Lisa Rowe Rinaman has been named the next St. Johns Riverkeeper, succeeding Neil Armingeon, who will retire from the position Jan. 31.
An announcement was scheduled this morning.
Rinaman, who was a policy director for former Mayor John Peyton, was recently elected to the board of the Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville and is a longtime St. Johns River advocate.
“I see it as a great opportunity,” Rinaman said Thursday. “I’m thrilled. I have two small sons and to be working to better something that will influence their lives like the river, it means a lot.”
Riverkeeper Neil Armingeon announced in April he would be stepping down from the position after nine years serving as a leading advocate for the river.
“I think it’s a good time,” Armingeon told the Daily Record for a report in April about his decision.
St. Johns Riverkeeper Executive Director Jimmy Orth said a national search for Armingeon’s replacement began last year, attracting 30 people for consideration and resulting in a dozen serious candidates and three finalists.
“We wanted to find someone who would continue Neil’s great work and continue to build networks and find solutions for our river’s problems,” said Orth.
“We are the river’s front line of defense,” he said. “We wanted to find someone who can continue to use those established connections to advocate.”
Orth said the Riverkeeper will lead efforts in the areas of nutrient pollution, water withdrawals and a resolution to the Georgia-Pacific pipeline extension, among others.
Orth said he believed Rinaman received unanimous support from the Riverkeeper’s board of directors and she was fully endorsed by Armingeon.
Orth said having local connections wasn’t imperative, but it helped in the decision. He said the three finalists came from very different backgrounds.
“We’ve made a great selection,” Orth said before the announcement was confirmed.
Orth and Rinaman said losing Armingeon to retirement will be a “huge loss to the community” and they praised his work.
“I was heartbroken when I found out,” Rinaman said. “He’s done such a great job.”
Rinaman said her first goal will be to reach out to the river’s many stakeholders at the local and state levels to build a consensus on the work ahead.
“I’m going to focus all of my energy into it,” she said.
She credits her experience building relationships at the City and state levels as an asset.
Jim Rinaman Jr., a longtime Jacksonville attorney, said he was delighted that his daughter-in-law will be the next Riverkeeper.
“She will be a little different than the old one,” said Rinaman, a river advocate. “She can pull off the ponytail, but I don’t know about the goatee.”
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