Jacksonville councilmember accuses Mayor Deegan of misusing funds; United Way, mayor respond

A Jacksonville city councilmember accused Mayor Donna Deegan of attempting to improperly route city funds through a local nonprofit for diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) purposes — an allegation the mayor and United Way both strongly deny. District 13 Councilman Rory Diamond, a Republican, raised the allegation Thursday morning on his personal Facebook page. In the post, he accused Mayor Deegan of trying to “launder” $237,000 in DEI funds through the United Way of Northeast Florida. The post came about an hour before Florida Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia appeared at Jacksonville City Hall to speak about DEI programs in the state.