A variety of information about invocations can be found on the City of Jacksonville website at this LINK
The information included is a 2010 memo detailing the invocation policy which I was told that city council presidents do NOT need to follow:
http://www.coj.net/city-council/docs/invocationpolicy.aspx
Also included is a 2014 memo from the city attorney detailing his opinion about the invocation period:
http://www.coj.net/city-council/docs/misc/ogc-invocationopinion-2014-09-20.aspx
Here is the petition with over 500 signatures that the NE Florida AU chapter spearheaded:
https://www.change.org/p/sign-our-petition-in-the-name-of-unity
In an interview a couple of years ago, then CM Yarborough was asked about prayers during city council meetings. Here is a link to the interview:
That link doesn’t work. Was the article taken down? Here is another article where Yarborough is quoted: http://www.jacksonville.com/news/metro/2010-07-22/story/different-faiths-cast-eager-or-wary-eyes-jacksonville-council-prayers
CM Yarborough mentioned the phrase “in Jesus’ name we pray” in the interview. It appears that Council President Yarborough only invited people to give the invocation that are willing to say that phrase. That seems to me a clear violation of the establishment clause of the First Amendment. I hear that Yarborough did a lot of good for our city. He was a watch dog against corporations trying to rip us off or so I heard. BUT his desire to establish a theocracy is wrong, isn’t it?
During Council President Yarborough’s reign (July 2014 to June 2015) , only Doyle Carter and Kimberly Daniels gave the invocation during the city council meetings. They both said “in Jesus’ name we pray” during the invocation. Which according to the Greece v. Galloway case is OK as long as other people (from every group in town) are invited to give the invocation
Unite Us Do Not Divide Us 