{"id":151215,"date":"2026-02-11T05:17:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-11T05:17:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/151215\/"},"modified":"2026-02-11T05:17:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-11T05:17:08","slug":"state-investigation-into-jacksonville-mayor-deegans-administration-sparks-divided-city-response","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/151215\/","title":{"rendered":"State investigation into Jacksonville Mayor Deegan’s administration sparks divided city response"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tensions rose at a Jacksonville City Council meeting as supporters rallied against a state probe into Jacksonville and a long-standing zoning dispute saw resolution.<\/p>\n

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2014 Two contentious issues dominated a Jacksonville City Council meeting Tuesday night: a newly announced state investigation into Mayor Donna Deegan\u2019s administration and a long-debated zoning dispute that ended in compromise.<\/p>\n


\nDeegan administration subpoenaed <\/p>\n

Dozens of supporters gathered outside City Hall before the meeting, rallying behind Deegan one day after Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced a criminal subpoena<\/a> involving the mayor\u2019s administration over concerns it may have impeded immigration enforcement.<\/p>\n

Members of the Duval Democratic Party and local advocacy groups held signs reading \u201cHands Off the Mayor\u201d and \u201cHands Off Jacksonville,\u201d criticizing what they described as state interference in city affairs.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow to be turned into a criminal matter is preposterous, so we just want to come out and show our support and make that clear,\u201d one rally attendee said.<\/p>\n

The debate carried into council chambers, where several residents spoke during public comment.<\/p>\n

\u201cTallahassee has no business in Jacksonville,\u201d one speaker told council members.<\/p>\n

Others, including some city officials, said the investigation is warranted.<\/p>\n

\u201cJacksonville doesn\u2019t want to be a sanctuary,\u201d City Council Member Rory Diamond said. \u201cDonna Deegan is fine with us being a sanctuary city, and the attorney general is saying no, you cannot do it, and I think it\u2019s great.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Jacksonville Young Republicans Club posted a statement on the social platform X supporting the investigation, saying residents \u201cexpect full transparency in government operations and this is certainly no exception.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nApna Bazar zoning <\/p>\n

In the same meeting Tuesday night, council members addressed a zoning issue involving the expansion of Apna Bazar<\/a>, a meat market on Beach Boulevard. The proposal has drawn opposition from nearby residents for months, with concerns about traffic, environmental impact and the possibility of live animal processing.<\/p>\n

\u201cWould you want this next to your house?\u201d one resident asked during public comment.<\/p>\n

Ahead of Tuesday\u2019s vote, residents and the developer\u2019s attorney negotiated amendments to the proposal. The City Council approved the expansion with conditions, including prohibiting a slaughterhouse and live animal processing, and requiring measures to address traffic and environmental concerns.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are committed to the amendments that have been negotiated with the community,\u201d said Cindy Trimmer, an attorney for Apna Bazar. The market still plans to use the additional space for storage, a warehouse and retail.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese residents of Cortez Road really understood it was a big difference as to what was going to be proposed by the applicant and what was agreed to by folks talking to each other,\u201d said John Scott, concerned community member.<\/p>\n

City Council Vice President Nick Howland, who introduced a floor amendment Tuesday night, thanked both community members and the applicant\u2019s representatives for participating in multiple meetings and reaching a resolution after several months of discussion.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tensions rose at a Jacksonville City Council meeting as supporters rallied against a state probe into Jacksonville and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":151216,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[116,118,117],"class_list":{"0":"post-151215","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-jacksonville","8":"tag-jacksonville","9":"tag-jacksonville-headlines","10":"tag-jacksonville-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151215","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=151215"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151215\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/151216"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=151215"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=151215"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=151215"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}