Mayor Deegan’s office continues with contract bid amid demands for future ‘transparency’

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan’s office said it would move forward with a single source contract award to its new lobbying firm amid months of controversy.

City Council Liaison Scott Wilson, who spoke on behalf of the mayor’s office, told the Jacksonville Finance Committee Nov. 21 about their plan. The committee and councilmembers had been questioning whether the mayor’s pick to hire Langton Consulting was justified.

“The plan at this point today and going forward is to allow this contract to play out for 12 months,” Wilson said.

Finance Committee Chair Nick Howland said the decision for the mayor’s office to move forward with the contract is “a little disappointing.”

Howland asked for answers from the mayor’s office about Deegan’s justification for the single source contract with a contract price of $300,000, and had expressed concerns in several meetings about why they chose Langton Consulting in the first place.

He pointed to reports on Nov. 21, saying that the mayor referred to the finance committee’s questioning of the contract as “political theater.”

“There’s a lot of political theater going on here,” Deegan said on First Coast Connect. “I am perfectly happy and as you know, absolutely anxious to discuss how this process works going forward for the entirety of city government.”

Howland previously told Florida’s Voice that Deegan’s justification for the single source contract award seemed “flimsy” because it included that Langton Consulting is “the only firm” that can do grant writing, public policy and federal advocacy.

“It’s a pretty bipartisan concern that if this award wasn’t bad, it certainly looks bad,” Howland said during the Nov. 21 meeting.

During the Nov. 7 meeting where the 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 also did an online search, made phone calls and found other firms who also provide the three services that the mayor’s office claimed Langton Consulting could only provide.

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

During the Nov. 7 meeting, Wilson also justified the mayor’s pick of the lobbying firm by saying they were “trying to get to work quickly” to secure federal dollars.

Howland said during the Nov. 21 meeting that since the Nov. 7 meeting, he learned that the city has had a grant writing firm “on retainer this whole time”

“So grant writing services have been available to the city the entire summer, which is important because we were told that Langton had to be brought on last minute, or really quickly, in order to meet some grant deadlines,” Howland said.

Howland said “all that’s left that Langton can do is public policy,” which he said “happens to be the service that’s the least unique” among lobbying firms.

During the Nov. 7 meeting, Council President Ron Salem said he has been “frustrated by procurement and some of the things that are going on” including “lack of information.”

“The 300,000 Langton, I heard about weeks after it occurred and that bothered me,” Salem previously said.

During the Nov. 21 meeting, Howland asked Wilson if the mayor’s office would be willing to work with the committee to “increase transparency” as they develop single source contracts.

“I can tell you sitting here today that I’m certain the mayor’s office is interested in working with this council to develop those transparency processes,” Wilson said.

Howland made a floor amendment during an Oct. 17 finance committee meeting, introducing an adjustment to a procurement code bill. His amendment requires all single source contracts over $50,000 to be reported quarterly to the finance committee for “transparency purposes.”

Wilson said during the Nov. 21 meeting that over the next year of allowing the contract with Langton Consulting to play out, the mayor’s office will begin the process of putting together a request for proposal for future contracts to compete to be the city’s lobbying firm.

Councilman Will Lahnen pointed out that if the city finds a lobbying firm that is “better, cheaper, more efficient,” there is a termination for convenience clause for the Langton Consulting contract, so it “doesn’t have to go through” the 12 month period.

Councilman Jimmy Peluso, who sat in as a guest on the committee during the Nov. 21 meeting, said that if they are “even possibly considering canceling” the Langton Consulting contract, “it takes a lot at the federal level.” 

He recommended letting the Langton contract go through the full 12 month period before finding another firm.

“The last thing you want to do is cut somebody off in the midst of the work that they’re doing at the federal level [….] We want to make sure that they’re doing the work that they were contracted to do,” Peluso said.

Councilman Kevin Carrico asked if there is anyone within the mayor’s office that can do state lobbying as Langton Consulting is not able to provide that service. Carrico said he is “concerned” about that.

After Wilson responded that he did not have the answer for Carrico, Councilman Rahman Johnson, who sat in as a guest on the committee Nov. 21, pushed the same question to the mayor’s administration.

“We don’t have a state contract right now, we’re going through the procurement process,” deputy chief administrative officer Kelli O’Leary responded.

Carrico said he believes the city currently has appropriations filed in Tallahassee.

“And if we don’t have a lobbyist under contract and we don’t have a lobbyist that works for the city, then I believe that’s a violation of some kind of state law,” Carrico said. “So like, we need to figure that out.”

O’Leary said she will get answers back to the committee regarding state lobbying for the city “immediately.”

Howland said he is looking forward to working with the mayor’s office to “increase transparency” on elements of single source contract processes.

“Everyone knows that this committee, the finance committee, will be watching all single source awards,” Howland said.