JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2014 The Jacksonville City Council voted down legislation Tuesday that would have restricted where the city\u2019s incoming Council President and Vice President could hold their installation ceremonies, ending a contentious debate over transparency, cost, and public access.<\/p>\n
The bill, introduced by Councilman Matt Carlucci<\/a>, followed an Action News Jax investigation that revealed last June\u2019s installation ceremony for current Council President Kevin Carrico cost more than $200,000. While most of the event was paid for by lobbyists and private donors, taxpayers still covered more than $14,000 for venue rental costs.<\/p>\n Carlucci\u2019s proposal sought to require installation ceremonies to be held in public facilities, arguing that the offices belong to the public, not the individuals assuming them.<\/p>\n \u201cThese offices belong not to the person taking office; they belong to the people and should be held in a public facility,\u201d Carlucci said.<\/p>\n Amendments Spark Debate<\/b><\/p>\n Councilwoman Tyrona Clark-Murray introduced an amendment narrowing the bill\u2019s scope. Her amendment required only the official installation ceremony – not after-parties or related events – to be held in a public space, softening the original proposal.<\/p>\n A second-floor amendment further diluted the bill, allowing officeholders to apply for a waiver to hold the ceremony in a non-public building, provided the public was notified through print and visual media.<\/p>\n >>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<<<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n Those changes frustrated several council members.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a lot. I don\u2019t know why we are gutting it this way,\u201d Councilman Jimmy Peluso said. \u201cWhy the hell would we not do it here?\u201d<\/p>\n Peluso was admonished for his language by Council President Carrico, who stripped Peluso<\/a> of his spot on the Energy & Utilities Committee after he protested the \u201cinappropriate actions and poor council leadership.\u201d<\/p>\n Councilman Rory Diamond opposed the bill altogether and questioned its legality, challenging Mary Staffopoulos from the Office of General Counsel during debate.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat universe is that allowed? You are not restricting who can go?\u201d Diamond asked.<\/p>\n \u201cThis universe,\u201d Staffopoulos replied, citing provisions of the city charter.<\/p>\n Cost and Transparency Questions<\/b><\/p>\n The debate was fueled by findings from the Action News Jax investigation, which showed that the installation ceremony was held at Deerwood Castle, home of the Jacksonville Sports Car Museum, and that the family of former Council Finance Chair Raul Arias<\/a> was paid $37,000 to work the event.<\/p>\n Those revelations raised concerns about transparency and accountability in how ceremonial events are planned and funded.<\/p>\n The ordinance itself stated that holding ceremonies in public facilities \u201creduces the appearance of exclusivity\u201d and \u201censures maximum opportunity for public access and attendance.\u201d<\/p>\n Opposition and Outcome<\/b><\/p>\n Vice President Nick Howland, who could become the next Council President, said he understood the intent of the bill but opposed its approach.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s well intentional, but restrictive,\u201d Howland said, adding that if elected, he would choose to hold his installation in council chambers.<\/p>\n Ultimately, the bill failed on an 11\u20137 vote.<\/p>\n [DOWNLOAD: <\/b>Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks<\/b><\/a>]<\/b><\/p>\n [SIGN UP: <\/b>Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter<\/b><\/a>] <\/b><\/p>\n Click here<\/b><\/a> to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, <\/b>click here<\/b><\/a> to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and <\/b>click here<\/b><\/a> to stream Action News Jax live.<\/b><\/p>\n Action News Jax Top Stories<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2014 The Jacksonville City Council voted down legislation Tuesday that would have restricted where the city\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":306205,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5136],"tags":[5229,13239,3188,723,7310,67861,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-514415","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-jacksonville","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-city-hall","10":"tag-fl","11":"tag-florida","12":"tag-jacksonville","13":"tag-jacksonville-city-hall","14":"tag-united-states","15":"tag-united-states-of-america","16":"tag-unitedstates","17":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","18":"tag-us","19":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115890931825472883","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/514415","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=514415"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/514415\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/306205"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=514415"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=514415"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=514415"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}