JACKSONVILLE, Fla.-- A battle is brewing over the supervisor of elections office.
The big question is which of the two proposals is a better fit. One has a proposed lower rental rate, which on the surface looks like the right choice. Action News uncovered there are some hidden costs beyond just rent. "If anything breaks, we would fix it. That's not in the previous lease," said Supervisor of Elections Jerry Holland.
Holland is talking about the latest proposal for Gateway Mall. We got our hands on a copy of it.
"We'd cover all expenses if anything broke. If A/C broke, we'd have to replace it," said Holland.
Councilman John Crescimbeni says that's why city council needs to be involved. He says these hidden costs we found in proposals just won't fly.
"I'm going to develop a lease that's in the best interest of the citizens of Jacksonville," said Crescimbeni.
He tells us the other proposal at the One Imeson building would require the city to pay for other maintenance issues, like restriping the parking lot. Holland says he just wants to best fit for his office and taxpayers. "If all those other costs are added to the rent, there's a much greater need to look at other options," said Holland.
Some of the other hidden costs in this proposal include, a penalty if the city breaks the lease at Gateway to move to another city property. Taxpayers would also be on the hook to fix any other problems that come up. There is no timetable for when a decision must be made on the supervisor of elections office.
