Demetrius Harvey reveals his Jaguars vs. Panthers game prediction
Demetrius Harvey reveals his Jaguars vs. Panthers game prediction
Jacksonville elected officials are moving to end the long-standing practice of receiving free tickets to Jaguars games and other events.City Council committees have unanimously supported a ban on elected leaders personally using any of the thousands of tickets the city distributes.The council’s Finance Committee also proposed ending the purchase of tickets for the city’s suite at EverBank Stadium.The proposed changes would also split the city’s ticket allotment 50-50 between the mayor’s office and City Council for distribution to the community.
The Jaguars are set to kick off their regular season but the final whistle is about to blow on a longstanding tradition of Jacksonville elected leaders getting free tickets to watch the Jaguars and other events at city-owned venues.
The issue emerged suddenly at City Hall last month and accelerated rapidly toward ending a practice that’s been in place for decades.
City Council members in two council committee unanimously lined up in support of a ban on elected leaders personally using any of the thousands of tickets the city distributes to city employees and constituents each year.
Mayor Donna Deegan said City Council should go further and widen the scope of the ban beyond just elected leaders themselves.
“We appreciate that the City Council committees agreed with Mayor Deegan’s recommendation to expand their review from Jaguars tickets to all city venue tickets,” spokesman Phillip Perry said. “In addition, she believes that the ban on complementary ticket usage should also extend to immediate family and the appointed staff of elected officials.”
That prohibition on the use of free tickets would be on top of the City Council Finance Committee’s proposal to stop purchasing tickets to the city’s suite at EverBank Stadium for Jaguars games, which would effectively end a game-day practice that’s been in place since 1995 for mayors and City Council members to watch the Jaguars from that suite.
The broader ban on elected officials being able to personally use free tickets at the stadium and any other city-owned sports and entertainment venues won unanimous backing this week from the Finance Committee and Rules Committee.
City Council President Carrico, who proposed the ban, was joined in voting for it by Raul Arias, Nick Howland, Joe Carlucci, Rory Diamond, Will Lahnen, Ju’Coby Pittman, Chris Miller, Terrance Freeman, Ken Amaro, Randy White, Mike Gay, Michael Boylan and Ron Salem.
The 14 members supporting the legislation in the two committee would be more than enough to pass it when the full 19-member council votes on the bill Sept. 9.
Those tickets, which are city property, flow through the mayor’s office and it determines how to distribute them within City Hall and to the broader community. For Jaguars games, the mayor’s office in the past provided 28 tickets per game to City Council which decided who would get them for the city’s suite and some seats in the terrace suite and club seats.
But this year, the mayor’s office cut the number of tickets going to City Council to 12 tickets per home game in just the city’s suite. City Council members who want to use the terrace suite or club seats could still do that but would make that request through the mayor’s office and the Office of Sports and Entertainment.
In response, Salem filed legislation for City Council and the mayor’s office to get a 50-50 split on not only Jaguars tickets but on all of the thousands of tickets provided to the city for events at city-owned venues.
Carrico then said he would file what he called the Denying Elected Elites Gameday Access Nonsense, or DEEGAN amendment for short, to stop elected officials from getting any free Jaguars tickets.
Deegan said if City Council wants to change the system the city has had in place long before she took office, she was “all for it” and noted she’s a longtime season-ticketholder who would be happy to watch the Jaguars from her north end zone seat.
“That said, why stop with Jaguars tickets?” she said.
Carrico’s amendment to Salem’s legislation applies the ban to elected officials personally using any of the free tickets, which council members themselves have used, to watch concerts and sports events.
Carrico did not call it the DEEGAN amendment when he introduced his amendment Sept. 2 at the Rules Committee.
The 50-50 split in the tickets means City Council would decide how to distribute thousands of tickets each year to community groups, residents and city employees. The mayor’s office would continue to do the same with its share of the tickets as it has for years.
Perry said until changes take place legislatively, the Office of Sports and Entertainment will continue to manage ticket requests. He said the city’s suite at the stadium will only be made available to charities.
(This story was updated to add new information.)