Election results 2011: Low voter turnout brings many surprises

After the dust had settled late on Tuesday, March 22, 2011, 152,505 ballots had been cast. Only 29.63% of Duval County's registered voters had turned out in this year's first city election, according to the Supervisor of Election's Office. Like a self-selective survey, elections with low voter turnout do little to prove actual public opinion. However, representative survey or not, only the votes that are actually cast are counted - and the results from those votes surprised a lot of people.

Perhaps the biggest upset came in the mayoral election, where Democratic candidate Alvin Brown moved into the second seat behind Mike Hogan. Many expected a runoff election to be pitted between Hogan and moderate Republican Audrey Moran, who has done well in courting the support of many local progressive groups. With Brown's grassroots efforts in areas of core support, and a little last minute help from the Florida Democratic Party, his campaign was able to pull off an impressive turnout for a shot at the runoff. 

What a Starbucks Free Downtown Really Says about Jacksonville, Fla.

By Kendall Brunson

The news was devastating. I actually didn’t believe it at first. I was just trying to make small talk with my barista at Starbucks, but a simple, “Hey, how’s it going?” turned into, “I just found out we’re closing at the end of the month.”

Yes, Starbucks will be vacating The Landing in Downtown Jacksonville, Fla. at the end of their lease this April, according to Janice Lowe, general manager of The Landing. Lowe also said that Starbucks had business, but “Starbucks has a lot of expenses. I imagine they'd just tell you that they're not doing the numbers they need to for a corporate store." And essentially, that is what they said.

The Progressive Party Foul

You’re standing in a room filled with friends, neighbors, and people you’ve never met.  It’s a party.  You’re having a great time when suddenly, having had a few too many, you stagger into a table full of food sending everyone’s favorite dips and spreads into the air and all over the nearby couch.  You walked into the room with the best of intentions, but as the party winds to a close for you it’s clear that you’ll only be remembered for your epic party foul.

The mayoral election is in full swing with early voting already taking place.  Several of my pals have cast their collective lot with Audrey Moran.  Moran’s interesting mix of support from Avondale liberals and Times-Union editorialists makes this a lively race.  Her candidacy has been impressive by drawing endorsements from Equality Florida, a gay-lesbian organization, and the Chamber of Commerce, a conservative stalwart.  What I have seen thus far is a well-intentioned and well run campaign that may prove surprising to Mike Hogan and Rick Mullaney come election night.

Pension hypocrisy of mayoral candidates

Two of the most vocal opponents of city employee pensions benefit from the pension plans themselves, yet they cite mayoral candidate Mike Hogan's endorsement by the Police and Fire Unions as a conflict of interest in addressing the city's pension problem. Is this criticism valid when the same system they criticize benefits their income?

Candidates tweeting for votes

A March 5, 2011 Orlando Sentinel Article discusses a trend in the Florida Legislature hopping on the social media bandwagon and tweeting to their followers. In the article, State Senator Paula Dockery talks about how the micro-blogging website helps keep her informed on political news and provide her with another communication outlet to her constituents. Currently, the Orlando Sentinel counts thirteen state senators and sixty-two house members on the site. But twitter is not only a tool for those in office; multiple mayoral candidates here in Jacksonville are actively micro-blogging to reach their constituents - and so are a few of their opponents.

Mullaney's pension problem

Mayoral candidate Rick Mullaney (R.) receives a $150,000 pension from the city's General Employees Pension Fund, $30,000 of which is paid out of the City's General Fund - according to a recent Florida Times Union article. Mullaney, former General Counsel for the city, came to Jacksonville in 1991 in the Ed Austin administration. He was a key player in pension negotiations. According to a January Folio Weekly article, Mullaney and comrades (including Mike Weinstein and John Delaney) drafted a new law to tie in their service at the State Attorney's office to their city service - creating a nice retirement package and adding an extra $2 million to pension pay-outs at the time. The law (94-1) had to go through the Pension Boards of Trustees and the Pension Advisory Board. It failed the first time around on the advisory board, but succeeded the second time when Mullaney lobbied and Weinstein - a seated member - did not recuse himself because of a conflict of interest the second time around.

Mike Hogan's Empty Chair: Pop (Warner) Goes Our Tax Dollars: Hogan proposed ...

Pop (Warner) Goes Our Tax Dollars: Hogan proposed spending $90k for kiddy's to go to Russia...

Note: This post is borrowed from, and written by Hogansemptychair that posts on Hogansemptychair.blogspot.com and tweets under @hogansemptychair. Thank you for letting me re-post on Action-ville.

Episode 1: “Pop (Warner) goes our tax dollars”

This is the first episode of my series entitled "Bad Things Happen When Hogan's Chair is Not Empty." Since Mike Hogan is a career politican, he has a long record of public votes and decisions. I’m beginning this series with this episode for two reasons: 1) Hogan clearly should have sent me for this vote 2) after not sending me he should have had the decency to procure me a tax payer funded ticket.