JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Jacksonville taxpayers are footing the bill as the city council attempts to clear a path for one of its own to run for council leadership.

Jacksonville City Council is asking the Florida Commission on Ethics to find that Councilmember Joe Carlucci (R-District 5) is free and clear to make a run for Council Vice President.

Previous ethics opinions and the commission’s stafflean towards the position that Carlucci is barred from running for a leadership role due to the fact that his father serves on the same elected body.

However, the Florida Attorney General’s Office offered this letter taking the position that the state’s anti-nepotism laws should not apply in this case.

That same day, Council President Kevin Carrico (R-District 4) signed off on an agreement to hire an outside attorney to argue before the state ethics commission in support of allowing Carlucci to run for council leadership.

The agreement allows for the expenditure of up to $7,500 on legal fees.

UNF associate political science professor Sean Freeder noted it’s an unusual move, given that the two Carluccis are the only members who are currently impacted.

“I’m not quite sure I understand the logic of why you’d pursue it in this way. It makes sense to me that you’d hire a personal lawyer with your own funds to do this,” said Freeder.

Action News Jax spoke with at least five council members who expressed concerns about the use of taxpayer dollars to litigate the ethics case.

All of them refused to share their concerns on the record.

Former constitutional law professor Rod Sullivan argued because the case concerns a question that could impact future council members, it is an appropriate expenditure.

“The one who really benefits is the city council, cause the city council doesn’t want to be embroiled in years of litigation if it gets this issue wrong,” said Sullivan.

In a statement, Council President Carrico defended his decision to hire outside legal counsel instead of using the city’s Office of General Counsel.

“The decision reflects the Council’s previously adopted resolution of no-confidence in the Office of General Counsel, which informs when outside counsel is appropriate,” said Carrico.

Sullivan noted, even if the council had used OGC, that would also have come at a cost.

“Seems to me like the smart budgetary thing, if you know this is going to be a hornet’s nest, is to get outside counsel to represent the city council,” said Sullivan.

But given the tough budget year where seemingly every taxpayer dollar was heavily scrutinized, Freeder argued, at least for the sake of optics, the case could be made that Carlucci should have hired his own attorney out of pocket.

“Not all scandals are equal. Voters actually are somewhat more forgiving for like sex scandals and that kind of thing. They are a lot less forgiving when it comes to anything that could be perceived as government corruption, nepotism, favor trading,” said Freeder.

Councilmember Carlucci did not respond to our inquiry about this story.

After a tie vote during the last ethics hearing in January, the commission is set to reconsider whether Carlucci can run for council leadership on March 5th.

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