JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Questions about transparency were raised Tuesday at Jacksonville City Hall as a councilman seeks clearer details ahead of a DUVAL DOGE subcommittee meeting on the city’s telehealth contracts.
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Councilman Matt Carlucci sent a letter to Council Secretary Jason Teal asking for a detailed agenda for the Dec. 9 meeting after Councilman Rory Diamond called an emergency meeting three weeks earlier alleging potential illegal conduct and misuse of taxpayer funds.
“I just think there should be expectations,” Carlucci said. “If I’m going to a meeting about serious allegations about me, I would want to know what they are so I can be prepared to answer the allegations. I think that’s only fair.”
Carlucci said he wants transparency and proper public process for the subcommittee review of the city’s contracts with Telescope Health, a 24/7 virtual care service that serves uninsured Duval County residents and can arrange referrals and tests such as X-rays and blood work.
“What’s the agenda here? Are you going to allow Telescope Health to answer questions about some of the accusations that the councilman is getting? What are the questions going to be?” Carlucci asked.
In a Facebook post on Nov. 10, Diamond wrote, “I’ve been apprised of potential serious misuses of taxpayer funds, wrongdoings, and potential illegal conduct related to the City’s telehealth contracts,” Diamond said.
RELATED: Jacksonville councilman alleges fraud, conflicts in city’s telehealth contracts
Duval DOGE is reviewing the contracts and additional information related to Diamond’s concerns, the council said.
Diamond said they haven’t decided what that meeting is exactly going to be about because they haven’t sorted through the responses yet.
“If we don’t have the information we need, we don’t have the answers yet, but as soon as we do we’ll figure it out,” Diamond said.
Diamond said he is waiting on documents and responses from Telescope Health, the mayor’s office and other entities focused on cost effectiveness, conflict of interest and alleged Medicaid and Medicare fraud.
“Not yet. That’s why we do the investigation. We can get to the bottom of it and answer that question pretty easily,” Diamond said.
Carlucci said Telescope Health representatives were not allowed to speak at the emergency meeting and that council members used inflammatory language without giving the company a chance to defend itself. He said Diamond should correct the record and apologize if no illegal wrongdoing is found.
“When you make those allegations and they come up blank, as they so often do, you must think about who you’re throwing those allegations at and their families. Sometimes you just have to say I’m sorry,” Carlucci said.
Both the mayor’s office and Telescope Health have denied any wrongdoing, city officials said. The Duval DOGE subcommittee meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, Dec. 9, from 3 to 4:30 p.m.