An issue that prompted a separation-of-powers dispute between Mayor Donna Deegan’s office and the Jacksonville City Council was resolved March 25 when Council approved a deal forged between Deegan’s administration and Meridian Waste for trash pickup in North Jacksonville.
Council voted 16-1 in favor of Ordinance 2025-0207, which provides a contract amendment with Meridian that boosts the hauler’s monthly payment by 29% to $22.39 per homeowner. Council member Matt Carlucci voted against the ordinance, and members Reggie Gaffney Jr. and Jimmy Peluso were not present.
The city’s Rate Review Committee had recommended raising the amount to $18.29, which Deegan supported, but Council voted in January to give Meridian the higher increase.
Deegan vetoed the increase.
Council overrode the veto, which led to a binding opinion from the city Office of General Counsel that Council overstepped its authority by approving the higher payment, and therefore its increase was invalid.
The result was that Meridian received no increase, prompting the company to say it was considering legal action against the city.
The deal
On March 11, Deegan’s office and Meridian announced they’d reached the agreement on the 29% increase. That was the amount Council had approved.
According to the city, details of the deal include:
• Deferring payment of a $1.03-per-unit portion of the base rate until October 31, 2025, which is designed to reduce the impact of reserve fund withdrawals and allow for proper budgeting for fiscal year 2025-26.
• Extending the term of the contract by six years through Sept. 30, 2033, with a locked base rate and an annual Consumer Price Index adjustment capped at 5% for the remainder of the contract.
• Eliminating the rate review process in all following years. The city would “save hundreds of staff hours across multiple city departments and make way for a more efficient process in the future.”
The city said the deal was negotiated to maintain effective solid waste services for the Northside, avoid litigation, minimize the financial impact on the city and allow for streamlining of what it called the “archaic and cumbersome” rate review process.
Meridian agrees to provide an in-kind or cash “Community Partnership Investment” valued at $150,000 to support the city in economic development, health, human services and other areas.
In approving the ordinance, Council attached three amendments. They were:
• Restricting Meridian from requesting an “extraordinary rate adjustment,” such as an increased rate for operating during a pandemic or other crisis, more than twice during the nine-year term of the contract. Council member Chris Miller recommended the amendment.
• Requiring Meridian to release the city from any legal claims related to the city’s action or inaction on Ordinance 2024-0800, which Deegan vetoed. Council member Nick Howland offered the amendment.
• Council President Randy White’s amendment providing Meridian with a payment of $225 per ton for removal of yard waste from a major storm.
While the Council vote put the Meridian contract to rest, skirmishes continue between Council and Deegan’s office over the power of the two entities.
In a recent example, Deegan chief of staff Mike Weinstein said Council member Ron Salem was exceeding the Council’s authority by proposing that Council negotiate the outright purchase of the former Interline Brands Inc. building at 801 W. Bay St. to provide to the University of Florida for its graduate center campus in LaVilla.
Fackler vote
After approving the Meridian ordinance, Council approved a resolution expressing a lack of confidence in Michael Fackler, the head of the Office of General Counsel, who issued the opinion stating Council had exceeded its authority.
The vote was 11-6, with no votes coming from Ken Amaro, Michael Boylan, Matt Carlucci, Tyrona Clark-Murray, Ju’Coby Pittman and Rahman Johnson.
The resolution carried no legal weight and was not a formal attempt to fire Fackler. He retained his position after the resolution’s passage.
Council member Ron Salem said Fackler’s opinion on separation of powers was not a skirmish but rather an “earthquake” in its implications for how Council and the mayor’s office operate.
In a hypothetical example, he asked how the opinion might have affected the deal between the city and the Jacksonville Jaguars for the team’s $1.4 billion “Stadium of the Future,” which was negotiated by the mayor’s office and amended by Council before being signed by Deegan.
“What if she would have said, ‘I’m not signing this, I don’t like your changes.’ She could have done that under this separation of power.”
Had that occurred, he said, the issue would have come back to Council, which controls the funding for the issue.
“It would be a standoff. That’s where we are today,” he said.
Carlucci said the stadium deal and Meridian contract were not comparable, because the Council’s action on Meridian was substantially different than the version the mayor supported while the Council’s changes on the stadium deal were relatively minor.
Fackler is a past president of the Jacksonville Chapter of the Federal Bar Association and was an adjunct professor at Florida Coastal School of Law.
Appointed by Deegan, Council confirmed him by unanimous vote in 2023.
The Jacksonville Bar Association, Northeast Florida’s largest voluntary association of lawyers with about 2,000 members, issued a statement in January on the resolution.
“It is disappointing to see councilmembers condemn our city’s lawyer because his legal advice has not comported with their agenda,” it read.
“The duly appointed General Counsel enjoys the respect of the Jacksonville legal community and has earned his reputation as a highly skilled lawyer. As General Counsel, he is required to make difficult legal decisions and is bound by the oath taken as a member of The Florida Bar.
“We are confident that he will continue to perform his role by adhering to the law as outlined in the City Charter.”