The dust-up between the City of Jacksonville and the Florida Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) took a turn yesterday when Mayor Lenny Deegan received a pointed letter from Florida CFO Blaise Ingoglia. This comes after the state agency sidestepped a seemingly minor request from the city concerning a routine security procedure.
In short, Jacksonville wants DOGE to fill out a "simple form" providing names and numbers of staffers needing access to the city's financial data systems during an audit. Simple enough, but DOGE won't budge. In a statement obtained by the City of Jacksonville, Mayor Deegan expressed both his commitment to security and a touch of frustration with the state's foot-dragging: "Security should never be politicized."
How did we get here? Well, Florida law—Chapter 2025(199), Section 124 to be precise—clearly stipulates that state auditors can get their hands on city data systems but only with "appropriate security considerations." Despite the clear-cut nature of the rule, Florida DOGE seems to think they're the exception. Meanwhile, the city's not just sitting around twiddling its thumbs; they've been dutifully running their own number crunching in self-imposed audits, as per the City of Jacksonville.
Last week's notice from DOGE about their impending visit sure got the city's attention. After learning about the audit, Mayor Deegan boasted about the city's financial health, and his office noted that "hundreds of staff hours" had been spent to make the audit happen. Only to be hamstrung when DOGE apparently decided the paperwork was below them, according to the City of Jacksonville.
