tldr: yes.
Quote
City Council president and two council members texted about bill as committee discussed it
Portrait of David Bauerlein David Bauerlein
Jacksonville Florida Times-Union
Jacksonville City Council President Kevin Carrico exchanged text messages with two City Council members about legislation during a council committee meeting, even though long-standing guidance from city lawyers has been for council members to never use text messages for official business.
In addition to the advice by the city's Office of General Counsel, the state's Government in the Sunshine Manual says a government board should not "take part or engage in private discussions of board business" by using text messages.
Carrico said the text messages sent during the Aug. 4 meeting of the council's Neighborhoods Committee were about the legislative process rather than the substance of the legislation.
"As council members, we take Florida's Sunshine Law seriously and are all trained on its requirements," he said in a statement. "The brief, transitory exchange in question was procedural in nature and did not involve policy deliberations. Out of an abundance of caution, these messages have been provided to council staff for inclusion in the official record to ensure full transparency."
An October 2015 memo by the city's Office of General Counsel to City Council members said it is "never permissible" for council members to text each other about official business.
"Texting between Council Members carries with it an extraordinarily high risk that such messages would be considered unlawful," wrote Jason Gabriel, who was the city's general counsel at the time.
https://www.jacksonville.com/story/news/local/2025/08/12/jacksonville-city-council-members-texted-each-other-about-bill/85607127007/?tbref=hp
Probably.
Will there be outrage from the usually Outraged Salem, Carrico, or Diamond? Oh, wait. Two of the Usually Outraged are participants in the kerfuffle.
So, no, there will be no outrage.
Or anything else. People bringing it up will be attacked as Woke Partisan Haters.
Quick! Someone fish Donna's Quizno's receipt out of the trash!
I bet she upgraded to Rosemary Parmesan bread.
We should get all the text messages on council persons phones for the last year or two. Imagine how many revelations of backroom dealing we might find. Unfortunately, unless recorded, we can't capture all the verbal ones.
How is it that a certain group on the Council always votes in lockstep without saying so in public forums how they all came to think exactly the same way at the same time? Cross checking their positions behind the scenes?
Interesting quote from Ron Salem
Quote"This was a procedural discussion with council President Carrico — similar to others I've had in the past while serving as council president myself," Salem said.
Maybe someone should look into those "procedural discussions"
My understanding is that there is a General Counsel attorney present at every City Council meeting whose sole purpose, really, is to advice the Council on procedural matters. I don't make it a habit to watch City Council meetings on TV, but the ones that I have seen, at some point during the meeting, a council member will query the attorney for an interpretation of procedural rules.
Quote from: Papa33 on August 13, 2025, 10:20:02 AM
My understanding is that there is a General Counsel attorney present at every City Council meeting whose sole purpose, really, is to advice the Council on procedural matters. I don't make it a habit to watch City Council meetings on TV, but the ones that I have seen, at some point during the meeting, a council member will query the attorney for an interpretation of procedural rules.
Yep, that's accurate. City attorneys are there for every council and committee meeting.
Quote
Attorney calls for Sunshine Law investigation into Jacksonville City Council president, 2 other members
Council President Kevin Carrico called the accusations "a partisan and false attack"
Tarik Minor, Anchor, I-TEAM reporter
Published: August 18, 2025 at 4:05 PM
Updated: August 18, 2025 at 7:45 PM
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A local attorney is calling on the State Attorney's Office to investigate three Jacksonville City Council members for potential violations of Florida's Sunshine Law, raising new concerns about transparency inside City Hall.
Attorney Leslie Jean-Bart submitted a formal request asking State Attorney Melissa Nelson to investigate Council President Kevin Carrico, Councilman Mike Gay, and Councilman Ron Salem over alleged private discussions about public matters — conversations that may have occurred outside of the public eye.
Jean-Bart, who also serves as president of the Democratic Black Caucus for Duval County, had already requested an investigation last week over a series of text messages between the council members during an Aug. 4 Neighborhoods Committee meeting. The messages reportedly involved discussions about pending amendment bills — a potential breach of Florida's Sunshine Law, which prohibits elected officials from discussing public business in private.
Now, Jean-Bart is raising new concerns following remarks made by Salem during an interview with News4JAX on Aug. 15.
MORE | Councilmen want easier access to the city's free event tickets, like Jags games. One member says they're 'out of touch'
"So President Carrico was involved in something with the mayor's office and asked me to draft legislation that would split everything," Salem said, referring to legislation related to event gifts.
The statement quickly drew scrutiny from fellow council members.
"I just wonder where he asked him about this. Was this a public meeting?" Councilman Matt Carlucci asked in response.
Jean-Bart said those comments raise red flags.
"What was that conversation? What did it look like? What were you talking about? What were your motivations?" she said. "All of those different things we as citizens are entitled to know. And what there was — a lot of comfort mentioning that this happened — that this is something the President does."
In her latest request to the State Attorney's Office, Jean-Bart alleges that the conversation between Carrico and Salem about drafting legislation — as well as prior text message exchanges, including Councilman Mike Gay — may constitute violations of the state's open-government law.
https://www.news4jax.com/news/local/2025/08/18/attorney-calls-for-sunshine-law-investigation-into-jacksonville-city-council-president-2-other-members