Mayor Curry faces complex, hot-button issues as budget hearings set to begin

[thelakelander]

Like airplanes circling and waiting for clearance to land, a host of complex, hot-button issues loom on the horizon for Mayor Lenny Curry.

The burden of the city's pension debt, the uncertainty clouding UF Health Jacksonville's finances, the fate of a deal with Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shad Khan for developing the Shipyards, and the politically fraught decision on adding sexual orientation to the city's anti-discrimination law are all in the pipeline.

If that's not enough, there's also the increasingly complicated quest to dredge the St. Johns River and the prospect of tough negotiations with JEA over what the utility will pay each year to City Hall.

The calendar is even tighter than usual because Curry, who took office July 1, is still pushing through his first budget and filling vacant posts in his fledgling administration.

Meanwhile, many issues facing the city could run, at least in part, through the state Legislature, which will open its 2016 session in early January, two months earlier than it usually convenes. That means the the city must move faster to get its list of "asks" for the Legislature ready to go.

Curry often peppers his remarks with observations that's "time is precious" and his administration is acting with a sense of urgency. The next few months will put that notion to the test.

Through a spokesman, Curry declined a request for an interview.

Full article: http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2015-08-11/story/mayor-curry-faces-complex-hot-button-issues-budget-hearings-set-begin

[Tacachale]

Yeah, no kidding.