Councilman questions Deegan’s expenses on London trip

A Jacksonville City Council member wants to know exactly how Mayor Donna Deegan’s administration spent taxpayer dollars on a trade mission to London when the Jacksonville Jaguars were playing there.

City Councilman Terrance Freeman called Monday for an audit of Deegan’s trip, saying he wants to know whether the city paid for her personal side trips while overseas.

City spokesman Phil Perry responded that Deegan’s expenses are a matter of public record; that she sees transparency in city goverment as a priority; and that she worked aggressively in London to bring jobs and investment to Jacksonville. She paid for her own vacation travel, he said.

Still, the conflict was only the latest between the Democratic mayor and local Republican leaders, including Freeman. Republicans also criticized her this month for comments about Donald Trump while in London and for missing a police officer’s funeral when she returned.

The Jaguars were in London for two games, on Oct. 13 and 20.

According to Freeman, the mayor was derelict in her duties when she missed the second Jaguars game for a “pre-planned” trip to Italy.

“Skipping out on official business while supposedly representing Jacksonville raises serious questions
about the use of public funds and whether it aligns with the trust our citizens have placed in the mayor,” Freeman said. “What was intended to be an official, taxpayer-funded city business trip appears to have included a personal vacation to Italy for the mayor herself.”

London expenses

Perry said information about Deegan’s expenses would always be provided to the public regardless of who is requesting it. Taxpayers’ funding for the trip was limited to efforts regarding the trade mission, the city said.

Perry said the mayor was in London from October 12 to 15 and participated in the UK government’s International Investment Summit, met with multiple banking and fintech companies, met with the U.S. ambassador to the United Kingdom and embassy staff, and gave economic development interviews.

“All these efforts were geared to bring jobs and businesses back to Jacksonville,” Perry said.

He said Deegan had a pre-planned vacation to Italy starting Oct. 16. Perry said Deegan personally paid for that trip.

JAXUSA, the region’s economic development group, was aware of Deegan’s trip to Italy and arranged the most important meetings and events for the days she would be in London, he said.

Aundra Wallace, president of JAXUSA, agreed that the organization took Deegan’s schedule into account when planning the agenda.

“We appreciate the mayor’s involvement on our London mission,” Wallace said in a prepared statement. “It is critical as we collectively sell Jacksonville and work to attract jobs and investment to our city.”

Freeman’s questions

Freeman wants an audit to answer a number of questions. Perry supplied answers to Jacksonville Today:

• Q: How much of the total trip — including airfare, lodging and meals — will the city be asked to pay for? A: We are still pending some final expenses from JAXUSA, but around $21,000 not including those.

• Q: How many members of the mayor’s staff or accompanying guests participated in the trip A: Four city employees and three spouses, including Deegan, Perry, Director of Economic Development Ed Randolph and Director of Sports and Entertainment Alex Alston.

• Q: What other locations, aside from London, did the mayor, her staff and guests visit? A: Deegan was on a pre-planned vacation to Italy starting Oct. 16 and paid for this trip personally. The only taxpayer expense for Deegan’s travel is her $2,978.18 hotel stay in London. She paid for her own flights to London and meals as she did last year. Perry was on a pre-planned vacation to France starting Oct. 16. He also personally paid for this trip and the only taxpayer expense is his hotel stay in London.

• Q: Were any donation, reimbursement or travel policies violated from Oct. 12 to 21? A: No

In addition to Freeman’s inquiries, Jacksonville Today asked the mayor’s office what the city got out of this most recent trip, and what it has attained from past missions.

“It’s our hope that companies we met with will expand operations or move their company to Jacksonville in the future,” Perry said. “Last year’s trip yielded Primark opening a 550,000-square-foot distribution center in Jacksonville; the UK secretary of business and trade signing the (memorandum of understanding) with Florida in Jacksonville; and the Association of British HealthTech Industries conducting its own delegation trip to Jacksonville.”

Perry said previous trips also have yielded Paysafe establishing its North American headquarters in Jacksonville with 600 jobs and $51.5 million in capital investment, and SmartStream Technologies opening a Jacksonville office with 20 jobs and $110,000 capital investment.

In the future, Perry said, the city could potentially gain even more jobs and businesses, an elevation of its global brand and a direct flight to London when Boeing’s backlog of plane orders is filled.

Asked where any expense reports or data from the trip had been sent to the Council Auditor’s Office, Perry said the mayor’s office had not received a request from that office.

Earlier controversies

Deegan came under fire two weeks ago for a radio interview in the United Kingdom, when she likened Donald Trump’s immigration plan to “concentration camps.” Deegan later apologized for any pain she had caused, but she stood by her comments.

After the England trip, Deegan was criticized for failing to attend the funeral for a Jacksonville corrections officer who was shot to death while intervening in a dispute between a man and woman while off duty.

Deegan had just returned from London at the time of the funeral, and a spokesperson for the city said she had been in contact with Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters and the family of Bradley McNew, the officer who died.

The city said Deegan did not know the time of the funeral because of miscommunication between the Mayor’s Office and the Sheriff’s Office. The city said Deegan had a heartfelt visit with Elda McNew on Thursday, two days after the funeral, to express her condolences and talk about McNew’s life and heroism.

Reporter Dan Scanlan of Jacksonville Today contributed to this report.