by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
Veterans Day will be observed in about six weeks, but Dan McCarthy hasn’t given the day one thought.
He simply doesn’t have time.
As the City’s chief of military affairs, McCarthy is responsible for many facets involving current and former military in the area. From helping secure funding for the new Veterans Administration cemetery on the Northside to coordinating Sea & Sky Spectacular events, McCarthy has plenty on his plate.
Let’s not forget he was recently tabbed by State Attorney-elect Angela Corey to serve as her chief assistant starting shortly after the first of the year. That job entails overseeing Corey’s transition team and recruiting attorneys for the office. McCarthy is also helping Mayor John Peyton look for his successor.
“I haven’t figured it out yet,” said McCarthy of his last day with the City. “I imagine I will stay until after Thanksgiving because there is a series of events until then.”
Those events include the Navy birthday celebration Oct. 10-13, an event his office is putting on at the zoo and the Sea & Sky Spectacular.
“In November, there are events all month,” said McCarthy.
According to McCarthy, finding a suitable replacement won’t be difficult; narrowing the field down to one could prove much tougher. He said the City’s Human Resources Department posted the job, which closed Friday. McCarthy said he has several resumes, all from qualified candidates, all of whom he knows and considers as friends.
“This week, I will get with the mayor and see who has applied,” he said. “I want someone the mayor is comfortable with.”
Mayor John Peyton hasn’t made a decision regarding McCarthy’s successor, said Misty Skipper, director of communications for the City of Jacksonville.
McCarthy said he knows the job better than anyone and is in the best position to help Peyton with the decision. Regardless who’s chosen, McCarthy said he’ll basically wrap up this year and leave 2009 to the next person.
“I told the mayor I’ll make sure the crunch of 2008 has been solved,” said McCarthy.
Around here, he says, one of the major events may come Nov. 21. McCarthy thinks the U.S. Department of Defense will announce its decision regarding the base in Norfolk, Va. Currently, there are five aircraft carriers in Norfolk and McCarthy thinks there’s a good chance at least one will be moved to Jacksonville. There is also talk of bringing a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier to Mayport NAS, a move that McCarthy says would require about $500 million in infrastructure improvements and mean at least 8,000 personnel relocated to the area. The annual economic impact would be tremendous.
“It would be more than $1 billion when you play it all out,” said McCarthy. “That (decision) should come down Nov. 21 and I want to be here for that. I think our odds are good.”
Helping Corey has been a two-fold process. McCarthy said he and two senior members of the State Attorney’s Office who will stay with the office after Corey’s swearing in ceremony in early January have spent the last several weeks evaluating the current prosecutors and support staff. While all of the appointed employees were asked to resign, many will be kept and a handful will not be retained.
In order to help fill out the staff, McCarthy has hit the road recruiting potential prosecutors.
“I was at the University of Florida Friday and Florida State’s law school two weeks ago,” he said.
McCarthy said he’s recruiting law school graduates the same way he recruited potential Navy recruits. He points out the old building, the long hours and the poor pay and equates that to those who voluntarily go to Iraq.
“That’s kind of what I’m selling. I want people who want to make Jacksonville a better town,” he said. “I want people who want to focus on community service and who want to work with one of the best prosecutors in the state. I tell them it’s interesting work and they’ll get to work with interesting people.”
McCarthy said those with ties to the community are more likely to come back to the area and go to work for him and Corey.
“Some of them are just fishing for a better paying job,” he said. “They are not going to come.”
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