Personnel committee probes intercepted council mail and holiday gifts

Yvonne Mitchell, chief of administrative services for the Jacksonville City Council, told the personnel committee that she collected and opened holiday packages after seeing boxes placed in council offices and after being told by her supervisor to notify the supervisor before gifts were distributed.

"I panicked because now I realize there are boxes that have been distributed," Mitchell said, describing how she gathered about 19 boxes, moved them to her office and emailed the ethics office for direction.

The committee probed whether anyone directed staff to intercept or open mail addressed to individual council members and whether that conduct could violate federal law. Mary Stifopoulos, the city—s Office of General Counsel, told the committee that federal statutes on mail tampering generally protect the privacy of…