The process to select the next leader of the Downtown Investment Authority moved forward Oct. 14 when the DIA Governance Committee met to discuss updates of the job requirements, expectations of the consultant that will lead the search and other issues related to the position.
CEO Lori Boyer, who has led the DIA since 2019, received a two-year contract extension in May 2024. She committed to serving through that time, including working for several months to onboard her replacement.
Working from documents from the time of Boyer’s hire and other materials prepared by Boyer, the Governance Committee’s recommendations included requiring the search firm to help revise the job description for the CEO position and to compile a market study to determine how much the position should pay to attract qualified candidates.
Boyer’s annual salary is $221,550.
Another recommendation was to require 10 years of experience instead of five in downtown redevelopment or a similar capacity.
The DIA is a semi-independent organization, with its board having independent decision-making authority on some of its incentives but acting as a recommending body to City Council on others. The CEO answers to the nine-member board, whose members are appointed by the mayor and the Council president.
Boyer told committee members that although the board has taken the position that the DIA staff should not engage in elective politics, a policy she agrees with, the DIA’s semi-independent status heightens the need for a CEO who can work with Council members.
“I think it makes it more important for the CEO to develop and maintain good relationships with whomever is elected in every election cycle,” she said.
Boyer served as a City Council member and president before being hired as DIA CEO. In a Sept. 20 memo to the board, which was included in the meeting materials, she encouraged board members to factor in candidates’ experience and skills in community relations and promotions.
Boyer said that until two years ago, she had spent more than 20 hours per week promoting Downtown and the DIA in business lunches, breakfasts, after-work meetings and speaking engagements. She also is active in the JAX Chamber and Urban Land Institute.
She said she dialed back her appearances.
“In addition the CEO has no assistant (despite requesting one in at least four budgets) and there is no City approved budget for entertaining so the costs of these functions are borne by the CEO personally,” she wrote.
“Even the cost of admission for ULI and Chamber functions quickly exceeded the available budget. In the last two years, both to rein in the number of hours per week I was personally committing to this position and to address both staff overload and the demands from applicants for quicker response times, I have cut back on the time devoted to this role and spent more time on work product. I believe there has been an impact on the public face of the organization, although it may have been necessary to moderate demands on other staff members," she wrote.
“Since most of the job qualifications focus on professional experience and education, I want you to consider how you both seek experience, and judge willingness and ability to be successful, in this role.”
Committee Chair Sondra Fetner said she was pleased with the outcome of the discussion, which included input from Council member Joe Carlucci and DIA board members.
Carlucci’s District 5 includes the Southbank portion of Downtown, which on the Northbank stretches from Brooklyn to the Sports and Entertainment District surrounding EverBank Stadium and the Working Waterfront district to the east.
Former Council President Ron Salem said Boyer’s impending departure was among the reasons he created the Council Special Committee on the Future of Downtown, which he launched in the spring of 2024.
Salem, who remains on the Council as an at-large member, said he expected the committee to make recommendations on removing barriers to redeveloping Downtown and identify strategies employed by other cities to revive their downtowns.
He called progress on Downtown “debatable, at best” since the creation of the DIA in 2012.
“I thought it was important that we put something in place to review the DIA so that as we begin to recruit and bring somebody on board we have a very clear understanding of the type of structure we’re going to have and the type of person we want to bring in,” Salem said on WJCT News’ “First Coast Connect” talk show in April 2024.