- May 5, 2024
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Volusia County Council voted 6-1, with Jason Davis opposing, to hire Ormond Beach attorney Jonathan Kaney to investigate campaign contributions by Waverly Media.
BY EMILY BLACKWOOD | STAFF WRITER
After hearing Ormond Beach attorney Jonathan Kaney’s plan to investigate bench advertisers Waverly Media, the Volusia County Council voted 6-1 to hire him.
The lone opposer, Chairman Jason Davis, said he had issues with Kaney’s request for subpoena power and a lack of a monetary cap for the cost of the investigation. Kaney discussed these issues in both Thursday's presentation and in a letter that was sent on Wednesday, Dec. 11, to the County Council. (Davis, however, said that he did not receive the letter until the morning of Thursday, Dec. 12.)
In the letter, Kaney revealed a more specific scope of his investigation into Waverly Media.
“The object of this investigation is to discover ... whether Waverly and its affiliates had a plan or scheme to obtain undue influence over county government by various means,” Kaney stated. The various means include illegal campaign contributions (bench ads and other in-kind contributions), for which Waverly’s ex-manager, James Brown, already pleaded guilty and was sentenced to probation in May.
Though the issue of the campaign contributions has already been addressed by the State Attorney's Office, Kaney feels the need to further investigate the company — including financial records — because some incomplete public records suggest that Waverly did have a plan, he said in his letter. He also made it clear that this was not a criminal investigation and that he wasn’t looking into a particular council member.
Kaney said he is investigating solely for "legislative purposes." In other words, the "Waverly matter" could uncover something that would suggest that further laws need to be enacted to prevent similar situations from happening in the future.
Reserve fund to finance investigation
Though no financial cap was decided at the meeting, Vice Chair Joyce Cusack made it clear to the public that the money used for this investigation would be taken from reserve funds.
“God forbid if we have a hurricane or a fire that we don’t regret doing this,” Cusak said. “I want it to be known that I oppose the fact that we have made a decision as a council to do this.”
When Davis asked Kaney for a "guestimate" for what the investigation could cost, Kaney said it was impossible to estimate at this point. Davis voted against hiring Kaney because there was no decided cap on what he could spend.
County Manager James Dinneen has authority to spend up to $50,000 without special action by the council.
Kaney also told the council that he would be using Ormond Beach lawyer Noah McKinnon to assist him in the investigation. He did, however, assure the council that they would not charge double if both attorneys were working on the project at the same time.
Power of subpoena
In his letter to the council before Thursday’s meeting, Kaney requested the power to subpoena potential witnesses.
Though he believed that there would be a significant number of individuals that would speak to him willingly, he said that it may become necessary to resort to subpoenas to complete the investigation.
Davis made it clear that he was not happy with Kaney’s request. However, District 2 Representative Joshua Wagner (also an attorney) approved because he thought it would speed up the investigation and that it was not too risky of a choice, considering potential interview subjects could challenge the subpoena if they so desired.
“I accept it for the good of the council,” Wagner said.
To give subpoena power to Kaney would require an ordinance from the council. He said after the meeting that he will work on an ordinance with county attorney Dan Eckert, a longtime friend.
Kaney recommended to Davis during the meeting that Kaney be granted subpoena power and "instruct me to not use it unless I absolutely have to."
— Brian McMillan contributed
