A.G. Gancarski
On Apr. 20, the Florida Ethics Commission will offer a formal opinion on whether or not the Duval County School Board contracting services with the construction company of Jacksonville City Councilman Garrett Dennis amounts to a conflict of interest.
Per Councilman Dennis, this is a simple formality, as he has already been cleared of any potential conflict in this matter.
That position is buttressed by an internal memo from city lawyers clearing Dennis, and a draft formal advisory opinion from the state ethics panel.
The reason: Jacksonville’s form of government, which has an elected countywide school board, does not give the City Council authority over the school board. Thus, there is no conflict.
An informal opinion from the state ethics commission staff asserted that; however, Jacksonville’s Office of General Counsel, in what appears to be an abundance of caution, wanted a formal opinion.
The request for an informal opinion from Jacksonville city lawyers notes that “Mr. Dennis wishes to maintain his anonymity in any opinion issued by the State Ethics Commission.”
Per Dennis, that’s standard practice whenever the state commission is weighing in on the activity of city council members.
Since neither Dennis nor his company (“Shifting Gears, LLC”) have a direct contractual relationship with the school board or district, there almost certainly will be no news out of the ethics meeting.
