by Mike Sharkey
Staff writer
Eric Green has been offered the Jacksonville Port Authority’s newly-created Director of Government Affairs position.
“We have not hired anyone yet for the position,” said Robert Peek, Port Authority director of communications. “We are in the process of hiring a candidate for the Director of Government Affairs position and expect to make a final decision soon.
“We are in discussions with Eric Green.”
Two other candidates, Brad Thoburn and William Hodges, were on the Port Authority’s list of three finalists. According to Peek, both Thoburn, who holds a similar position under Mayor John Peyton, and Hodges, an administrator with the State Attorney’s Office, have withdrawn from consideration.
Green is the former Deputy Chief Administrative Officer under Mayor John Delaney. He worked directly under Chief Administrative Officer Sam Mousa.
The new director will report to David Kaufman, the senior director of planning and port development. Peek said Kaufman is handling his duties as well as the duties of the government affairs director. Kaufman, Peek said, deals with all Port Authority real estate-related matters as well as engineering — and government affairs issues when they arise.
“He has a lot on his plate,” said Peek. “We wanted to create a job that would help us maintain good communication with the local, state and federal elected officials. We need someone to track legislation and keep track of what’s going on. We have a lot going on and need someone dedicated to doing that.
“In addition to being a liaison, he (the government affairs director) will also go after grants for our capital projects. He will not be a grant writer, but he will help us go after them.”
The new position was created out of necessity, Peek said. Over the past decade, the Port Authority hasn’t just grown, it has changed dramatically and morphed into one of the area’s biggest economic influences. In addition to importing and exporting cargo, the Port Authority has also ventured into the cruise business in the past couple of years.
“It has been unbelievable,” said Peek. “Just five years ago we also ran the Airport Authority (the Airport Authority and Port Authority officially split Oct. 1, 2001), we didn’t have any cruise ships and we just signed an Asian cargo carrier. It’s a whole different world today.”
Peek said a panel of Port Authority employees, which included Kaufman, interviewed all the candidates and each candidate is rated by each interviewer on an individual basis.