City Councilmember calls for Mayor Curry to resign

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — City Councilmember Garrett Dennis is calling for the resignation of Mayor Lenny Curry.

This follows the failed Lot J project Tuesday night and the release of the Special Investigatory Committee JEA Report last week.

Dennis released the following statement regarding his call for Curry to resign:

This city is in dire need of strong leadership and Lenny Curry is a reflection of neither. Curry doesn’t collaborate, he bullies; is not transparent, he is sneaky and secretive; is not visionary, he is committed to the interests of a privileged few. And, when things don’t go his way, he throws tantrums or attacks. Curry is daily informed and guided by a small group of political players. He has hand picked individuals for key positions who have neither the credentials nor experience, all to ensure he maintains tight control over a narrow agenda. He is incapable of handling any criticism, even that intended to be constructive. Case in point: he is the mastermind of the twice-failed attempts to sell JEA and has obliterated his integrity. Bottom line, that’s not what I expect of a mayor, of a leader. Curry needs to resign.

—  Garrett Dennis

WOKV reached out to the Mayor for comment. Jordan Elsbury, the Chief of Staff sent the following statement:

Councilman Garrett continues to place politics over the citizens he represents and that’s unfortunate. It’s clear through his voting record and inaction in District 9 that he would prefer to spread lies for media attention.

—  Chief of Staff Jordan Elsbury

Curry and Dennis have a strained relationship, and it’s often played out both in City Council and online.

Dennis was a swing vote for the Lot J Project on Tuesday. He was among the seven council members who voted against the deal, causing it to fail. Dennis told media after the vote that he blames the mayor’s administration for the lack of transparency with the deal.

“One of the councilmembers said it last night, These are, I’m quoting their colleagues— vendetta over vision. A couple of councilmembers are on the radio this morning confirming that. Anybody that watch the meeting last night I could see that it’s pretty clear that there were some ‘no’ votes that were about personalities. And that’s just really unfortunate. It’s a loss for Jacksonville. It’s a loss for what it would have been a transformational project downtown,” Curry said yesterday.

Earlier this month, the two exchanged heated tweets.

Curry has since deleted his exchanges on Twitter.

Hannah Lee

Hannah Lee

Hannah Lee is a General Assignment Reporter for 104.5 WOKV.

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