A holographic version of Mayor Donna Deegan welcomes travelers at Jacksonville International Airport — as the real Deegan watches on the left. The technology was unveiled Dec. 19, 2024. | Michelle Corum, Jacksonville Today
Published on January 7, 2025 at 4:18 pm
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Calling it the “Holo-Donna,” some City Council members are pushing back on a virtual version of Mayor Donna Deegan that now greets travelers at Jacksonville International Airport.
During a Finance Committee meeting Tuesday, members questioned the $75,000 cost of the hologram-like display of the mayor.
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They also said the system was supposed to be used as an interactive tool to educate the public about permitting issues when they come to government offices — not to promote the city at the airport.
The Proto Hologram system projects a lifelike, 3D representation of Deegan welcoming visitors in English, German, Japanese, French and Spanish. Ultimately, people will be able to push a button, select a language and get answers from the mayor about places to visit on the First Coast.
The system began operating Dec. 19.
Council members like Ron Salem say using the Proto Box at the airport instead of as an interactive permitting tutor is wrong.
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“I have never seen an administration promoting themselves like this one does,” he said during committee discussion. “It really bothered me to have that thing at the airport in the way that it was used, and I’ll give you a very specific example:
“We just had a Gator Bowl game that struggled, and if that thing had been used for something like that versus the promotion of the mayor, I would have felt much better about it. But that is not how it was used, and I frankly think you ought to send the damn thing back.”
Chief of Staff Mike Weinstein said the original plan for the hologram system dates back to when efforts began years ago to upgrade the city’s permitting process. That resulted in February’s introduction of JAXEPICS, an online portal that provides a single point of access for building inspection and permitting needs.
The Proto Box hologram system is part of that upgrade. It ultimately will become a teaching tool on how to apply for a permit at City Hall or other uses when it’s put outside the Planning Department in the Edward Ball Building, Weinstein said.
“On the website, you can read and see the instructions and what has to be done, but hearing and seeing it is a lot different,” Weinstein told the committee.
“This was literally a first try with the software and the box itself,” Weinstein said. “The messages can be changed out there, greetings when we have the Super Bowl again, greetings when we have Gator Bowl. Different people can be in the box. Basically it was an example of the effort.”
Council concerns
The Proto Box system costs about $30,000, with an additional $45,000 for shipping, installation and production of the video with the mayor. Council Auditor Kim Taylor said the money comes from a separate fund under the city’s Planning Department.
Since the Proto Box was officially designed for use by the building inspection division, its current use at the airport triggered internal questions about whether the money was being used properly, Taylor said.
“By state statute, there are restrictions on how those funds can be spent,” Taylor said. “Related to the building code and enforcing that code, the statute is very specific on how those dollars are being used, so we are always very careful during the budget process that the dollars are being used appropriately.”
As to whether the money spent on the Proto Box is legitimate, Weinstein said it is part of an $8 million to $10 million effort that was approved by the City Council in recent budgets. That effort moved funding from the inspection account “for this purpose,” he said.
Weinstein told the committee that the $75,000 could not be used for anything other than “to enhance the permitting process.”
Diamond asked who decided to put the Proto Box at the airport or whether city officials expected “Japanese developers to be at the airport looking for answers to permitting questions.”
“The prototype that was put at the airport was not put there for the permitting effort,” Weinstein answered. “It was put there to experiment with the technology, the software and the system.”
Council member Raul Arias called the Proto Box a “misappropriation of funds, or misuse of hardware,” because it is not being used for its intended purpose.
Council member Rory Diamond called the “Holo-Donna” a “Godawful boondoggle,” in light of debate about raising trash collection fees and other problems like pothole repair.
Council member Nick Howland agreed.
“I don’t buy the argument that this box that speaks multiple languages and is at the airport is a trial run of a permitting solution,” Howland said. “If that is, I would suggest that the administration recover it from the airport and immediately move it over and use it as intended so there is no longer any perception of violation of the state law.”
The committee reached no decision on use of the Proto Box. The council auditor continues to investigate.
Jacksonville is one of the first cities in the U.S. to use the holographic messaging tool.
