Is there going to be an investigation into Mousa and Baker, and what Curry knew and when?

The legitimacy of Jacksonville city government is on the line.

As for as I can tell it's not illegal for the mayor and the city council to sell out the city's children and schools. Immoral yes, illegal no. However if Sam Mousa while a city employee hatched a scheme with another of Lenny Curry's top lieutenants, Tim Baker, to extort a half million from the school board isn't illegal then nothing is. Then if the mayor coordinated it some how, and I can't imagine those two doing anything without Curry's approval then this is a serious matter.

This is something the city should not forget. This is something that city shouldn't just shrug their shoulders over and move on from. We need to make sure that we have a city government that is above board that does things the right way. 

The city council should immediately call for a investigation and the last people that should handle it is the general council's office. When they didn't recuse themselves over the special tax referendum, two agencies had competing interests, and dubiously sided with the city, they proved they could not be trusted to be impartial. Furthermore they are beholden to the mayor for their jobs and what the mayor knew and when he knew it should be central to the investigation.

It's not illegal to sell out the city's schools and children. I get that. Profiting off this sell out however should be. Conspiring to profit off it should be too. We need to know if that is what the mayor and two of his top lieutenants did.

If the people of Jacksonville don't have a government they can trust then we should replace the people governing with people we can.

Teach for America back on the SB agenda Tuesday

Teach for America is back on the agenda Tuesday. I wrote the letter below to our super and school board because I think our kids deserve professional teachers and people who are more likely to stay more than just two years. Plus at 9 grand a recruit can we really afford it?

I have to say I have been impressed by most of the board and superintendents ongoing battle with the mayor and city council over the sales tax referendum. You do the school system and city proud. 

That being said we must still strive to do things the right way and entering into a contract with Teach for America does the exact opposite of what evidence and best practices say the students in our most vulnerable schools need. 

Your own analysis says that many of the Teach for America teachers struggle in the classroom. I remind you what it said

  TFA teacher performance based on Florida DOE Valued Added Model (VAM) score was reviewed for TFA teachers in TFA cohorts 2013-2015 to 2016-2018 using VAM data from 1415 to 1718 school years. There were 473 TFA teacher scores during those years. Of those, 53.9% were Effective or Highly Effective and 46.1% were Needs Improvement or Unsatisfactory. However, a comparison of performance of TFA teachers at elementary schools versus secondary schools revealed that TFA teachers at secondary schools had a significantly higher percentage of Effective and Highly Effective VAM scores, 56.0 % for secondary and 45.1 % for primary. 

During the same time period the overall average of effective and highly effective teachers was much higher, an average that was apparently brought down by Teach for America teachers.

Also it may be a little dated but a 2013 report from Columbia said Teach for America serious exacerbated Duval's teacher retention problem.

https://drive.google.com/drive/search?q=columbia%20teacher%20data  

Furthermore who do you think is going to work in the IDEA schools if they come to Jacksonville? Teach for America teachers that is who. Why would you enable the presence of this group knowing that their ultimate aim is to replace you? That does not make any sense. 

https://www.propublica.org/article/how-teach-for-america-evolved-into-an-arm-of-the-charter-school-movement 

Last year the district brought in 18 teach for America staff and paid zero dollars. They were allowed to apply like anyone else. Why can't that continue to be good enough? this year you are promising to pay 50 thousand to bring in ten? How does that make sense. 

Finally the cost of 9 thousand per corp member should be prohibitive. Wouldn't that money be better spent going to colleges of ed and recruiting their top graduates, you know people who want to be teachers and who have a much greater chance of both being effective and staying more than two years? If you need help I will volunteer my services and I won't charge you a dime. 

I get it we need more teachers, but Teach for America is not even a band aide on the problem, in fact it adds more to the problem. I urge you not to approve the contract and instead strive to put a professional teacher in every class. That not an ever revolving door of novices is what our children deserve and what you are obligated to do your best to provide.

What kind of city do you want Jacksonville to be? (draft)

We have to decide what kind of city we want to live in. One that works for the vast majority of us or one that works for just a few. A city that has leaders that look out for the people or a city whose leaders look out for just themselves and their donors. This has been a dark summer for Jacksonville but things can quickly and easily get worse.

It started with the mayor and city council inexplicably fighting against a special tax referendum that was to be used to upgrade and repair our schools, the one thing at least publicly everyone agrees needs to happen. They did so on behalf of a cadre of super donors known as the civic council many of who have close ties and financial entanglements with charter schools.

The city council was able to get involved because we have a city attorney who has way to much power and is either corrupt or incompetent and it doesn't help that he is beholden to the mayor who hates public schools so much he would rather see them fail than lift a finger to help them.

