Minutes before they officially met for the first time, it was handshakes, hugs and catching-up among members of Mayor-elect Lenny Curry’s transition team.
Introductions for some, reminiscing about past times for others.
Then it was down to business — and given the short time window, they’ll need every minute.
Eight committees, 100 people and five weeks. It’s what lies before Curry’s transition group, those asked to review priority aspects of City Hall and come back with findings to help shape the city’s direction.
So far, there haven’t been challenges the group hasn’t been able to overcome, said Tom Petway, Curry’s transition committee chairman.
“Right on schedule,” he said Monday.
But the clock is ticking down to when Curry takes office July 1. The transition subcommittees will have a little longer to complete their work, but not much.
They’ll begin meeting Wednesday and are expected to have results July 17 — three days before Curry presents his first budget. The implementation of those recommendations will take longer, though, said Petway.
They’ll tackle subjects like Jacksonville’s infrastructure, economic opportunity, and prevention and intervention for at-risk youth. They’re broken down into functions of government rather than departments like past transitional reviews, each group charged with several objectives.
For instance, the economic opportunity group led by former Mayor John Delaney will be creating the “accountability” matrix for public funding Curry talked about during the campaign.
The prevention and intervention group headed by Paul Perez and Johnny Gaffney will be reviewing Jacksonville Journey programs to find out what is and isn’t working.
And an operations and talent group led by Kerri Stewart will look at the city’s organizational structure and metrics for employee evaluation.
Each of the committees also are expected to provide feedback to transition leaders on current relationships within each department they review.
Aside from that, transition Executive Director Sam Mousa is taking a hands-on approach to the budget. He’s brought a “group who understands” city budgets, many having worked in such roles in the past. He said Monday revenue is expected to increase from rising property values, but the uptick in expenses isn’t yet known.
He’ll be meeting with Curry soon to determine how to fit the mayor-elect’s priorities into a budget that’s expected to not have much wiggle room.
“Good luck with that,” Delaney told him.
“I’ll need it,” Mousa shot back, the exchange generating some laughs.
“Thousands” of resumes also have been submitted for positions within city government under Curry’s watch, but Mousa said there is no timetable set for that review. Instead, he said he’ll be sitting down with Curry soon to begin that process.
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