Yesterday was a dark day for our City. I had the following calls and/or text messages regarding these subject matters:

— JEA: My son works at JEA and has a top level position. He’s telling us some crazy stuff happening over there. Can all this be true and what’s going on?

— City Contracts: We are hearing the City is bypassing their Requests for Proposals and giving lucrative contracts to their buddies. Can you find out if this is really going on?

— School Board: Did you hear (and later in the evening this very subject showed up in the Florida Times Union) that the former City Administrative Officer, Sam Mousa, and the Mayor’s former campaign consultant, Tim Baker, are trying to extort the School Board for a consulting contract? Can you find out how we can get this investigated by a Grand Jury? (Go to Jacksonville.com for more on this story.)

— Appointed Boards: There are a few local boards who are “friends of the Mayor” and misusing their authority. They are out of control. Can you investigate this?

— Bullying: Did you see the Twitter messages from the Mayor? He’s being a bully. People are afraid to speak out for fear of retaliation. What happened to him? Can you speak to someone who experienced this without identifying them?

My head was spinning as I fell into bed. I was mulling all the items noted above and I wondered if Eye was big enough to take on so much. We are a small — a very small team. I’m personally paying for Eye because I believed when I started it — “If you keep an Eye on local politicians, they will do the right thing for the benefit of the whole of our city. Keeping an Eye on them will hold them accountable to being a good guy!” Was I wrong?

This morning I woke up wondering if we are indeed on the verge of an implosion with our City administration. I don’t know but I do know if there are that many issues and that many concerned people reaching out to us, we are indeed living in the dark days of Jacksonville.

Is it time for the administration to be investigated by a higher power than bloggers and journalists? Eye thinks so and we will research all options today.

In the meantime, our small team will investigate each and every one of the items above as best we can and will do a small part to shine a light in the darkness over our beloved hometown.

Our city and the people of Jacksonville deserve so much better than this. Do you agree?

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