Downtown Investment Authority board members plan public interviews next week of the three finalists to be the organization's first CEO.
The nine board members are scheduled to interview Kevin Hanna, New Orleans Redevelopment Authority director of real estate development; Michael Maher, Charleston Civic Design founding director; and Aundra Wallace, Detroit Land Bank Authority executive director.
The interviews are scheduled June 6 at a time and date to be announced. They are open to the public.
Jorgenson Consulting was the search firm that narrowed a field of more than 60 candidates to eight. That list was further cut to four by authority members.
Mayor Alvin Brown introduced legislation to create the authority in March 2012 and City Council approved it in August, with the nine-member board established in October.
The inaugural CEO will answer to the board while conducting the authority's day-to-day operations.
Chair Donald Harris, Vice Chair Oliver Barakat, Secretary Jim Bailey and members Kay Harper, Tony Allegretti, Melody Bishop and Mike Saylor interviewed the candidates the week of May 6 and graded them on a scale of 1-10 among 10 competencies.
Members Rob Clements and Paul Perez did not interview nor grade the candidates.
Hanna was graded the highest. Maher and Wallace tied for second.
James Edwards, Charleston Urban Renewal Authority executive director, placed one point below second place and was eliminated from contention.
The members were not required to put their names on their scoring sheets, although Allegretti and Bishop did and Saylor and Bailey later confirmed their scores.
Harris declined to identify his scoring sheet, citing fairness and how he "would hate for someone to think there is bias" before the public interviews.
Harper and Barakat did not return telephone calls seeking comment about their score sheets.
Of a possible 700 points, Hanna scored 586, Maher and Wallace tied at 582 and Edwards scored 581.
Allegretti, Bailey and two unidentified members ranked Hanna the highest, while Bailey, Bishop, Saylor and one unidentified member ranked Maher at the top. Bailey scored the two a tie.
The 10 competencies the board members rated were:
• Strategic planning, explained as developing and implementing a strategy that articulates the organization's brand, mission and more.
• Urban planning, described as experience with downtown and community development.
• Investment opportunities, which indicated strong negotiating skills in packaging deals with prospects.
• Collaborative, which meant consensus building with the public and private sectors.
• Government relations, meaning experience dealing with politics and the political process at the local, state and federal levels.
• Appropriate experiences and accomplishments that will fit in Jacksonville.
• Traits and characteristics, with examples of energy, drive and enthusiasm.
• Leadership and management, meaning appropriate experience and an approach that will fit in Jacksonville.
• Communication skills
• A passion for Downtown revitalization.
The numbers scored among the competencies show:
• In addition to the four first-place rankings, Hanna also received second-, third- and fourth-place scores.
• Maher received four first-place rankings and nothing more. Allegretti and two of the unidentified members ranked him last.
• Wallace received no first-place rankings, four second-place, two third-place and one fourth-place ranking.
• Of all the scores, Hanna scored the highest with a possible 98 out of 100 on one unidentified member's sheet. He also scored the lowest with a 56 by another unidentified member.
Harris said the scores will have no bearing on the public interviews.
"It's going to come down to June 6. No individual has a leg up on anything," he said.
Saylor called the process "extremely fair" and said it was similar to that of the Jacksonville Port Authority, which also conducted a CEO search in the past several months, although it is preparing for another because the chosen candidate withdrew.
Saylor said he started the Downtown Investment Authority CEO process "looking for someone with a strong visionary kind of resume."
Saylor graded Maher the highest.
"He brings what we need right now," he said.
However, he said the three finalists are close in capabilities and the public interviews will be the determining factor.
"The only guarantee you have right now is that you made the final cut," Saylor said.
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