No rules require Jacksonville City Council members to show up

Jacksonville City Council members are not required to actually show up for council meetings.

Taxpayers pay each of them $44,100 a year for the part-time job, just shy of Duval County’s median household income of $47,690.

Action News Jax first told you on Tuesday that one council member has missed nearly half the meetings so far this year.

We asked newly-elected City Council President Anna Brosche and Vice President Aaron Bowman whether they think there should be rules requiring council members to show up for work.

“No,” Brosche said. “There are a number of ways that council members serve and there are lots of obligations that sometimes conflict with some of the meetings.”

Bowman also said attendance requirements are unnecessary.

“I think you look at the council member as a whole. And like I said, if they’re having town hall meetings, if they’re getting with the community, if they’re representing the community, that’s the important thing,” Bowman said.

Action News Jax confronted Councilwoman Katrina Brown on Tuesday about why she’s missed nearly half this year’s council meetings.

“Can you stop following me, please? Thank you,” Brown said.

According to the city, here are the only rules about attendance:

• Council members have to notify leadership if they will be absent.
• Leadership can choose to remove a council member from a committee if they miss three consecutive committee meetings.

Councilman Reggie Brown has missed nine of his 20 committee meetings this year.

“I am in the Army Reserve. And so anytime that I’m not here, I submit an excuse and it would say on there, military training,” he told Action News Jax on Tuesday.

Action News Jax checked his excused absence forms; only four out of nine say they’re because of military duty.

Cox Media Group