by Karen Brune Mathis
Managing Editor
Former Duval County Tax Collector and mayoral candidate Mike Hogan headed to Tallahassee Monday for the new job he landed last week as chair of the state Public Employees Relations Commission.
Gov. Rick Scott appointed Hogan to a term that began Wednesday and ends Jan. 1, although Hogan expects a reappointment in January. He is completing a term held by Stephanie Williams Ray.
“Labor relations is my background with BellSouth, so it is a good fit,” Hogan said Monday. “I have a good opportunity, and I accepted it.”
Hogan took the $95,789-a-year position about a month after Mayor Alvin Brown took office July 1, having won the May 17 general election.
Brown, a Democrat, edged out Hogan by 1,662 votes. Brown took 50.43 percent of the vote to Hogan’s 49.57 percent.
Hogan said he applied for a few areas in Tallahassee and the governor called on him for the Public Employees Relations Commission.
According to its website, the commission consists of three commissioners appointed by the governor, with the chair serving as chief executive and administrative officer.
The commission employs nine hearing officers, each a licensed attorney with more than five years of experience.
The officers hold hearings throughout the state on labor and employment disputes. The commission and its staff then review the officers’ recommendations and issue a final order. That order can be appealed to the District Courts of Appeal.
Hogan, a Republican, was endorsed by Scott and the police and fire unions during his mayoral run. He also was co-endorsed with Brown by the North Florida Central Labor Council, the affiliation of the AFL-CIO unions in the area, and the North Florida Building & Construction Trades Council.
Hogan said he will commute to Tallahassee on Monday morning and return to Jacksonville Friday night.
“I am filling an unfilled term and then I expect to be reappointed and confirmed by the Senate in January,” he said.
Hogan said his benefits have not been decided. “They will send someone to sit down with me,” he said.
However, he said he will not be taking his government pension. Hogan said he would be receiving his BellSouth pension.
He said the salary was set last year and reflects a budget reduction because the three commissioners had all been paid full-time but now just the chair is a full-time employee. The other two are part-time, he said.
Hogan said his first day in Tallahassee was Monday because he was ill last week.
Hogan said he applied with the governor’s office about the end of June. He said he called the governor’s office and the governor’s appointments office and was asked to send his resume.
He said he wasn’t specific about where he wanted to work. “I just wanted to work back in government and so I sent the application in and discussed with several people the roles I thought I could handle,” he said.
Those included work with the Department of Revenue and the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, given his role as tax collector.
“Those were things I had a great deal of background in as an administrator,” he said.
Hogan said he wasn’t aware of the commission opening, “so I think it worked out well.”
Hogan said the commission represents the state of Florida. “We do not represent the employee or the union. We represent the state of Florida and we hear the case,” he said.
“We are not advocates except for fairness,” he said.
According to its website, the commission holds hearings and resolves disputes about the composition of bargaining units and alleged unfair labor practices.
It is estimated that there are more than 600,000 public employees of bargaining units throughout the state among state, counties, school boards, municipalities and special taxing districts, including fire, police, corrections, school teachers and support personnel, attorneys, medical personnel, state troopers, toll collectors, sanitation employees and clerical employees.
7The commission also has jurisdiction over career service appeals in the state. According to the commission, there are state employees who have civil service privileges under the Florida Constitution concerning discipline, such as discharge, demotion and suspensions.
They can appeal such actions to the commission, which will appoint a hearing officer to determine if there was cause for the discipline. The commission also has jurisdiction over certain other employment cases.
On the campaign trail, Hogan often talked about his experience in the private sector with BellSouth dealing with unions as a labor relations manager.
He started his career in private business as a teacher and a health inspector before joining BellSouth in 1975, serving in marketing, labor relations, risk management, safety and real estate until joining Holmes Lumber Co. in 1997 as vice president of human resources through 2000.
He was elected to the City Council District 12 seat in 1991 and served two terms to 1999.
He then was elected to two terms to the Florida House of Representatives District 13 seat, serving from 2000-03, before being elected tax collector for two terms, 2003-11.
Hogan said he has had three meetings with Brown “that we purposefully called” and they’ve been together at some events since the election.
He said they were “maintaining an open-door policy with each other.”
“I like him. I am not sure yet I know how he is going to govern,” said Hogan. “We’ve had a good relationship.”
Hogan said he and Brown had not talked about any type of employment for Hogan in the administration. Hogan said he gave Brown some names for the mayoral transition team.
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