The Jacksonville Planning Commission selected its officers for the upcoming year during its Sept. 18 meeting.
Charles Garrison will serve his second term as chair, with Moné Holder serving as vice chair and Michael McGowan as secretary.
The motion for all three nominations passed 6-0, with Commissioners Ari Marar and D.R. Repass absent. The terms for all three officers will begin at the commission’s next meeting Oct. 9.
Garrison, a land entitlement manager with Century Communities Inc., served as the Planning Commission’s chair for a year beginning in late 2023. A former City Council candidate, Garrison has served as a member of the Environmental Protection Board, the Changing Homelessness board and the Jacksonville Housing and Community Development Commission.
Holder, who has served on the Planning Commission since 2023, works as the senior director of advocacy and programs for Rising Florida, a voting advocacy organization that works to expand political power and advance economic and racial justice in “Black and brown communities.”
Holder also serves on the board of directors for Read USA and as the legislative chair for the Jacksonville chapter of Jack and Jill of America.
McGowan, who has led the commission as chair for the past year, was appointed to his role as commissioner in 2023. McGowan is a real estate agent who is a vice president at Chase Properties.
The Planning Commission duties include reviewing proposed land use and zoning changes, text changes to the city’s 2045 Comprehensive Plan, and requests for exceptions, variances and waivers to the zoning code.
It has final approval authority on some matters but is a recommending body to the City Council Land Use and Zoning Committee on others, such as rezonings and land use amendments.