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First Coast Connect

8/19/19: Democrats Call For Investigation Into Mayor's Office; Jax Civic Council; Cole Pepper

BRENDAN RIVERS / WJCT NEWS
Jacksonville City Hall

The Duval County Democratic Party is calling for an independent investigation into the actions of Mayor Lenny Curry’s office during the city’s “Stop the Violence” initiative

The Democrats want to know if the mayor’s staff exerted unlawful pressure to give special treatment to groups applying for crime prevention grants.

This comes as WJCT News partner The Florida Times-Union reported last week that Joe Peppers, the head of the Kids Hope Alliance, was told by City Hall to dole out grants to churches and groups the Mayor’s Office wanted.

Since then, the City announced Peppers has been placed on administrative leave. Peppers is also being investigated by the city’s Inspector General’s Office.  Duval Democratic Party Chairman Daniel Henry joined us with a look at his party's concerns.

Civic Council

The Jacksonville Civic Council is weighing in on the push by the Duval School Board to get a half-cent sales tax referendum before local voters.

Jeanne Miller, who heads up the Council; and Gary Chartrand, the Council’s Chair of the Education Task Force and former State Board of Education Chair, joined us with more.

Cole Pepper

Cole Pepper joined us to discuss the Jaguars preseason, the start of high school and college football, and the Sharks, who won the National Arena League Title on Saturday.

Heather Schatz can be reached at hschatz@wjct.org, 904-358-6334 or on Twitter at @heatherschatz.

 

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Heather is the senior producer of WJCT 89.9 FM talk shows including First Coast Connect with Melissa Ross, the Florida Roundup and What's Health Got to Do with It?