Daily Record FINANCIAL NEWS &
FRIDAY, MARCH 10, 2017
Vol. 104, No. 084 • oNe SectioN
35¢ www.jaxdailyrecord.com
Legacy built on more than stats
By Marilyn Young, Editor When you walk around the University of North Florida campus, the most obvious changes since John Delaney became president are the physical ones. The Student Union, the epicenter of campus life, features restaurants, a 6,000-seat amphitheater and the Center for Student Media. Osprey Fountains, a 1,000-student housing complex, packed with amenities, including a lazy river pool. And the College of Education
and Human Services Building, home to classrooms, teaching labs and an education conference center. Those buildings are part of the 2 million square feet of space added to UNF since Delaney took over in 2003. The former Jacksonville mayor used his political relationships to help secure $187 million in construction funding from the state at a time when Florida lawmakers were tight-fisted with those dollars. But it’s the relationships he built on campus that are the
intangible parts of the legacy Delaney will leave when he retires as president in May 2018. The charismatic Delaney was popular among the students almost from the beginning. The faculty was a tougher nut to crack. Unlike most university presidents in the early 2000s, Delaney didn’t have an academic background, which was disconcerting to many professors. But, as he has regularly done, Delaney was able to assuage most of his critics. DELANEY CONTINUED ON PAGE 4
Photo courtesy of Angela Davis
Building relationships key to Delaney’s success at UNF
University of North Florida President John Delaney and John Barnes at the grand opening of the Student Union in the fall of 2009. Barnes was student government president at the time.
Hemming group gets contract Couple
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launches Buttons & Bows
The Friends of Hemming Park received a six-month extension on its deal to run the park outside City Hall.
Agreement gives Friends $415,000 for six months
By Max Marbut Staff Writer When Sam Mousa, Mayor Lenny Curry’s chief of staff, said Nov. 10 the mayor wanted to take over Hemming Park, it came as a surprise to the City Council committee looking into operations and to the nonprofit running the facility. Exactly what that means is made clear in a reinstatement and fifth amendment to the Friends of Hemming Park’s contract that will go into effect April 1. The agreement calls for the city to reimburse the nonprofit up to $240,000 — $40,000 per month for the six-month initial term — and commits up to $175,000 for
Public
capital improvements to the park that must be approved by the city. Council needs to approve the new agreement. With only three weeks left on the existing deal, the extension was a relief to the Friends. “It’s been tough not knowing how long we’d be around,” said Bill Prescott, who took over as CEO in August when Vince Cavin resigned over questions about how the organization was managing its initial $1 million, 18-month budget that began in October 2014. Under the terms, city funds will be used only for operational expenses that are clearly defined in the contract, which
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includes maximum monthly expenditures for each line item. That includes staff positions — there’s no money in the budget for a CEO — and detailed allowed expenditures such as water cooler rental ($69 a month). The Friends are required to submit a monthly report to the city in order to be reimbursed. More than half of the monthly allowance — $21,000 — is to be devoted to making the park clean and safe, including continuing to provide a private security officer and a Downtown ambassador seven days a week. The Friends are required to program the HEMMING
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He’s a Georgia farmer, she’s a hairstylist, and each is 27 years old. Married almost seven years, they have two young children. Oh, yes. Jacob and Erin Williams also own a clothing store in St. Johns Town Center. Buttons & Bows Clothing Co. opened March 1 in the wing of stores next to Nordstrom. “I like to be busy,” said Jacob, in a polite, folksy, understated manner not uncommon in Southern rural towns. Buttons & Bows focuses on what he calls “fashion with a Southern twist” popular with 15- to 40-year-old men and women. It also carries children’s clothing. Of course, shoppers of all ages are welcome to shop the inventory, with labels that include Southern Tide, Southern Lure, Southern Marsh, Anchor In, Onward Reserve and Lauren James, to name a few. Southern music plays in the background. Still stocking up, the shop sells casual wear, such as jeans, shorts, swimwear, hoodies, dresses, shoes, sunglasses and accessories for men and women, as well as Yeti coolers. “These clothes in Georgia are a big thing,” he said. This is the couple’s second Buttons & Bows. The first opened about nine months ago in Hazlehurst, Ga., where they live and where Jacob is a third-generation farmer growing cotton, corn, peanuts and tobacco. The county, with a population estimated at more than 15,000 is between Brunswick and Macon. The Williamses own four units in a strip mall. Buttons & Bows as well as Erin’s Hot Heads Salon operate there. The two other
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