There’s a man in a tricorn hat at City Hall—and no, it’s not cosplay. It’s the Finance Chair, former Council President Dr. Ron Salem, playing judge, jury, and executioner in the newly minted farce known as the Duval DOGE: the Department of Government Efficiency. What’s being sold as a pursuit of “efficiency” feels eerily familiar—less like governance and more like a 17th-century witch hunt.

Welcome to the Salem DOGE Trials.

With all the flair of a Puritan tribunal, these so-called hearings are billed as objective reviews of city department budgets. In reality, they’re public spectacles built on a presumption of guilt—guilt for doing your job, guilt for needing staff, guilt for serving a sprawling city of nearly a million people across more than 850 square miles. The aim? Slash and burn. Never mind the facts: Jacksonville’s Full-Time Employee (FTE) count is historically low. Departments aren’t bloated—they’re gasping for air.

And here’s the real indictment: the DOGE committee, handpicked by Council, includes no Democrats, no women, and not a single Black person. That’s not just inefficient. That’s offensive. You can’t govern what you refuse to understand. A committee built without representation of the city’s demographics is not serious about solutions—it’s signaling who’s excluded from them.

Meanwhile, the Mayor’s Office has already implemented a resiliency, transparency, and sustainability framework—a modern, data-informed approach to lean government. It’s been in motion. Nevertheless, rather than collaborate, Council doubles down on a redundant process designed more for theater than results.

And the people know it.

Crowds have shown up to the DOGE hearings—not to applaud, but to protest. Residents see the hypocrisy of a government crying “efficiency” while ignoring equity. They know this isn’t reform; it’s retribution. This isn’t about being lean. It’s about being mean.

Efficiency shouldn’t be weaponized against communities already underserved. It shouldn’t be wielded like a gavel to punish departments doing their best with dwindling resources. And it certainly shouldn’t be orchestrated by a committee that looks more like a country club than a cross-section of Jacksonville.

Let’s not kid ourselves: the optics are bad because the intent is worse.

In 1692, the Salem Witch Trials left a stain on history—a lesson in what happens when fear trumps reason, when power goes unchecked, and when diverse voices are silenced. In 2025, Jacksonville’s version isn’t faring much better. These trials didn’t work then. And they’re not hitting on a thing now.

We don’t need DOGE. We need leadership.
Because REAL leadership actually listens.