A.G. Gancarski
On Monday, FloridaPolitics.com caught up with Jacksonville City Council President-Designate Lori Boyer.
Among the topics: the recent council auditor report that said $317,000 was improperly allocated to Infinity Global Solutions, a lobbying firm which benefited from a “no-bid” contract when current Chief of Staff Kerri Stewart was head of the Housing and Neighborhoods Department and John Peyton was mayor.
Notable to some observers: in between her stints in City Hall, Stewart worked for Infinity Global Solutions, as an example of what a Florida Times-Union report called a “revolving door” between IGS and city government.
With multiple council members, including Republicans who support the Curry administration, saying that this might not have been “kosher,” Boyer’s comments were of interest.
“I was completely unaware that this investigation was going on,” Boyer said, and she was “surprised by some details.”
Among those details: the “magnitude of the increase” in the contract without a bid.
However, part of the rationale of why that might have happened would be an “ongoing contractor relationship” which would be enhanced or extended if both sides were satisfied with the terms.
Boyer, “not attributing motives” to any party named in the report, poised the rhetorical question: “Where do you draw the line between a re-bid and working with a person that you think is doing a good job?”
Still, when it comes to this report, “the challenge in public office is perception,” Boyer said, even though with quality people, “everybody wants them to work for them.”
Boyer posed the question: “Is there a perception issue that overshadows getting work done for citizens?”
“They say that Jacksonville is a big small town,” Boyer said, with everyone having “connections and relationships with people that bear on our decision making.”
The question: what is the threshold to determine when past relationships become an issue?
Of course, Boyer’s council is not without potential conflicts. Scrutiny has been imposed on the dealings of Councilman Reggie Gaffney and Councilwoman Katrina Brown in recent weeks.
Despite this omnibus scrutiny, the question to be considered is one of “direct conflict” in the committee appointments of them and everyone else on the council.
“I try to be sensitive to not create direct conflict. Every council member is elected by their constituents and their constituents deserve to have a voice.”
“It’s not appropriate to try to read too much into things,” Boyer said, noting she would recuse council members from liaison roles with organizations with which they have direct dealings, such as Brown and her loan through the Northwest Jacksonville Community Development Corporation.
