Tomorrow, February 25th, the Boys & Girls Club will announce it’s annual Youth of the Year competition winner. This year’s four nominees will represent Springfield, St. Augustine, Jacksonville Beach and the Westside (Ramona Boulevard).
I sat with Antwon Smith, the Springfield nominee, at 3 Layers and chatted for a bit. Antwon consistently surprised me with his answers and composure. Very smooth indeed.
Listen to our Conversation
Antwon will receive a $1,000 scholarship for being a local nominee and the local winner will receive a $2,000 scholarship and the opportunity to move on to the state-level competition. The Youth of the Year competition will culminate with the national winner participating in a special White House ceremony with President Obama this fall.
Nominees are evaluated based on academic merit, obstacles to overcome, and community service.
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Special Guest: The Mayor – Topic: Millage Increase
A lot happening so these are gonna be rough! Better just listen. – Jack
Mayor – for the increase
City Council – cut spending instead
Residents – siding with council
voting next week (July 28th)
Mayor is optimistic
3-part plan
“we are at a crossroads”
lowest millage rate in FL
Clark’s influence?
Peyton is up for the fight!
Mayor v. Council – is that healthy?
? – shouldn’t fund arts, culture, social etc.
arts and culture will lose
T- people are evenly split on the issue
arts/culture = less than 1/2 of 1% of budget @hiddentrack: “if we’re guilty of anything, it’s under-investing.” well said, mr. mayor. #ujw
T – Ritz Theatre will not be able to come back if we don’t protect it
government destroyed LaVilla, Ritz is all that’s left
J – fire/police budget always comes up
Peyton – does not support cutting fire/police budget
“violence epidemic in Jax”
“moving from being cheap to being irresponsible”
Sheriff’s Dept largest budget at City Hall
Abel (@jaxpolitics)
Ask Mayor how much faith he has in Council (running for re-election) to support true pension reform? #ujw
Public remains cynical b/c there has been no reform to AMIO positions. They’ve almost doubled in last few years. Nearly $15m. But, yet, emphasis has been placed on social services/cultural cuts. Why not move AMIO’s to civil service and trim to build trust? #ujw
Was there an attempt to bring Council members in on the budget planning process?
Legislature allowed “out” for Duval in statutory tax cuts, why didn’t Mayor ask Council to override that cap last year?
Does the Mayor support combining elections w/ state? What are the downsides?
T – wants the World Cup (Mayor’s for it!)
T- QOL first thing a big business asks about when they come to town
The mayor just said “critical mass.” No that critical mass, but still…
T – Kiplinger named Jax #6 Tax-Friendliest City
fixitnow.cc – website
Last ?: Does Mayor think public wld be more likely to support increase if it was dedicated mil to fund capital improvements/maintenance?
Jags/stadium
In this episode we welcome our new producer Jack Diablo and talk about the following topics City Budget – The Chopping Block, new parks for Brooklyn, Uptown Market (part 1 of 3). And if you missed the live show, you missed all the good talk before the show started. Get there early for insider info, that’s for the live viewers only.
You can now listen right now, click the play button above.
Urban Jacksonville Weekly #23 for 7/6/09
City Budget – The Chopping Block What’s on Jacksonville city’s budget chopping block? (includes the infographic we were discussing)
raise millage rate
Historic Preservation – eliminated
T – no downtown association
JM – Joel as consultant, eliminate bureaucracy
JB – Ritz – eliminated
T – going to lose character
JB – lose special events
JM – scare tactic
JM – will pass (prediction)
JB – TU help people understand what it means
T – like $9 per household tax for school board raise
Brooklyn Parks @mogdoy: #ujw. What boundaries define Brooklyn?
T – Brooklyn boundaries St. Johns River, I-95, LaNilla, Fuller-Warren
Metro Jax posted on both of these parks
Unity Park
UP – retention pond Brooklyn Park development on hold
JM – Forest Avenue and entrance into city
T – Riverside Ave hard to cross
JM – make pedestrian friendly
T – Riv Ave screwed Brooklyn
Artist Walk
connects RAM to Riverside Park
T – add booths to RAM
JB – another tricky crosswalk
T – add streetlight
T – ride your bike
T – cops inside market not traffic @mogdoy: #ujw. I always imagined that arts walk area as a burnside style skatepark.
Music section
All we really want to say about the music section is you have to tune in. And Jack is in a band called Chicken & Whiskey.
Uptown Market Part 1 of 3
T- open August-ish
T – Chef Eddie (BG)
T – killer breakfast menu
JM – grocery items?
T – staples only
T – beer and wine
Last week I talked with Chris and Calder Yates about FLAT FILE, a new gallery opening in 5 Points. I wrote a small article on FLAT FILE for a local weekly so I won’t delve much more into the concept now. Click the play button below to listen to the interview.
Listen this week as I fumble through moderating a political discussion with Abel Harding of JaxPoliticsOnline.com. Abel talks political circles around me, it’s awesome. Tune in next week when our guest is Matt Urigh of BikeJax.org
Topics
Trail Ridge Council Meeting
Courthouse could begin construction this week
Mayor’s lame duck status (and how he can leave a lasting impact)
Rather than a “Grand Plan” intended to transform Downtown Jacksonville in one fell swoop, an incremental approach would allow the City to put some low cost fixes in place while waiting for the economy to turn around.
The Law Offices of Eddie Farah have announced plans to renovate the historic Kress Building and convert the former Lerner Shops site into an urban courty
It went into wide release in Belgium and France on February 11, and in the Republic of Ireland on March 3. On February 2, 2010, it was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.
Bahri Gas and Convenience Store is the latest project slated for Main Street. If it becomes a reality, this project will be built at one of downtown's most visible intersections.
Renn examines data that suggest job growth (or decline) in a metro region's core counties is a good indicator for the overall health of those regions. Renn argues that it's important to keep a close eye on what's happening in the urban core in order to forestall the kind of catastrophic decline we've seen in places like Detroit and Cleveland.
City Hall auditors say the Jacksonville Transportation Authority used about $50 million in Better Jacksonville funds for projects that weren’t part of the voter-approved plan and won’t release the money for those JTA projects.
