Newly released, unredacted text messages sent and received by Jacksonville City Council President Kevin Carrico have raised questions about the close timing between an attempted Nassau County land grab by his nonprofit boss and his nomination of that same boss to the JEA board.
Text Messages Reveal Discussion of Land Deal
The unfiltered text exchange between Carrico and Boys & Girls Club of Northeast Florida CEO Paul Martinez was released by the State Attorney’s Office in response to a public records request. The texts show Martinez and Carrico discussing Martinez’ desire to obtain JEA-owned land on behalf of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Nassau County Foundation, and about Martinez’s appointment to JEA’s board of directors.
The first reference to the land in Carrico’s subpoenaed records was on Dec. 9, when Carrico referenced research that then-JEA Chief of Staff Kurt Wilson did for the Boys & Girls Club about the Nassau County property. The records provided by the State Attorney show Martinez reached out to Carrico on Jan. 7 to ask for an update on the project.
Carrico’s Response Raises Eyebrows
Two weeks later, on Jan. 20, Martinez reached out to Carrico again for a status update. Carrico responded, saying, “Guess it’s time they get a new board member to show them who’s boss…. You ready to play the game?” This response has raised questions about whether Carrico linked the land deal and Martinez’s JEA board nomination.
Carrico’s attorney, Mitch Stone, argues that the text messages about the land deal should have been withheld as private communications. However, the JEA board appointment was something Carrico was doing in his city capacity, making that portion of the text a public document.
The State Attorney’s Office released the text messages, along with nearly 1,000 other documents, in response to a public records request. The release of the documents has shed light on the close timing between the land deal and the JEA board nomination, raising questions about the relationship between Carrico and Martinez.
Original reporting: Jacksonville Today — read the source article.
