JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Jacksonville City Council is set to vote on Tuesday night on an ordinance that would change how free event tickets are distributed among the city’s elected officials.
Tuesday’s vote would end the ticket tug-of-war between the mayor’s office and the city council that began last month, after Council President Kevin Carrico raised the issue when he ran into some hurdles obtaining free tickets from Mayor Donna Deegan’s Office.
That provision has drawn criticism from some council members and the Mayor’s Office.
“I feel like it should stay administered by the mayor’s office,” said Councilmember Matt Carlucci. “If there’s a ban on free tickets, it shouldn’t just cover elected officials. It should also cover their immediate family. Because if they benefit, the elected official still benefits.”
Last week, the Finance Committee approved the amended Ordinance 2025-612, which would distribute tickets gifted to the City of Jacksonville equally between the mayor’s office and the City Council.
The proposed legislation would also prohibit any elected official from using free tickets for personal use. However, they can give those tickets to their families or other community members.
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The idea for the perks to be split evenly came from Councilman Ron Salem, who said he was asked to look into authoring the legislation at the request of Carrico, and introduced it on Aug. 12.
The mayor’s office sent a statement on the ticket bill, saying in part that Deegan believes the ban on free tickets should also include immediate family and the appointed staff of elected officials.
Read the full statement below:
“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. In addition, she believes that the ban on complementary ticket usage should also extend to immediate family and the appointed staff of elected officials. In the meantime, the Office of Sports and Entertainment will continue to manage all ticket requests and the city suite at Jaguars games will only be made available to charities.”
Phil Perry, Chief of Communications Officer for the City of Jacksonville
In a related decision last month, the Council’s Finance Committee voted to remove $38,000 in funding from the city budget that was allocated for a Jaguars suite. The city will still receive a number of general admission tickets to Jaguars games at EverBank Stadium.
According to the city, the suite tickets for the Sept. 7 Jaguars game against the Panthers were given to Big Brothers Big Sisters and JAXPAL. The terrace level tickets were given to Rethreaded.
The City Council is set to vote at its meeting on Tuesday night.