The Jacksonville City Council has released President Kevin Carrico’s response to a February 24 subpoena from the State Attorney’s Office, following months of public-records requests and attorney intervention. The documents were finally released on Tuesday, more than 100 days after the initial request was made by Jacksonville Today and other local outlets.
Background of the Subpoena
The subpoena, issued about a week after media reports of a text message Carrico sent to JEA board member Arthur Adams, sought electronic, social media, written, and audio-visual communications between Carrico and his boss, Boys & Girls Club of Northeast Florida CEO Paul Martinez, related to Martinez’ appointment to the city utility JEA’s board. The state attorney’s probe also demanded any communications between Carrico and JEA board members, the city utility’s CEO Vickie Cavey, JEA’s former Chief of Staff Kurt Wilson, and documents containing words and phrases including ‘lobbying contract,’ ‘toxic,’ and ‘racist.’
Jacksonville Today first requested copies of what Carrico gathered to comply with the subpoena on February 27. However, the city initially returned an estimate of $3,976.50 to compile and comb through the records, citing the need to check for confidential and exempt documents.
Dispute Over Costs and Delay
Attorney Jennifer Mansfield, who argued for the records’ release on behalf of Jacksonville Today and six other local outlets, found the estimated cost and delay unreasonable. Mansfield stated that the public records request was crafted to minimize city staff’s work and the time it would take to release the documents. She also noted that the city’s claim that Carrico would need to recreate his search, estimated to take 45 hours, was an ‘artifice to producing the documents’ and drove up the bill.
The city ultimately requested a copy of the records from the state attorney and returned a new public-records cost estimate of $267.20. Jacksonville Today split the cost and is sharing the records with six other outlets.
Original reporting: Jacksonville Today — read the source article.
