Although two senior members of Mayor Lenny Curry’s administration led the charge to get the Republican National Convention to Jacksonville, the city has no records related to that work.
“The herculean task of securing the 2020 Convention was led by two senior members of my administration, Jordan Elsbury and Brian Hughes. Together on my behalf, they worked with Visit Jacksonville’s Michael Corrigan to secure over 10,000 hotel rooms, coordinated with private entities and the City’s facility Manager, ASM Global, to secure host venues,” Curry said in a press release sent out Thursday night.
However, a city attorney said Thursday morning that it had no public records related to the event at all.
There is no contract yet, spokeswoman Nikki Kimbleton said, with negotiations expected to take place next week between the RNC and ASM Global.
“We don’t have anything in our possession that falls under public record laws, including email exchanges,” she said. “All communication was done over the phone or in person.”
The request from the Business Journal asked for “any public records that are in the city’s possession related to the Republican National Convention or events connected to the convention or to the president’s speech that was to be given at the convention, including draft agreements, signed agreements, safety plans, contracts or proposed contracts, discussions, memos, emails, facsimiles, notes, letters of intent, etc.
“This would include documents created or received by Brian Hughes, Jordan Elsbury, Michael Corrigan, the city’s special events department, the city’s facility manager, and anyone else working on behalf of the city and mayor’s administration.”
It remains unclear what records will become public: For events like the UFC matches recently held in Jacksonville, the contract was simply between UFC and the venue, with the city not involved, the city has said.
In contrast, the city of Charlotte, where the convention was slated to be held, has a 93-page contract between the local host committee, the Republican National Committee, the city and county and the local visitor’s bureau.
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They’re winging it. Just as almost everything happens in trump world by random impulse, they’re absolutely playing this by ear.
City has no records related to negotiations for RNC coming Jacksonville https://t.co/BzDZ8Vmueu via @JaxBizJournal
— Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) June 13, 2020
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