Jacksonville City Council members are scrutinizing Mayor Donna Deegan’s administration for installing hologram-like technology projecting a welcome message by Deegan at Jacksonville International Airport.
During the Council Finance Committee meeting Jan. 7, members questioned Deegan’s chief of staff, Mike Weinstein, about the costs and purpose of a new device that was unveiled on Dec. 19 at JIA. They also raised concerns that the funding source for the technology could run counter to state and local law.
The technology, produced by startup company Proto, comprises a box in which video and audio are projected. According to a news release from the city, the video is “so realistic it appears as if there is actually a person inside the 7-foot-tall machine.”
Kim Taylor, Council auditor, said her office sent questions to the mayor’s office Dec. 19 about the installation after seeing in the news release that it was sponsored by JAXEPICS, the city’s online portal for building permitting, inspections and compliance.
The sponsorship raised questions among the auditors about whether the administration planned to pay for the device through the Building Inspection Fund. State and local laws limit the purposes for which money from that fund can be spent, Taylor said.
She said the office had not received a written response to its questions, but Weinstein had spoken with an auditor’s staff member.
Weinstein said the installation was a test of technology the administration planned to place in city offices to help explain the permitting system to applicants. The devices allow messages to be displayed in multiple languages and can send and receive live feeds. Plans to use them in connection with JAXEPICS have been in development for several years, Weinstein said.
He said the boxes were intended to provide “an education program on how you submit planning, how you submit permits, how you use the system.”
The test box could have been placed outside the Public Works Department or the Parks, Recreation and Community Services Department, he said, but it was decided to put it at the airport to “get an additional benefit of a greeting.”
Committee member Rory Diamond questioned whether the actual purpose was to promote Deegan politically.
“Are we expecting Japanese developers to be at the airport looking for answers to permitting questions?” he said.
He also noted that under Council-approved legislation, the administration is required to respond to Council auditors within 48 hours of a request.
Diamond, like all of the committee members who questioned Weinstein, is a Republican. Deegan is a Democrat.
Member Nick Howland suggested the expenditure could skirt legal restrictions on expenditures of fees for building permitting and inspections, or at least the intent of those restrictions. He said “I don’t buy the argument” that the placement at the airport was a test of technology for the JAXEPICS portal.
Member Raul Arias said the technology should have been placed in a city office with a message about permitting and inspections rather than being used for an airport greeting.
“Even if you’re testing it out, it should be for the intended use,” he said.
According to Digital Signage Today, the project with Proto was created by Jacksonville-based AnuVision Technologies.
Summer Vyne, the founder and CEO of AnuVision, is the JAX Chamber Information Technology Council 2024 Small Business Leader of the Year.
“The partnership with Proto allows us to create immersive experiences that elevate Jacksonville’s profile as a forward-thinking city,” she said. “Having Mayor Donna Deegan welcome visitors as a hologram is not just innovative — it’s a powerful way to connect with travelers on a global scale.”
In the city’s news release announcing the hologram, JAA CEO Mark VanLoh said the airport was one of the first in the nation to display the technology.
“We are proud of our reputation as one of the most welcoming airports in the United States, and the mayor’s new hologram is sure to surprise and delight travelers exploring our region,” VanLoh said.
Finance Committee chair Ron Salem said he had “never seen an administration promoting themselves like this one does.” He said he would have preferred to see the device used for a purpose like promoting the Gator Bowl, which he described as having struggled in 2024. The game between Ole Miss and Duke drew 31,290 fans, the smallest crowd since the pandemic years of 2020 and 2021.
“I frankly think you ought to send the damn thing back,” Salem told Weinstein, noting that it didn’t appear the city had sent payment for the box.
Salem said after the meeting that he would stay in contact with the auditor’s office for details on the administration’s written responses to the auditors’ questions. He said he was concerned about possible use of the building inspection fund for technology that “has now been tainted to some extent in the way it’s been used for self-promotion.”
“That fund is very restricted. They (auditors) are the experts, and they’re telling me they flagged that and sent questions to the administration and have not gotten responses for two weeks,” he said.
The city’s chief communications officer, Phil Perry, sent a statement after the committee meeting saying the hologram box “is and was always intended to be a pilot project so that we could learn how the technology worked.”
“We have plans to use it for many other city priorities, including promotion of the Planning Department, permitting efforts, tourism and more,” the statement said. “We are proud that we’re one of the first cities in the country to test out this new technology. We’ll continue to lead the way in promoting Jacksonville as a tech hub that is attracting leading companies in the industries of the future.”