A Few Minutes with the Mayor – April 2015

As you know, this column seldom devotes attention to affairs outside of Jacksonville; numerous other news and opinion outlets exist for such information. However, reports on the national level about Hillary Clinton’s emails prompted me to join in the conversation, so please bear with me.

It matters not your political party, your gender, your age… the rules apply to everyone and anyone. Those rules are very explicit—if you hold office in any capacity whatsoever… your emails DO NOT BELONG TO YOU! They become part of the public record and are subject to the same rules of transparency that all other documents are under. And there are no exceptions other than in rare instances involving security or litigation.

Every City Councilor working on your behalf has been instructed about this. So have I, your Mayor. These are the rules: emails involving City business are to be done using the City email address assigned to us. That address is NOT supposed to be used for personal email when it can be avoided, only City email. That email is NOT to be deleted unless it is trash unconnected with official business. These are the rules your elected officials live by.

Personal email is NOT subject to this rule of retention and transparency. However, and this is the heart of the matter, if City business is conducted on a personal account… IT MUST BE TRANSFERRED TO THE CITY ACCOUNT! Because of this requirement, personal computers may be subject to search and seizure under Court orders in criminal matters pertaining to City business when there is reason to believe the account holder has failed to fulfill their legal obligation in this regard.

Every one of us is aware of these regulations. You should expect all of your elected representatives to follow legal procedures. Failing to do so is a violation of the oath they swore when they took office.

I believe in my last column I mentioned something about how our elected representatives behave at the state and federal levels. My complaint centered on how they vote on issues… voting on straight party lines as if one party was always right and the other always wrong. The excuses given for this always seem to come down to internal party politics. “If I don’t vote the way I am instructed, I’ll never be able to introduce any legislation of my own.” Perhaps this is where the corruption begins. What is the difference? A mob leader telling his hired thugs what to do, or an elected representative telling everyone in office how to vote and what to say? Of course, you may say the mob leader wasn’t elected by the people, but it’s that very difference that makes what our representatives do even worse. Furthermore, it fosters the culture of corruption. And when was the last time you heard someone running for political office talk about this? Virtually everyone running feels they have no choice but to adapt to “the system.” Adapt to a culture of corruption!

What I have described lies at the very heart of the brouhaha in Washington. It was the federal government that legislated the very legislation that has been ignored. In this case, what’s good for the goose is NOT good for the gander and Mrs. Clinton is all too well aware of that, as well as any and all of the other government officials who would treat this as unimportant. It is important! It is important for your own city government who must adhere to this rule. It is a part of the very fabric that floats in this culture of corruption and as citizens, we need to start saying enough is enough.