JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Tensions between two prominent Jacksonville city council members reached a boiling point Thursday, with incoming council president Kevin Carrico requesting security.
Councilman Matt Carlucci said he had never seen anything like that with a sergeant-at-arms.
“Sometimes with people in the audience that get carried away, but never with a council person,” Carlucci said.
News4JAX asked Carrico to share his side of the story in either an interview or a statement and he said that he was “not giving any airtime to that.”
This happened on Thursday when the Special Committee on the Future of Downtown met, which Carrico chairs.
While Carlucci does not sit on that committee, he was there to ask some questions about a bill to transform the Downtown Investment Authority.
That’s when things escalated.
What followed was more back and forth between the two men, with Carrico eventually deciding to move on.
While Councilman Jimmy Peluso speaks, Carlucci can be seen walking behind him, eventually stopping next to Carrico.
That’s when things really escalated.
“Uh, I would like the sergeant-at-arms to come up here, please. I feel threatened by Mr. Carlucci,” Carrico said. “We’re in the middle of committee sir, you can leave or you can have your seat.”
Carlucci did leave and today, he explained that typically when he leaves a meeting early, he walks over to the committee chair to let them know. He said that’s what he was intending to do in those moments.
“I waited and waited, and next thing I know, he didn’t want to speak with me, and called for the sergeant of arms to remove me, and said he felt threatened. And I’m thinking what I said, my son’s sitting right here. I would never do anything that would threaten anybody. I’m just doing what I normally do,” Carlucci said.
News4JAX Political Analyst Rick Mulaney said some of the tensions appear to be of substance.
“A divide on the city council or contentiousness on the city council, really is nothing new. We have seen that historically, that does happen,” Mullaney said.
Such as this push to change the Downtown Investment Authority or the implementation of the gun registry at city hall, but he said it could also be politics.
“And that relates to the support, for example, for the mayor and this mayoral administration. So, you do see some rising tensions. We have seen those tensions in the past, but this time, it appears to be based both on some sort of disagreements and some political disagreements,” he said.
Carlucci said, despite what happened Thursday, this too shall pass and he wants to move forward.
“I don’t really have a hatchet to bury. I’m just hoping the young man grows into the job,” Carlucci said. “I mean, I’ve had concerns about this incoming leadership for a long time. I hope he proves me wrong and goes on to have a great year. But yesterday didn’t start out so well.”
When Carrico was elected to become the incoming council president, Carlucci was the lone “no” vote.
Carrico said he doesn’t plan to comment on the incident.
