by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
A few months ago when her campaign for State Attorney was in full swing, Angela Corey was already thinking about who her top assistant would be. Thursday on the steps of the Landing, Corey — who handily beat current Chief Assistant State Attorney Jay Plotkin Tuesday at the polls — made it official when she asked Dan McCarthy to serve as her chief assistant and help with the transition until she officially takes over at the beginning of the calendar year.
“I have Mayor (John) Peyton’s blessing and I am stealing him from the City,” said Corey.
McCarthy is currently the City’s director of military affairs, a position he’s held since May 2003. He’s a 1977 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and was admitted to the Florida Bar in 1983. Corey said it was McCarthy’s combined military and legal experience that convinced her he was right for the job.
“His record is impeccable and his credentials are among the best,” she said. “Our city and our three counties (Corey will serve Duval, Clay and Nassau counties) are so lucky. He has a positive attitude and tremendous legal knowledge.
“He brings a synergy that is needed to work with law enforcement. My hope is by the end of our first term, this area is no longer known as the murder capital of anyplace.”
McCarthy said he and Corey have known each other for about 10 years and worked a case together when he was in the Navy’s Judge Advocate General’s Corp. He said the appointment is an opportunity to combine his two professional loves: the military and the law.
Corey also asked three current prosecutors in the State Attorney’s Office — John Guy, Mark Borello and Bernie de la Rionda — to serve on her transition team. Together, she said, they will help her assess the current state of the office and staff. That task, Corey added, won’t be as difficult as it may seem.
“I have only been gone 18 months,” she said. “I know most of the people working there and we will do quite well.”
McCarthy said Peyton has asked him for recommendations. He said the office will remain status quo.
“No one wants that office to succeed more than me,” he said, adding he hasn’t given much thought to his replacement. “I haven’t been able to do anything until now. Jacksonville has a big Navy community and there’s a long list of qualified people.”
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