The major sticking point is the members of the civic council want hundreds of millions of dollars for charter schools and they are bound and determined to have their bought and paid for politicians jam up the works until the school board gives in.

Then just for added intrigue throw in two of the Mayors top lieutenants, Sam Mousa and Tim Baker tried to extort nearly a half million dollars from the district in order to get the referendum on the ballot, something which up till now has been nothing more than a formality.

If this was the only story that dominated the summer it would have been enough but it's just chapter one.

Chapter two would be the privatization of the Jacksonville Electric Authority, something while campaigning the mayor said he was against.

This is moving at warp speed as well. The JEA went from buying a new multi million dollar headquarters to its about to implode in a matter of weeks. The only solution offered, privatization.

Literally just last week the JEA board, after raising the salary of its CEO to over a half million dollars, must be nice during the middle of an economic crisis, said they were going to explore privatizing what had been considered the city's crown jewel. Then this week they announced they are taking bids until September thirtieth. Nine weeks, that's how long this process could take. We will have gone from buying a new headquarters to selling the entire thing.

You might be wondering about the mayor's campaign promise not to privatize JEA? Well like his decency did, when he sided with a handful of donors over the city's children with the tax referendum, that went out the window and he is now all for it. Though if we are being honest we all know he has been for it this entire time.

Then as far as controversies go, we are just getting started. The city just announced they had made a 450 million dollar for lot J to create an entertainment district near the stadium. It was a few days later that we learned that 233 million of that would be paid for by the public.

This is the same city that balked at the price of a special election for the tax referendum, that would have saved five million dollars and that they didn't have to pay in the first place. That's right friends, the city has 233 million dollars to give out in incentives but can't raise a finger to help our schools. I would say I don't know how the mayor and city council sleep at night but I imagine it is pretty easy since barely a quarter of the city bothered to show up and vote in this past springs elections. The mayor that is spearheading these and other dubious moves was elected by 15 percent of the city.

Here is the thing about this too, the city unless the city attorney changes the meaning of a statute there and a word here, like it did with the sales tax referendum may be able to weigh in on the sell of the JEA but not this lot J fiasco. It will most likely be passed with barely a conversation and in a few weeks as well.

With all this going on the ballooning murder rate and what we are going to do with the Landing after spending 20 million dollars and blowing it up without a plan, come in at page 19. These things which should be front page news don't even make the fold. 

This is us, this is the city of Jacksonville, and I have a feeling things will get a lot worse for the every day citizen. they will be frozen out more and have whats important to them ignored or taken away, before things get better. 

The city council sends questions to Lenny Curry about the lot J sale

The city council as you can see by their involvement in the sales tax referendum likes to know the issues. Several of them sent questions to Mayor Curry about the lot J sale that I was able to see.

Scott Wilson, - I look forward to meeting with the Jaguars and then doing what they and mayor Curry to tell me to do. That's not a question, um when can I meet with the Jaguars so I can do what they and Mayor Curry tell me to do.

Aaron Bowman- I don't need to see any of the details, on this. Where can I pick up my "wink, wink, complementary" tickets.  Takes bite of apple.

LeAnna Cumber - I am not an engineer but I work with them, what does that have to do with the give away, err, sale, nothing I just thought I would bring it up.

Tommy Hazouri - when flying to London on the Kahn jet, is it carry on or checked baggage?

Micheal Boylon -  can you do 10 tickets, six for me and my family and 4 for my inflated ego?

Al Ferro- couldn't we have used lottery money to sweeten the deal?

Rory Diamond - the only place children get a chance is charter schools, and yes I know that has nothing to do with the lot J give away, err sale, I just want to remind everyone this is what I said at a city council meeting.

Reggie Gaffney - how can we get Sam Mousa involved?

Ju'Coby Pittman -  do I have to go to the games?

Brenda Preistly Jackson - can we have anyone against this tested for age related dementia? what was the Jags record last year? what's their record against AFC west competition historically, how many players from historically black colleges have been on the Jags roster for more than 7 games (plus thirty other questions about nothing).

Curry was quick to reply too. He said,  I am going to London!!!

Friends think about this, if the city settled on a 233 million dollar give away on a 450 million dollar project, what was Kahn's starting position?

Did Sam Mousa's new consulting firm do the negotiations on behalf of the city, since he offers clients bad deals, that would make sense

Who wants to bet this deal won't get a tenth of the scrutiny the school board's sales tax referendum has received and it seems to me that this is to big of a decision for the city council to make and the city should be allowed to weigh in. Now you might be saying, we elected the council to do a job, well we elected to school board to do a job too but that hasn't stopped the city council from interfering. 

Jacksonville always seems to have money for scoreboards but never for schools.  

The stunning hypocrisy of councilman Aaron Bowman

His fight against the school tax referendum was never about getting more information and making sure the city got a good deal and he as much admitted that today in the Jacksonville Daily Record.

