Karen Bowling, the city of Jacksonville’s chief administrative officer, is resigning from her role effective Oct. 24.
Bowling announced she is leaving in a two-sentence notice to Mayor Donna Deegan that offered no details for her reason for stepping down.
“Mayor Deegan, per our conversation today please accept my resignation, effective October 24, 2025. Thank you for the opportunity and I wish you all the best!” the notice read.
Bowling, who was among the first people Deegan named to her administration after being elected in 2023, did not immediately return a phone message seeking comment.
\Deegan issued a statement expressing gratitude to Bowling.
“Karen laid the foundation for our administration,” the statement read. “She built an incredible team who smoothly transitioned us into office and made significant progress for Jacksonville. We wish her the best now and in the future.”
The mayor’s office announced that Deputy Chief Administrative Officer Kelli O’Leary, with support from Chief of Staff Mike Weinstein, will take over Bowling’s duties leading executive branch departments including Public Works; Parks, Recreation and Community Services; Neighborhoods; and the Office of Economic Development.
“We will evaluate additional Mayor’s Office staff needs after the holidays,” Deegan said.
Jacksonville City Council member Ron Salem, who served as Council president during Deegan’s first year in office, issued a statement thanking Bowling as a “friend and colleague” for her service as CAO.
“Karen and I have had a great working relationship,” the statement read. “She is an effective communicator and a competent administrator. I wish her nothing but the best in this next chapter.”
Council member Rahman Johnson said in a statement that Bowling had the “rare ability to make complex issues clear.”
“Karen Bowling’s leadership came during a time of extraordinary challenge, including the recent budget process that tested the limits of this city’s resolve. Through it all, Karen demonstrated the steadiness and professionalism that has defined her career,” Johnson said.
“She was a history maker, the first woman to hold the position of CAO, and she did so with intelligence, sophistication, and a clear command of the issues before her.”
Bowling first held the CAO position under Mayor Alvin Brown from 2011 to 2014.
She also held executive roles in businesses and nonprofits in Northeast Florida, including as CEO of Solantic Urgent Care, a company she co-founded with Gov. Rick Scott in 2001.
In 2020, she was named the first vice president of jobs for the University of North Florida, a position she held for three years. A UNF graduate, she is also a former director of the Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation.