When Sam Mousa asks questions, he wants answers.
No fluff. No half-responses. Direct answers.
City department heads not accustomed to his straightforward, blunt style are quickly finding that out this week during budget reviews.
“I come across as an intimidating person,” said Mousa, Mayor-elect Lenny Curry’s transition executive director. “People have told me that, but I don’t know that I do. I feel like I come across as wanting the facts. It’s black or white.”
Those in City Hall better become acquainted with Mousa’s style. He’ll be around well after the transition as their boss. Curry announced Wednesday the longtime City Hall veteran was named chief administrative officer, bringing an expertise and demeanor needed to run day-to-day operations.
Mousa and his volunteer budget team were in the middle of a session with the Planning and Development Department shortly after the 2 p.m. hiring announcement when his phone rang. He quickly silenced it, but then it rang again minutes later. Then again.
He looked at it with a hint of agitation. This wasn’t a time for congratulations or chit-chat.
He was working — something his former bosses also say people should get used to seeing.
Work ethic ‘second to none’
Mousa isn’t a stranger to the CAO role. He served under former Mayor John Delaney, including leading the Better Jacksonville Plan.
In the 12 years since Delaney left office, he said people have told his successors John Peyton and Alvin Brown that Mousa was “the best hire they could make.”
Curry is taking note, making Mousa his first full-time hire.
“I think he’s even better now than he was 12 years ago,” Delaney said Wednesday. “… He’s got a work ethic just second to none. He hasn’t slowed down any.”
Delaney said Mousa isn’t afraid to disagree and tell you when you’re making a mistake. He said Curry has the demeanor to be told when he’s wrong.
But in return, Delaney said, Mousa’s “unbelievably loyal.” Someone who will follow whatever the boss says.
It’s an all-encompassing job — there are deep complexities to governments of Jacksonville’s size. Pots of money, rules, laws, regulations, restrictions. You need someone in that role who knows those ins and outs.
“With Sam, there is no learning curve,” said Delaney.
Former Mayor John Peyton agreed Curry needs people around him who have intimate knowledge of the city government. He’ll have that with Mousa, an engineer who started in Public Works. He currently works at J.B. Coxwell Contracting Inc.
“He’s probably already forgotten more about City Hall than most people know,” said Peyton.
Long days aren’t uncommon. Delaney said Mousa still puts in 18-hour days — day after day after day.
Mousa said he wouldn’t do it if he didn’t love the work.
“The day you wake up and don’t like going to work is the day you need to quit,” he said.
Conquering challenges
During Delaney’s administration, there was leading the $2.25 billion Better Jacksonville Plan that brought a wave of new projects like Veterans Memorial Arena, the Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville and the Main Library.
And then came the boondoggle known as the new Duval County Courthouse, which was heavily scrutinized for exceeding costs and breaking deadline. Mousa wasn’t with Peyton’s team long in the beginning, but the mayor turned to Mousa to see the project through.
“The courthouse was one of the toughest, most despised capital projects in the history of Jacksonville,” said Peyton. “It was over budget and it was unpopular.”
Peyton said Mousa brought “focus and measurables” to the project, with his typical direct style.
“Sam is all about executing for the mayor,” said Peyton, then added with a laugh. “Not killing, let’s be clear on that.”
A decade later, Mousa is stepping into a challenge of another kind.
City finances that are in “disarray,” as Delaney, Peyton and Curry all describe it. Revenue isn’t lining up with expenses.
Mousa said he doesn’t run around seeking challenges. Instead, those in a bind tend to seek him out.
“I’m not afraid of challenges,” said Mousa. “I like them … but I want to make it very clear I don’t go around looking for them.”
He’s come to be known as the man who provides answers. But he’s often the one demanding them.
The job at hand
Brian Hughes, Curry’s spokesman, said the mayor-elect recognizes the experience and knowledge Mousa has to become the “righthand.”
He’ll be paid like it, too, earning a $300,000 salary. The deputy CAO position will be eliminated, effectively saving $50,000 from the two positions.
Money, though, isn’t a motivator, Delaney said. Part of the reason Mousa decided to come back, Delaney believes, is his conscience. He’s right.
Mousa said he’s back because he loves the city. That he thinks he can improve it.
The work began not long after Curry was elected. He was named transition executive director and arranged the budget team meetings this week.
Mousa’s been leading the group, at the head of the table and asking most of the questions.
Formal presentations and PowerPoints that often are the staples of office meetings are cast aside.
Revenue, expenses, line items. Mousa just wants answers.
“It’s very easy for folks to paint a pretty picture for you, but the numbers speak for themselves,” he said.
There are familiar faces he’s known for a long time. And a host of new people he’s meeting the first time.
He knows he can come across as intimidating, but said there’s no reason for others to feel that way.
“The only reason anyone should be intimidated by me is if they don’t know what they’re talking about or they haven’t done their homework,” he said.
It’s the reputation with which he’s been known for years and not one he’s likely to change.
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