JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Jacksonville City Council President Kevin Carrico (R-District 4) is sending a message to his colleagues: Walk out of Tuesday night’s budget vote and you could be arrested.
The warning comes after four council members walked out during a hearing on the budget two weeks ago in protest of controversial spending restrictions that block city funding for DEI, abortion, and immigrants without legal status.
“What the heck just happened?” Councilmember Raul Arias (R-District 11) said after seeing his colleagues leave the September 9th meeting.
The members eventually came back in, but Carrico told Action News Jax on Monday that a repeat would be unacceptable.
“I think it’s a horrible look. I think it was a hand that was overplayed,” Carrico said.
Carrico is holding a meeting ahead of the budget vote with JSO and city attorneys to explain to members walking out of the budget meeting would violate city code and could constitute a Class D offense, carrying with it a $500 fine and up to 60 days in jail.
“I don’t want to issue warrants on my colleagues, and I don’t think the Sheriff wants to have his people have to put hands on council members, and handcuff them, and charge them. That’s not the desired outcome, but it is that serious where those things could have happened. I’m glad we avoided it last time. I want to make sure that we avoid it again this time,” Carrico said.
Councilmember Jimmy Peluso (D-District 7), who was among the four members to walk out, argued that walkouts are not uncommon in politics.
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“Republicans did it, I think, this last year in Michigan. Republicans do it all the time in Oregon. We saw Democrats do it in Texas, those legislative bodies. It’s something that’s a tactic that’s used by the minority party pretty much almost always,” Peluso said.
But Peluso said he doesn’t anticipate another walkout Tuesday night, as members have had time to process the spending restrictions, which many had just seen for the first time during the last meeting.
“I think tomorrow is gonna be a tense night. I don’t think that throwing this on top is going to make it any less tense. All that to say, I don’t believe that there will be another walkout, and the Council President, you know, I’ll be fine if he tries to tell us that some folks will get arrested if it means that we get a good budget passed that doesn’t hurt public safety and that doesn’t go after marginalized communities,” Peluso said.
Beyond the threatened legal sanctions against members, there would also be some massive consequences for the city if a walkout prevented the budget from being passed, as millions of dollars worth of state funding would be lost, and the city’s credit rating could take a hit.
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