by Bradley Parsons
Staff Writer
Jacksonville’s new chief operating officer lists 30 years of government service on his resume, but he says his management style might owe more to his experience raising four children.
As the City’s chief administrator, Dan Kleman will be charged with making sure the government performs on time and on budget. To keep the bureaucratic machinery churning smoothly, Kleman says he must encourage performance and demand discipline. It’s an approach developed as much at the family dinner table as inside City Hall.
“In many respects there are some parallels to raising children. Sometimes some tough love is required,” says Kleman.
“What I have tried to do over the years is to challenge people who work for me to be better than they thought they could be by setting very high expectations, by challenging them, by helping them to be successful, but by holding them accountable for their actions.”
During Kleman’s 20-year tenure as Tallahassee’s city manager, it was an emphasis on measured performance that kept construction on a new city hall within budget. Kleman counts attention to detail as one of his strengths, and 20 years after the project’s completion, he recalls the cost down to the dollar: “Not one dime over budget.”
When Kleman stepped into office in the state capitol, he took over management of a city looking to bring life back to its urban core. This was accomplished, he says, through public infrastructure investment that spurred private development. In addition to the new city hall, the City financed parking garages and parks that helped fill vacancies with renters.
The downtown real estate market in Tallahasse is now one of the state’s most competitive, according to Capital Partners Inc. president Bill Evans, whose company owns and operates commercial space in Jacksonville and Tallahassee.
Kleman sees some parallels between what Tallahassee accomplished and Jacksonville’s own efforts to revive its downtown.
“It’s certainly reminiscent, what’s happening in Jacksonville with public–and–private–sector investment in downtown,” he says. “Public projects like the courthouse are certainly a huge investment in the area.
“I was involved in Tallahassee in simple issues where the city government provided funding for additional downtown parking, parking structures, creation of public spaces and that kind of investment fostered private development that followed it.”
Kleman’s attention will next be turned to the City’s $2.2 billion Better Jacksonville Plan. Road and infrastructure projects will fall under his review as will construction of the new Duval County Courthouse that Mayor John Peyton has promised to deliver for no more than $232 million.
All City departments will answer to Kleman except for administration and finance, which will remain for the time being under interim Chief Financial Officer Walt Bussells, also CEO of JEA. Peyton’s communication chief, Susie Wiles, told The Tallahassee Democrat that Bussells would soon return to the utility full-time.
Asked whether he would take over the City’s finances after Bussells’ departure, Kleman said the decision would be Peyton’s to make. However, he said he would be ready to step in if asked.
“I believe I have great strengths in the area of finance and administrative services, but those are areas for the mayor to consider,” he says.
Kleman’s extensive government experience makes him a valuable addition to a full–time mayoral staff with more experience in private business than public works. The last man to hold the job on a permanent basis, Sam Mousa, took most of the executive staff’s public experience with him when he resigned shortly after Peyton took office.
Kleman says he was attracted to the staff’s enthusiasm and says the opportunity to work with Peyton was one of the main reasons he’s sitting on the fourth floor of the St. James Building, instead of on the deck of a sailboat.
“I’m very impressed with the team the mayor has put together, they work well together, they’re bright, they’re savvy and they’re very committed to help building a successful city. That’s what attracted me here,” says Kleman.
“What I bring is 30 years of city and county government experience, 29 years of it in Florida. I can bring a knowledge of how other communities have addressed some of the same issues we face.”