Jacksonville Daily Record by Mike Mendenhall
June 14, 2019
The Downtown Investment Authority will take action Wednesday to validate its choice of District 5 City Council member Lori Boyer as its next CEO after concerns were raised that the selection process could have violated Florida Sunshine Law.
The meeting agenda released Friday lists the item “validation of CEO selection.”
The action is in response to statements from two attorneys from the nonprofit First Amendment Foundation of Tallahassee and the Jacksonville Ethics Commission who said the anonymous scorecard ballots used to rank the three CEO finalists violated the state Sunshine Law.
The packet did not indicate what steps the board might take Wednesday, but DIA Interim CEO Brian Hughes said in a phone interview June 7 that action could include a roll call vote affirming the results of the scoring sheets.
Hughes maintains the May 15 vote did not violate the law. The board took a voice vote to enter a 30- to 60-day contract negotiation with Boyer.
Hughes argues the vote confirmed the scorecards, although it did not specifically reference the results.
The scorecards were released to the public but DIA members did not write their names on the cards.