Here is what he said, Bowman, a second-term Republican, said Thursday that he had not read all the details of the proposed agreement, but he is supportive of the Lot J project. 

“It’s transformational,” Bowman said. “It’s not often someone comes knocking at your door saying I want to invest half-a-billion dollars in your city.”

https://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/article/city-could-use-hotel-bed-tax-to-fund-deal-lot-j-deal-finance-committee-chair-says?

Bowman hasn't seen all the details about lot J proposal but he is for it, where he saw truckloads of details about the tax referendum and gave it only disdain. The truth is no amount of details would have satisfied him because he wants our schools to fail.

Then lot J is transformational? Um how? Don't we have the things proposed already? You know what would be transformational? A 1.2 billion dollar  school revitalization program and then he wrong on the basic facts because the tax payers are kicking in 233 million of that but he is banking enough people won't care or won't notice, this is Jacksonville after all.

Bowman is a parody of those politicians you see in comics and TV all bluster zero substance. he is more boss hog than Daniel Webster and sadly the people of Jacksonville where republicans vote against their self interests and democrats just don't vote.

Rory Diamond calls the school board chair a liar.

I have to say I have been nothing but impressed by Lori Hershey since she replaced the horrible Jason Fischer on the school board. She is prepared and a fierce advocate for our schools. I hope she now understands that it's time to take the kid gloves off. 

In a piece in Florida Politics, political mercenary and part of the extortion team Mousa and Baker, Tim Baker called Mrs. Hershey a fool.

From Florida Politics, 

Baker sees the capital need, but doesn’t see the narrative having emerged to pull off a referendum victory yet.

“I wouldn’t oppose a good policy or meddle in a process because someone like Hershey is a fool and lashed out. A good plan with a good campaign can win by 20 points. A bad plan (or lack of one really) and the path they are on now loses by 20 points,” Baker said.

“I’m just a Duval County voter so my opinion is just worth one vote, but like the Mayor and every member of Council I’ve heard speak on the issue I personally believe the schools need more money for facilities but what I’ve seen isn’t enough to win my vote at the ballot box, which is the only place I have a say in,” Baker added.

https://floridapolitics.com/archives/301890-rift-widens-duval-tax

He sees the capital needs right, but he saw a need to put six figures in his pocket even more. As for Hershey lashing out, good, I am glad she did, it helps expose the nasty underbelly of city hall. Then he says he sees the need but it doesn't have his vote? That speaks to his poor character.

Davis wasn't the only one who disparaged the council chair in the piece as Rory "the only place children have a chance is charter schools" Diamond called her a liar in a tweet.

You know because if you stand up for public schools you must be a lair. I asked Mr. Diamond and maybe you should too, specifically what she lied about. I won't hold my breath waiting for a response.

Here is the thing too, even if you think public schools should rot, you have to admit Hershey has behaved with nothing but dignity and respect. There is noway I could hold my tongue like she must be doing. The other side which is fighting against giving children what they both need and deserve can definitely not say the same thing.

Here is his email if you want to ask him. RDiamond@coj.net

JAA proposes a 9 million dollar air traffic control tower, the city council questions the cost and suggests a private firm might do it better and cheaper.

The city council sent the the JAA a series of questions asking if it was necessary and cost effective. Some asked why not lease a tower instead and others asked historical questions about air travel in Jax. The purpose to make sure Duval's citizens are getting the best deal. Nah who am I kidding, the city council doesn't even care what the mayor does, their one and only job is to micromanage the school board and they are willing to ignore statutes and change the meaning of words to get away with it.

From the Jacksonville Business Journal,

The Jacksonville Aviation Authority received a permit Tuesday for its long-planned air traffic control tower and spaceport command center at Cecil Airport.

The permit gives the project an $8.1 million price tag and lists it as an 11-story, 118-ft. building. JAA previously estimated the building would stand 135-ft. tall and cost $3.3 million.

https://www.bizjournals.com/jacksonville/news/2019/07/03/jaa-moves-forward-with-9-million-air-traffic.html

Hundreds of millions for an entertainment system, the privatization of JEA and a school system marginalized and stripped of their power to do their job. Welcome to Jacksonville

The school board does not work for the city council. Or they didn't until they usurped their authority on behalf of their donors.

Rory had zero questions for the FAA.

Estimated Completion date of city public records request, 12/11/2019 at 3:17 PM um wha?!? (draft)

First, wow what a specific time, that is amazing.

Second the city basically just told me to screw off. 

Let me explain what happened. Scott Shine sent the city council a letter saying there were a dozen IDEA charter schools on the way.

The Times Union did a report where IDEA said they planned to bring six, something they had told the district.

