Research by Tallahassee Reports indicates that Anita Favors-Thompson is the most powerful City Manager in the state of Florida. This finding is based on a comparison of the formal powers of city managers of major cities in Florida, actions taken by Anita Favors-Thompson and interviews with community leaders. While Anita Favors-Thompson receives high approval ratings […]
On June 19th the City Manager released her FY2016 budget. In that budget, the responsibility for hiring the federal, state, and electric utility lobbyists was transferred from the Mayor’s Office to the full City Commission. The reason for the move was never explained. However, sources say the move was made to shield the Mayor from […]
Now that the budgets are set for a number of local government entities, Tallahassee Reports will begin to research the impact of decisions made by our local officials through votes on taxes and expenditures. Our first report compares the growth in government expenditures from 2008 through 2016 with other growth measures in Leon County. The […]
Herb Seckel’s family did not get 30 days to mourn the loss of their patriarch, before Gerald Ensley, employed by the Tallahassee Democrat, delivered his angry hit job on a man that deserved better. Mr. Seckel, who died on September 4th, less than a year after he lost his wife, was given the full “Gerald […]
The August employment numbers released by the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity show that Leon County added jobs for the second consecutive month. The August employment numbers for Leon County come in at 139,830, for an increase of 435 jobs. Last month Leon County added 439 jobs. TR has previously reported that in 2015, Leon […]
Last Wednesday, the City Commission ended one of the most contentious budget debates in memory with the approval of a 13% property tax increase and a 26.9% increase in fire service fees. In the end, the City will spend more money than was asked for by City Manager Anita Favors Thompson in the proposed budget […]
UPDATE The CRA voted 6-2 in favor of the $1.5 million grant to Big Bend Cares. Voting for the grant were County Commissioner’s Maddox, Lindley, Dozier, City Commissioner’s Miller, Richardson, and Mayor Gillum. Voting against were City Commissioner Scott Maddox and County Commissioner Bill Proctor. Those who supported the project talked about the redevelopment upgrade […]
By Claire Duchemin Reading the recent columns by J.T. Williams and Barton Tuck on the proposed closing of the north nine holes at Killearn, it strikes me that no one is speaking up for those of us member/owners who are most directly impacted by the changes. It’s high time the truth came out so that […]
After numerous budget workshops, town hall meetings, recommendations from citizens, and city commission votes, the City staff released the budget that City Commissioner’s will consider at the last scheduled public hearing tomorrow at 6:oo pm. And guess what? The latest proposal spends more money than the original budget proposed by the City Manger back in […]
Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch announced yesterday that more than $107 million in grant funding will be released through the Department of Justice’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office) COPS Hiring Program (CHP). The Attorney General announced funding awards to nearly 200 law enforcement agencies across the nation, aimed at creating, and in […]