candidates.
Many will be settled in March, but if not there’s the May general election to determine Jacksonville’s next leaders.
Gas tax, water taxi and budget spark clashes
While upcoming elections tend to look at the next leadership crop, the one currently in City Hall had several disagreements in 2014.
Momentum to extend the city’s 6-cent gas tax actually started in late 2013, but a final vote didn’t take place until late May. The money will be used by the Jacksonville Transportation Authority and the city for road, bike and pedestrian projects. It passed 16-1. Brown adamantly opposed the idea and let it go into law without his signature.
From the roads to the river, the next flareup between council and the mayor came over the administration’s handling of the water taxi service. When the vendor pulled out of service in June, Brown’s administration purchased two boats from an Orlando-area company for about $338,000. Council members were told by city attorneys the purchases were unauthorized because council members hadn’t approved the deal. Brown’s office said the decision was an emergency in order to maintain service. Council members strongly disagreed.
Eventually, the boats were purchased by Beaver Street Fisheries owner Harry Frisch, who loaned them back to the city so the service could continue.
Months later, council and Brown were again at odds, this this time over the annual budget Brown submitted. The mayor wanted to borrow more than $230 million and pull $17 million from city reserves for infrastructure investments. Council went in the opposite direction, curtailing any borrowing and new spending.
A much-discussed painting at MOCA
When it comes to art, it’s been said everyone is a critic.
Council President Clay Yarborough’s views on a painting at the Museum of Contemporary Art Jacksonville showed that criticism could be criticized. Yarborough took issue with what he called a “pornographic” photograph of a nude, pregnant woman that could be seen by children. He asked Brown to pull the museum’s $233,000 in public funding.
Brown denied the request, citing First Amendment issues and his belief that he didn’t see the piece as pornography. Many within the arts community launched anti-Yarborough and pro-arts sentiments, culminating in a rally on the steps of City Hall in December.
Yarborough ended up meeting with museum officials and said that while he still believed the piece “weakens Jacksonville’s moral climate,” he thought it was time to move on to other issues.
Saying goodbye to City Hall
Two key members of Brown’s team left for jobs in the private sector in 2014.
Longtime General Counsel Cindy Laquidara in April announced she was heading to the local Akerman office. She served as the city’s top attorney since 2010, when former Mayor John Peyton appointed her and Brown kept her on board. Jason Gabriel was named general counsel for the final year of Brown’s first term.
In the past several weeks, Brown lost another cog in his administration.
Karen Bowling, his chief administrative officer, announced this month she was taking a role at Foley & Lardner. She worked alongside Rick Scott at Columbia/HCA and helped build the Solantic chain before coming aboard Brown’s team when he was elected.
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