Jacksonville City Council member Kevin Carrico has left the Boys & Girls Clubs of Northeast Florida organization that he served more than a decade during a time when it expanded regionally and also experienced controversy after Carrico tried to put its CEO on the JEA board.
“We appreciate Kevin’s service and contributions to Boys & Girls Clubs of Northeast Florida and wish him and his family well in this next chapter,” Blake Wilson, chair of the organization's board, said Sept. 23. “Our focus has always been, and continues to be, on the young people and families we serve."
The nonprofit and Carrico's rise in City Council leadership converged in February when he nominated the organization's CEO Paul Martinez to the JEA board in a move that ended
with Martinez withdrawing from consideration before City Council voted on confirming him.
State Attorney Melissa Nelson's office later sought communications involving Carrico's nomination of Martinez and also about the Boys and Girls Clubs interest in obtaining Nassau County land owned by JEA for a planned youth club. Nelson has not announced any results of that investigation.
Carrico was working for the Boys & Girls Clubs when he won a special election in 2020 for the District 4 seat on City Council. He later became vice president of strategic initiatives for the organization that has 55 locations across five counties and is one of the biggest Boys & Girls Clubs in the nation.
"It's been one of the great privileges of my professional life to support the mission of Boys & Girls Clubs of Northeast Florida and the young people and families it serves," Carrico said.
He said he is "incredibly proud of what we accomplished together, grateful for the relationships built along the way and confident the club will continue changing lives throughout Northeast Florida. As I begin my next chapter, I’m excited to build something new and look forward to sharing more in the coming days.”
Records released June 25 by the State Attorney's Office show that when Carrico was serving as City Council president, he told Martinez it was time to show JEA "who's boss" in a January text message exchange about JEA's refusal to sell land sought by the Nassau County affiliate of the nonprofit. Carrico then nominated Martinez to the JEA board.
Carrico has said his said he nominated Martinez based solely on his "experience, integrity and ability to to serve effectively."
Martinez said in a June 25 statement there was no connection between his nomination to the board and the JEA-owned land.
Boys & Girls Clubs of Northeast Florida serves an average of almost 15,000 registered members annually and has multimillion contracts with the city of Jacksonville's Kids Hope Alliance.
Carrico recuses himself from City Council votes on funding that could flow to the Boys & Girls Clubs. He did so as recently as his week when council voted Sept. 22 on the Kids Hope Alliance's budget by saying he is employed by the Boys & Girls Clubs.
He has not yet filed for another term in the 2027 election.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: City Councilman Kevin Carrico leaves Boys & Girls Clubs
