Last week’s vote on the $8.6 billion city budget revealed the existence of a new faction on the City Council.
Eye on Jacksonville will call them Deegan’s Republicans.
Will Lahnen, Joe Carlucci, Matt Carlucci, Ken Amaro, Randy White and Michael Boylan voted to fund a position in the budget that Real Republicans, led by Council Member Rory Diamond, were trying to eliminate.
It was money to pay the head of Mayor Donna Deegan’s diversity, inclusion and equity (DIE) program.
This program is nothing but woke nonsense — money wasting at best and socialism at worst. It has trickled down from the federal government to state and local governments.
But diversity and inclusion are built into everyday American life. There is no reason to promote those features via a horde of bureaucrats.
Equity is another matter. It is the nutty notion that everyone must reach the same level of achievement.
This is promised but never delivered by communism in Russia, China, North Korea, Cuba and other dark places in today’s world.
What America promises, and delivers, is equal opportunity for every American to achieve as much as he can. The list of those who went from nothing to everything they wanted is extensive and varied.
The agenda of the Democrat Party, which Deegan belongs to, has morphed in recent years until it can now be fairly described as anti-American and racist.
During debate on the proposed amendment to restore funding for the position, which had been removed in committee, acting Chief of Staff Mike Weinstein made a surprising announcement to the council, saying that the position actually was for “data analytics” and only partly for DIE.
Council Member Joe Carlucci, who proclaimed himself against DIE, said he was voting to fund the position because he believed Weinstein.
Diamond called it “a total breakdown of the Republican coalition.”
The six Republicans joined six Democrats to approve the position, defeating six Republicans who voted against the amendment. A supermajority of Republicans on the council means little if half of them are “Deegan’s Republicans,” ready to do the mayor’s bidding on any issue.
That doesn’t mean they should oppose any venture she supports because some are worthwhile, such as her moves toward more transparency.
But DEI must die.
