Two months after Jacksonville City Council President Sam Newby won support for a $25,000 grant awarded to a bridal shop, he hired the owner of the business to be his executive assistant while she also continues to run the Gown and Garter store.
The City Council approved the $25,000 grant in September from American Rescue Plan money intended to help the business recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Newby said this week he never would have advocated for that grant if he had known that his executive council assistant at the time would leave for another job, creating a vacancy he needed to fill in November.
Read the rest of this story at WJCT News partner The Florida Times-Union.