Daily Record FINANCIAL NEWS &
THURSDAY, MARCH 16, 2017
Vol. 104, No. 088 • oNe SectioN
35¢
www.jaxdailyrecord.com
Case against Kelly Mathis over
By Marilyn Young, Editor Mitch Stone said he will never forget waiting outside the Seminole County jail March 15, 2013, for Kelly Mathis — his client and friend — to be released. Stone had fought for three days to get Mathis out of jail, including filing an emergency appeal with the 5th District Court of Appeal. It even took a last-minute call to the judge’s cellphone to settle a late snag. Finally, Mathis walked out of jail about 5 p.m., Stone said.
Four years to the day later — and almost to the minute — the case against Mathis came to an end. Statewide Prosecutor Nick Cox decided Wednesday afternoon to dismiss the case against Mathis — the man prosecutors called the mastermind of a $300 million gambling ring that operated under the guise of a charity. Mathis, a former Jacksonville Bar Association president, was among 57 people arrested in March 2013 in the Allied Veterans of the World gambling investiga-
tion. All of the defendants except Mathis, who was Allied’s lawyer, either accepted a plea agreement or had their charges dropped. A jury found him guilty of 103 gambling-related counts in October 2013 and he was sentenced to six years in prison. Three years later, an appellate court tossed the convictions, because the defense wasn’t allowed to present key evidence to help prove his innocence. When the Florida Supreme Court decided Feb. 1 not to hear GAMBLING CONTINUED ON PAGE 3
File photo by Fran Ruchalski
Prosecutor decides not to retry attorney
Four years after his arrest on gambling charges, the statewide prosecutor dismissed charges against Kelly Mathis.
DVI wants city’s full contribution for budget Agency presents plan to DIA board
Cowford Chophouse project moving along
Photo by Fran Ruchalski
By Max Marbut Staff Writer
Jacques Klempf points out some details in the construction on the second floor of the Cowford Chophouse Downtown at 101 E. Bay St. Klempf said so much work has been done to the property that it will never have to be upgraded again. Danis Construction is the contractor and Klempf expects to take occupancy July 1. His daughter, Alexandria, is leading the redevelopment of the historic Bostwick Building into the restaurant. See more photos on Page 20.
Roosevelt Square’s anticipated redevelopment appears closer. St. Johns River Water Management District engineer Everett Frye expects to issue a permit within a week for a 5-acre redevelopment site at the almost 29-acre Westside shopping center. The project would need city approvals, as well. Plans for the site at the southeast corner of the center include removal of the former Belk store and rebuilding one set of storefronts. The storefront site would be redeveloped with a larger building that mirrors the set of shops just to its north, plans show. After the Belk building removal, a large portion of its site would remain undeveloped, at least for the time being. Belk closed in January. There also would be two new smaller buildings put up near MATHIS
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Owner Dewberry Capital Corp. wants to demolish the former Belk store, at right, and the site would remain vacant. It also wants to rebuild the smaller of the two buildings in the center into one about the same size as structure next to it.
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Photo from dewberrycapital.com
Roosevelt Square seeking permits
It’s just the middle of March, but preparing budget proposals for the city spending plan that will go into effect Oct. 1 has begun. Downtown Vision Inc., the nonprofit urban core advocacy organization established by ordinance and funded with an additional property tax assessment on Downtown commercial property, presented its plan on Wednesday to the Downtown Investment Authority. Terry Durand-Stuebben, chair of DVI’s board of directors, said the organization’s mission is reflected in its budget proposal, with more than $754,000 of the $1.4 million budget allocated for making Downtown clean, safe and attractive. Other priorities include “experience creation,” marketing and serving as a resource for Downtown information and statistics, she said. Jake Gordon, DVI CEO, said the agency wants to get ahead of the process and wants to ensure the authority’s approval of its budget when the plan goes Gordon before the administration and City Council in a few months. The budget projects revenue of $770,000 from commercial property, based on the additional 1.1 mill assessment. The city’s annual contribution, based on the value of public property within the Business Improvement District, has for several years been $311,660, which Gordon said calculates to about 0.8 mills. From 2001, when DVI was created, through the 2007-08 budget, the city paid 1.1 mills like the commercial property owners. But then budget issues caused by the recession led to cutbacks, one of which was the reduction in the appropriation for DVI. Gordon said if the city contributes 1.1 mills in the 2017-18 budget, the amount DIA CONTINUED ON PAGE 3
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