Gov. Rick Scott stands by his appointment of Terrance Freeman to Jacksonville City Council, despite a lawsuit challenging Freeman’s eligibility.
“We took our time and found good people. Terrance is going to do a good job,” Scott said Monday. “It’s completely in compliance with the law.”
When Freeman accepted Scott’s nomination to fill a seat, he was not a resident of District 10, the area he now represents.
That’s an issue for the Duval County Democratic Party and for District 10 resident Brenda Priestly Jackson, who filed a lawsuit to remove Freeman.
“This is not a partisan matter of Democrats and Republicans,” she said Monday on the steps of the Duval County Courthouse. “We know plenty of Republicans in District 10 that could’ve given voice to the community as well.”
Jackson, a former Duval County School Board member, also applied for the seat.
Scott appointed Freeman, a Republican, to replace suspended council member Reginald Brown on July 10 along with Democrat Ju’Coby Pittman to take over for suspended council member Katrina Brown in District 8.
Katrina Brown and Reginald Brown, who are not related, are defendants in a federal fraud case and were suspended from office June 1.
Terrell Hogan Yegelwel attorneys Leslie Scott Jean-Bart and Leslie Goller are representing Jackson in a suit filed July 13 against the governor and Freeman.
They allege Freeman’s appointment is invalid because he did not meet the residency requirements for the position at the time of the appointment, which was announced by email at 10:19 a.m. July 10.
At an event for his U.S. Senate campaign Monday, Scott declined to clarify when the appointment was official, saying his office would get back to media.
When asked why he selected a Republican with no residency in the district and few, if any, ties to the overwhelmingly Democratic district, Scott said he “followed all the rules.”
After the event, Scott’s office confirmed that Freeman’s appointment began July 10.
City enters lawsuit, Gibson strikes back
Late Tuesday, the city’s Office of General Counsel filed a motion to intervene in the case as a defendant, saying it “has a direct and vital interest in the underlying facts of this lawsuit, the proper application of its Charter and laws, and the outcome of this matter.”
General Counsel Jason Gabriel contends Freeman’s appointment began July 12, when he was sworn in at City Hall.
“Council member Freeman is fully participating in all City Council business as the District 10 representative,” the motion states.
“The validity of his involvement, discussions, meetings, and votes is directly at issue in this case. The City, itself, should be allowed to participate in litigation directly challenging the integrity of such official actions.”
The case was assigned to Judge Robert Dees in the 4th Judicial Circuit Court. Dees’ former law firm, Milam Howard Nicandri Gillam and Renner, is representing Freeman and at that firm’s request, Dees will recuse himself from the case.
Jackson’s attorneys filed an emergency motion Monday to stop Freeman from participating in council business. Council standing committees began meeting this week after the summer break and Freeman is a member of two committees.
“District 10 deserves to be represented by someone who is qualified and capable of performing the duties of a City Council member,” said Jean-Bart. “They don’t deserve a representative from Mandarin, they deserve one from District 10.”
State Sen. Audrey Gibson called Scott’s decision tainted and disrespectful to the community.
Her state Senate District 6 overlaps the council district.
“What I call ‘shenanigans’ that have taken place to avoid choosing capable applicants from and of the district is what is at issue,” said Gibson.
She said the appointment sends the message that only some in government need to play by the rules, “and the rest should keep quiet and go pound sand.”
“I don’t think so,” she said.
Freeman is represented by his attorney, state Rep. Paul Renner, who has not commented on the pending litigation.
Questions about Freeman’s application
Like many of the applications sent to Scott’s office, Freeman’s home address is redacted on the forms he submitted June 19, as is permitted by state law.
According to Duval County property records, Freeman purchased a home in District 6 in 2017.
Freeman now is renting two rooms in a home in District 10 and stands by his assertion he meets all requirements.
His listed experience includes positions at Ygrene Energy Fund’s Jacksonville offices, the JAX Chamber and as a K-12 private school principal. Before joining Ygrene in 2017, Freeman was an aide to now council President Aaron Bowman.
Bowman is listed as a personal reference, along with JAX Chamber President Daniel Davis and former Edward Waters College President Nathaniel Glover.
Freeman listed no “possible conflicts of interest.”
Part of Jackson’s suit says that at the time she submitted her application June 4, the application portal required prospective appointees to certify they were residents of District 10 or District 8.
She alleges that “after a week or two” the requirement disappeared on the application portal and was not there when Freeman submitted his credentials.
Jackson said she is not interested in the appointment herself, and is not concerned that Freeman is a Republican.
“This is about residency,” she said. “This is about the people of District 10 once again being disenfranchised by the party in power.”
Jackson does plan on running for the open seat in 2019.
Next Steps
The city charter requires candidates to be residents in the district they want to represent 183 days before the election qualifying period, which was Jan. 7-11.
Jackson said she’s concerned the precedent set by his appointment will disenfranchise voters.
“We are deeply troubled that our governor, in coordination with our mayor, in coordination with our city council president, chose to pick an individual that does not live in our district as well as an individual who has close ties to those in office and not in the community,” she said.
Jackson said the situation could have been avoided if Reginald Brown and Katrina Brown had resigned.
“I understand from a legal defense perspective why they didn’t,” she said. “But it would’ve triggered a special election and taken the appointment power away from the governor.”