At a city council meeting in July, Aaron Bowman said 12.

So thinking maybe IDEA was telling different people different things, I asked IDEA myself and they told me 12.

So I wanted to see what they told the council, so I asked to see all the emails where IDEA was discussed.

Aaron Bowman told me he had none, which raised some red flags because I know I had sent him one, in response, to the one Scott Shine had sent. Now I am not that great in math but I know 1 plus 1 is 2 and 2 is greater than none.  

I don't know how they do their searches and I could see if somebody was going through each email  they might have missed a mention about IDEA, but they missed at least two and again that raised a red flag.

So I asked to see all of Bowman's since May first and for good measure all of Wilson's since June 1st.  I thought you know this way nobody has to go painstakingly through each email looking for a phrase here or there and I would just do it.  I really want to take up as little of their time as possible.

Initially I thought they were going to burn them on a CD for me as I got this email. 

No, Sir.  Not required. We are aware of your public record search request.  Very direct with dates, sent and received.  Only asking for two months of emails ..we can burn those to a CD.  I have ITD performing the task.. you only have two Search Names 

I thought wow this is pretty impressive, they take this seriously. 

Then I got this, 

 Hi Mr. Guerrieri,

The below public record request has been posted to the CARE system and has been assigned an Issue # of 2019-185601. Please use this tracking number and the address 117 Duval St W Unit 425 to check on the status of your request at http://630city.coj.net/.

I thought okay cool, the emails will be online, but that's not quite what I discovered when I went there.

And there is that incredibly specific date. I sent an email double checking with the city, but if that date is accurate then it's probably as close to a middle finger as they are allowed to give. I can see it now I will get an email in five months and I will be like um what?

I get it public giving public records can be a pain, but that doesn't mean they aren't important and the production of them should be prompt and thorough something that was obviously not the case here.

For $%#s sake councilman Gaffney endorses the extortion of our public schools

At this point in the referendum process councilman Gaffney is either woefully and willingly ignorant or complicit about what’s happening with the city and the sales tax referendum. He confirmed this in an op-ed to the Times Union.

In the editorial he admitted that our schools desperately needed resources and he supported them getting them, he then pivoted from decency to endorsing Sam Mousa a man who tried to squeeze the district out of a half million dollars while offering the district things they don’t want, a 2020 referendum and hundreds of millions guaranteed to charters.

From the Times Union,

I am writing this letter in response to offer my perspective.

First, I believe that Duval’s schools deserve better, and that they are in need of an additional source of dedicated funding. I also believe that the proposed half-cent sales tax could provide sustainable funding for our city’s most important institution: our schools.

But to accomplish this goal I believe that it’s vital for the School Board to have access to people who possess the knowledge and experience needed to get a referendum on the ballot for our students.

Um the school board shouldn’t need some high priced mercenaries to get the referendum on the ballot, all they should have needed was the common sense and decency of the city council, a couple things that have been sadly, difficult to find.

He then went onto give a full throated endorsement of Sam Mousa, also from the Times Union,

I suggested that these School Board members reach out to Sam Mousa, the former chief administrative officer to Mayor Lenny Curry, to see how he could help the referendum effort.

Mousa has been a respected community leader throughout my time on City Council; he is someone who has earned the trust of people throughout the city of Jacksonville.

Mousa has squandered and done so quickly any respect he may have had for his service. People don’t tend to respect individuals that attempt to extort money away money that is earmarked for improving the lives of children.

You know who else has lost the respect he may have had? Councilman Gaffney, instead of being outraged and demanding an investigation, since Mousa started his scheme while he was a city employee, Gaffney says sure, why not.

At this point in the referendum process councilman Gaffney is either woefully and willingly ignorant or complicit about what’s happening. Either is bad for the city and the children he says he cares about.

Shame on him.

Curry promises hundreds of millions for entertainment complex, won't lift finger for the city's public schools

I get it football is king but this is ridiculous.

One of Lenny Curry’s most consistent and disingenuous talking points was the cost of the special election. It didn’t matter that the district said they would pay for it, it would save 5 million dollars and slow down wear and tear on some of our schools that need the most help.

Well friends the city just promised hundreds of millions to Shad Kahn, money that arguably could be better spent elsewhere.

This deal reeks of desperation on Curry’s behalf.

His popularity which was never that great is waning, the tax referendum outside of his echo chamber has to be a black eye.

This is also eerily similar to his pension reform, a mighty big maybe that may seem splashy now but has a great chance to blow up in our face.

The city has two hundred million dollars plus to spend on a sports and entertainment complex but complained mightily about a million dollars that it didn’t even have to spend, to help improve our schools. Priorities.

Duval has always been about the golden rule, he who has the gold makes the rules, they get richer and richer while the rest of us are left begging for crumbs.