It appears that Al Ferraro is going to get into the mayor’s office; just not the way he had hoped.
Ferraro, who was a conservative Republican member of the City Council, ran for mayor but didn’t make it to the runoff.
Now the Democrat who won the race is hiring him.
Ferraro will be director of neighborhoods for Mayor Donna Deegan. He is a small-business owner, having started Ferraro Lawn Service in 1986.
He could be helpful in giving Deegan advice. For example, one of her projects should be to avoid having downtown become a tramp camp. Ferraro once co-sponsored a bill to prohibit people from using roadway medians for fundraising and panhandling without a permit.
Ferraro explained to Eye on Jacksonville how the connection with Deegan was established.
They sat together at forums and debates candidates were attending during the election. Ferraro said, “We started talking and it wasn’t adversarial. I would mention something and she could ask for more details.”
He said his thought was that if he didn’t get elected he still wanted whoever became mayor to understand the problems, which he had dealt with extensively during eight years as a council member.
“She called me after the election and asked if I would want to work for her and I said yes.”
One of the thing Ferraro wants to address is how community reinvestment money is used up with planning and surveys, leaving little for actual improvements.
The rest of Deegan’s staff as it is shaping up include:
Joe Inderhees as deputy chief of staff. He had a career as a television newsroom manager for Scripps News, First Coast News and NBC Bay Area News.
Kelli O’Leary is deputy chief administrative officer. O’leary works for Liberty Landscape Supply and previously was the Jacksonville Transportation Authority’s vice president of engagement and the city’s director of employee services.
Tracye Polson is director of strategic partnerships. Polson is a licensed clinical social worker, and led a nonprofit organization focused on infants and children.
Former City Councilman Garrett Dennis will be director of boards and commissions. He owns a construction company and a restaurant and worked 14 years at the Supervisor of Elections Office.
Former City Councilman Scott Wilson will be liaison to the City Council. He has been a compliance administrator for Total Military Management.
Former Atlantic Beach Commissioner Brittany Norris is director of intergovernmental affairs. Norris is digital director at Whalebone Media.
Lynn Sherman is executive director of health programs. She had been executive director of community transformation at Baptist Health and was a respiratory therapist.
Joshua Hicks is affordable housing and community development director and was an administrator at the Colorectal Cancer Alliance.
Staff appointments announced earlier include Erica Connor as executive assistant, Pat McCollough as chief of staff, chief financial officer Anna Brosche and Mike Weinstein as interim chief financial officer. Karen Bowling is the new chief administrative officer. Phil Perry is chief communications officer and TV personality Melissa Ross is the new director of strategic initiatives and press liaison.
Sunil Joshi is chief health officer and Parvez Ahmed is director of diversity and inclusion. Ed Randolph is director of economic development, and Jason Gabriel will chair the Qualification Review Committee. Bob Rhodes serves as interim general counsel.
One questionable choice was naming former candidate for sheriff Lakesha Burton as the new chief of public safety. She will have no authority over the sheriff, but it has the appearance of giving her a position from which she could second-guess her former opponent’s actions.
Having a director of diversity and inclusion also is troubling. Jacksonville has no need for such woke nonsense.
However, hiring advisers such as Bowling, Ferraro, Wilson, Rhodes, Brosche and Weinstein shows Deegan is willing to listen to experienced people from both sides of the aisle, and that is encouraging.
