City council pushes forward with appeal — putting district lines in question once again

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The city council will appeal a ruling from a federal judge who imposed new district lines for city council and school board seats Monday.

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After a quick prayer, the pledge Jacksonville General Counsel Jason Teal gave a summary of what would be discussed in the shade meeting slated for Thursday afternoon.

“To discuss appellate strategy and potential settlement negotiations,” said Teal.

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Councilmembers were then shuffled into the closed-door meeting on the fourth floor.

The meeting is known as a “shade” meeting, which means it’s exempt from the state’s open records laws, also known as the “Sunshine Laws.”

In this case, it’s because the meeting constituted attorney-client privilege, as councilmembers sought advice from the city’s top lawyer on whether or not to continue with the redistricting legal battle.

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The lack of an opportunity for public comment caught the ire of Northside Coalition leader Ben Frazier.

“The monumental mistake made by this city council in the entire redistricting controversy has to do with the fact that they have failed to listen to the voice of the people,” said Frazier.

The coalition is one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit challenging district maps passed by the council back in March for packing Black voters into four districts.

A map drawn up by the plaintiffs was put in place Monday by a federal judge.

It creates opportunities for Black voters to elect a candidate of their choice in at least five districts according to Frazier.

UNF political scientist Michael Binder said that for some councilmembers, like Brenda Priestly Jackson and Ju’Coby Pittman who will have to run against each other in the newly drawn District 10, there is an incentive to keep fighting.

But he said for most councilmembers, that’s likely not the case.

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“The five at-large members are absolutely not impacted in the least. There’s at least half a dozen districts that don’t change at all for either map. So, there you go, right? There’s your majority,” said Binder.

In the end, City Council President Terrence Freeman (R-Group 1 At-Large) said the city will seek an appeal, but he was unclear as to whether the council’s goal is to have a new map instated before the upcoming March election.

Action News Jax asked Freeman directly whether the goal was to have a new map in place before qualifying which takes place in January.

“So, when you start getting into the legal terms I will always again refer you to our Office of General Counsel, but I came here to share with you all the consensus from the meeting today,” said Freeman.

An answer to that question will likely come once the appeal is officially filed.

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Duval’s supervisor of elections has said he is ready to pivot if the city succeeds on appeal and claims he’ll have everything ready for qualifying in January no matter how this case shakes out.