A Four-Month Review of the City of Jacksonville Government Facebook Page During Campaign Season

The Question

When you follow the official City of Jacksonville Government Facebook page, who do you think you're following?

The government as a whole?

Or primarily one elected official?

That may sound like a simple question, but during an election cycle it carries real implications for transparency, representative government, and public trust.

The City of Jacksonville Government Facebook page belongs to the taxpayers. It isn't the mayor's personal page, it isn't City Council's page, and it certainly isn't a campaign page. It exists to communicate the work of Jacksonville's municipal government.

So after Mayor Donna Deegan announced her reelection campaign on April 16, 2026, we decided to take a closer look.

Rather than relying on assumptions or isolated examples, we reviewed every post published on the City's official Facebook page from April 1 through July 12. While our April totals include posts both before and after the mayor's campaign announcement, the overall pattern remained remarkably consistent throughout May, June and into July.

What we found doesn't answer every question.

But it raises several worth asking.

What We Reviewed

Between April 1 and July 12, the City of Jacksonville Government Facebook page published 475 posts.

Of those:

• 76 featured Mayor Donna Deegan

• Approximately 16 percent of all posts involved the mayor in some capacity.

Looking deeper, those 76 posts broke down as follows:

• 55 were direct shares from Mayor Donna Deegan's own Facebook page.

• 13 were original City-created posts featuring the mayor.

• The remaining posts consisted primarily of shares from outside organizations featuring the mayor at official events.

In other words, nearly three-quarters of all mayor-related content appearing on the City's official Facebook page originated on the mayor's own page before being amplified through the City's much larger audience.

Why the Follower Numbers Matter

The City of Jacksonville Government Facebook page has approximately 104,000 followers.

Mayor Donna Deegan's Facebook page has approximately 22,000 followers.

That means every time the City shares one of the mayor's posts, it substantially expands the reach of that message.

By itself, that fact is not evidence of wrongdoing.

Government agencies routinely promote official activities of mayors, governors and presidents. The mayor is Jacksonville's chief executive officer, and many official announcements naturally involve that office.

The issue is not whether the mayor appears.

The question is whether the City's official communications platform is providing balanced representation of the government as a whole—particularly after the mayor has become a declared candidate for reelection.

The Other Half of City Government

Jacksonville's municipal government consists of more than the executive branch.

Residents also elect 19 members of the Jacksonville City Council, who collectively serve as the legislative branch of government.

Those council members approve budgets, adopt ordinances, oversee executive agencies, conduct public hearings, shape land-use policy, and represent neighborhoods throughout Jacksonville.

Their work affects nearly every resident.

Yet during the same four-month review period, independent coverage of City Council activities was strikingly limited.

We identified one City-created post recognizing former Council President Kevin Carrico.

We found one shared post from the Jacksonville Women's Basketball organization recognizing the City Council.

When new Council President Nick Howland was sworn into office, the event appeared on the City's Facebook page only because the City shared Mayor Deegan's own Facebook post—not through independently created City coverage of the legislative transition itself.

Beyond those examples, we found no City-created posts highlighting legislative initiatives, committee work, major ordinances, budget discussions, or official Council activities.

That observation does not suggest those activities did not occur.

It simply reflects what residents would have seen if they relied on the City's Facebook page as their primary source of information about Jacksonville government.

The Pattern

One month can sometimes be dismissed as coincidence.

Four months are more difficult to ignore.

Our review found:

April

• 144 total posts

• 21 featuring the mayor

May

• 145 total posts

• 21 featuring the mayor

June

• 132 total posts

• 24 featuring the mayor

July (through July 12)

• 54 total posts

• 10 featuring the mayor

Although April includes posts from both before and after the mayor's campaign announcement, the overall pattern remained remarkably consistent throughout the months that followed.

The Ethics Question

Does this promote public confidence that government resources are being used fairly?

Taxpayer-funded communications should inform the public. They should also avoid creating the appearance that public resources are being used to advantage one elected official over others. That question becomes especially relevant once an incumbent officially becomes a candidate for another term.

Even communications that are entirely lawful can invite debate over whether they reflect best practices for maintaining public trust.

Executive Branch... or Entire Government?

Supporters of the current approach could reasonably argue that the City's communications office reports through the executive branch.

The mayor serves as Jacksonville's chief executive officer and is often the face of city government.

It is therefore natural that executive activities receive significant coverage.

That is a legitimate perspective.

But there is another.

The Facebook page is not called "Mayor Donna Deegan."

It is called "City of Jacksonville Government."

Those words imply representation of the institution—not simply one office within it.

Residents who follow that page could reasonably expect to see meaningful coverage of both executive and legislative activities because both branches exercise important public responsibilities.

The City Council debates policy.

Approves budgets.

Passes ordinances.

Conducts oversight.

Represents districts throughout Jacksonville.

Those are not secondary functions of government.

They are core functions.

Questions Worth Discussing

This review is not intended to accuse anyone of misconduct.

It is intended to ask whether Jacksonville's communications policies should evolve during campaign season.

Should the City establish written standards governing how official social media represents multiple branches of government?

Should the communications team produce more original coverage of City Council initiatives, legislative accomplishments, and major policy debates?

Should the City's official Facebook page routinely share posts originating from an incumbent mayor's personal public page once that mayor has formally announced a reelection campaign?

Would a more balanced communications strategy strengthen public confidence in the neutrality of taxpayer-funded government communications?

These are governance questions.

They deserve thoughtful discussion regardless of which political party controls City Hall—or who serves as mayor.

Transparency Builds Trust

Representative government depends on informed citizens.

That requires more than open meetings and public records.

It also requires confidence that official government communications reflect the institution of government rather than primarily one elected office.

Whether readers ultimately agree or disagree with this analysis, one question remains difficult to ignore:

Should Jacksonville's official Facebook page primarily represent the executive branch... or should it more consistently reflect the work of the entire City of Jacksonville government?

That question doesn't belong to one administration.

It belongs to every Jacksonville taxpayer.

We welcome your thoughts.