Jacksonville City Council passes ‘Transparency for Taxpayers Act’ in response to Deegan’s no-bid contract

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Jacksonville City Council passed the “Transparency for Taxpayers Act” this week, which requires certain city contracts for lobbying firms go before the city council prior to being implemented.

City Councilman Nick Howland introduced the legislation. It came directly in response to the outcome of Mayor Donna Deegan’s single source contract award for her administration’s new lobbying firm pick, where the mayor forewent the usual bidding process. That contract had a price tag of $300,000.

On Florida’s Voice with Brendon Leslie, Howland said after understanding the mayor’s administration’s “fairly flimsy” justification for the contract award, he decided to “make sure that this can never happen again.”

“For one, I hope we never see any secretive single source contracts to, you know, grant writing or lobbying firms, again,” Howland said. “For two, if they need to do one, we get the formal approval of it. So I’m hoping, what this does, is stop behaviors like that from happening again.”

Howland’s legislation implements a rule that any single source or non-compete contract awards for federal and state lobbying, as well as grant writing professional services must be approved by the city council in order to be considered valid and binding, according to the bill.

In September, Langton Consulting received the contract award from Deegan’s administration. Howland said city council found out about it through a news article in October.

Langton Consulting contributed to Deegan’s mayoral campaign. Howland previously said the contract award “smelled fishy,” leading him to question the mayor’s choice.

Howland’s proposal passed with a 12-6 vote Tuesday. Some council members rose in opposition of the legislation including Councilman Jimmy Peluso who called the bill “mean-spirited.”

“All we’re doing is trying to, again, thumb our nose at an administration that was doing exactly what it was allowed to do, and should have done,” Peluso said. “It’s what we elected the administration to do, it’s what she campaigned on, and I’m glad she did. But yeah, I truly do not understand in my heart of hearts why this bill even exists. It’s just petty. It’s foolish and it’s a waste of our time.”

Howland, who is also the Finance Committee chairman, said the legislation is “simply about transparency for taxpayers.”

“If you’re against this, you want single source contracts awarded to lobbyists, those decisions to be made in some windowless room somewhere in City Hall,” Howland said. “If you’re against this, you don’t want transparency to those decisions.”

Councilman Kevin Carrico co-sponsored the legislation and voiced his support during the meeting.

“We’re not talking about moving dirt around in a park, we’re talking about federal lobbyists, state lobbyists, that’s something that the citizens deserve to know who’s going to be going forward,” Carrico said.

“And as Councilman Howland mentioned, this particular one hosted a campaign party for our mayor,” he continued. “So not saying they’re the wrong person, but I’m saying that they’re not the only one and it’s certainly something that I think the voters deserve transparency and deserve to be questioned by this body in the future.”

Howland previously said he was “not satisfied” with the answers the mayor’s office provided during the Nov. 7 meeting. His committee suggested the mayor’s office terminate the contract and run a “proper, competitive bid” for the services the city was seeking.

During the Nov. 7 meeting where the Finance Committee asked the mayor’s office several questions about the contract and its justifications, the mayor’s office said their main way of determining if Langton Consulting was the only firm able to do grant writing, public policy and federal advocacy was through Google searches.

Howland said his office discovered other firms who provide those same services.

The committee also learned during the Nov. 7 meeting that Langton Consulting does not have a license to do federal lobbying.

During the Finance Committee’s Nov. 21 meeting, the mayor’s office told the committee they will be moving forward with the contract to Langton Consulting, which Howland called “disappointing.”