The Jacksonville City Council’s unanimous approval Aug. 8 of Ed Randolph to lead the Office of Economic Development is the start of many of Mayor Donna Deegan’s appointments as she moves ahead on her campaign promise to diversify the members of the city’s boards and commissions.
Here’s who Deegan has been nominating as she reshapes city government to fit her policies:
Kids Hope Alliance
On Aug. 3, Deegan announced she has nominated five new members to the seven-member Kids Hope Alliance board of directors.
The city agency, formed by Curry, funds nonprofit, community and school-based afterschool educational, training and early intervention programs in Duval County.
Her nominations to serve full terms are:
• Connie Hodges, former United Way of Northeast Florida President and CEO.
• J. Carson Tranquille, managing broker and owner of Tranquille Realty and retired Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office Police Division Chief.
Those appointees would replace:
• Tyra Tutor, board chair.
• Rose Conry, board vice chair.
Three other appointees would serve partial terms, replacing board members whose four-year terms had not expired, followed by full terms.
They are:
• Lawrence E. Dennis, Mainstream Development Educational Group regional vice president and former Duval County Public Schools regional superintendent.
• Meredith Chartrand Frisch, board member of The Chartrand Foundation, Women’s Giving Alliance and KIPP Jacksonville.
• Cynthia Ball Nixon, CFO of the Northeast Florida Healthy Start Coalition.
Those appointees would replace:
• Dr. Marvin Wells, founder owner and surgeon at Wells Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery Association.
• Jenny Vipperman, chief lending officer at VyStar Credit Union.
• Rebekah Davis, registered nurse and spouse of Deegan’s 2023 Republican mayoral opponent Daniel Davis.
If approved by Council, the Deegan appointees would serve full terms after they complete the remaining terms of the Curry appointees.
Deegan has made resurrecting and modernizing The Jacksonville Journey, created by Peyton, as a top public safety initiative with a focus on literacy and other prevention programs to reduce violent crime and recidivism in Duval County.
“One of the top priorities of my administration is to bring back a reimagined and reinvigorated Jacksonville Journey. We need fresh eyes who will move the Kids Hope Alliance towards that vision,” Deegan said in the Aug. 3 news release.
Planning commission
The Deegan administration filed legislation Aug. 2 to replace Curry’s former chief of staff and lobbying firm Ballard Partners Jacksonville Managing Partner Jordan Elsbury on the Jacksonville Planning Commission.
Council approved Elsbury’s appointment for a two-year term in February 2022.
Deegan has appointed Charles Garrison, market leader with infrastructure professional services firm WGI and former Democratic City Council candidate, to serve the remainder of Elsbury’s term, followed by a full term.
Legislation was introduced Aug. 8 to confirm those appointments.
More boards
JEA board member Tom VanOsdol’s departure allows Deegan to make an appointment early in her first term on the city-owned electric and water utility board. She tapped VyStar Chief Human Resource Office Kawanza Humphrey to fill the spot.
Analyst and 2016 Duval County School Board candidate Hank O. Rogers is Deegan’s nominee to fill an opening on the Jacksonville Housing Authority Board replacing Charles Griggs.
Legislation was also introduced Aug. 8 to replace Jacksonville Bar Association Executive Director Craig Shoup on the housing authority with Cindy Funkhouser, president and CEO of homelessness services provider Sulzbacher.
Ferraro appointment
City Council held a public hearing Aug. 8 on Deegan’s appointment of former Council member and business owner Al Ferraro as Neighborhoods Department director.
Council will have to decide whether to sign off on a qualifications waiver to approve Ferraro’s appointment because he does not have a bachelor’s degree required to serve in that position.
About a dozen speakers addressed Council during the public hearing on Ferraro’s nomination Aug. 8 in support of waiving the education requirement. Ferraro has been the owner/operator of Ferraro Lawn Service in Jacksonville since 1986.
The Republican served two terms on Council and finished third in the March 2023 mayoral primary election to Deegan and Davis.