Jacksonville Mayor Alvin Brown named a City Hall lawyer Wednesday to fill a vacant post as city ethics officer.
Senior Assistant General Counsel Jon R. Phillips, a former prosecutor who advised the Jacksonville Ethics Commission until last year, is filling a slot last held by Carla Miller, whose appointment ended after Mayor John Peyton left office.
“I strongly believe in ethics in city government, and Jon Phillips carries a wealth of experience that will help advance that important mission,†Brown said in a written announcement about the appointment.
Phillips can hold the title of acting officer for 60 days before receiving City Council confirmation.
But his permanent appointment would seemingly open a budgetary can of worms about how the city will pay for ethics training and enforcement.
After Miller left her last post, the Ethics Commission picked her as director of the new city Office of Ethics, Compliance and Oversight.
The council passed an ordinance last year Miller had championed that established the office and said it was to be funded in 2012 with existing city money and no extra cost to taxpayers.
Ethics advocates had argued the new office, referenced within the city charter, could be more politically independent because the director would be accountable to the commission, rather than to a mayor.
The city hasn’t released any money for the director’s salary, however, and Brown said this month he was examining both ethics offices as part of an overall review of city government. The city’s 2012 budget contains $75,000 for part-time ethics employment, plus money for legal services from the General Counsel’s Office for a total cost of $142,509.
Phillips, a lawyer for more than 30 years focusing on personal injury and civil rights law, was paid $119,000 by the city last year. He has worked in the General Counsel’s Office since 2002.
Commission members voiced frustration Wednesday.
“We need to understand why he thought it was necessary have an ethics officer who would report to the mayor,†member Helen Ludwig told other commissioners meeting Wednesday. “I’m very disappointed. I feel as though I’ve been let down.â€
Brown’s chief of staff, Chris Hand, said choices on funding the ethics compliance office depend on whether the council intended the money it budgeted is to be used by the ethics compliance office, a city ethics office, or both.
“It appears that they funded that as the [city] ethics office,†he said, but said the matter isn’t settled.
Hand said how Phillips would be paid in his new role was “an administrative matter†to be settled by the General Counsel’s Office and city finance officials. Phillips told commissioners concerns about his appointment were misguided.
“I think it’s unfortunate there’s been an interpretation that devoting additional resources to ethics is somehow not a good thing,†he said.
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