Mayor-elect Donna Deegan taps big names to executive administration team

Mayor-elect Donna Deegan tapped a number of influential Jacksonville names for her administration team Wednesday – as well as created three new positions spanning public safety, diversity and public health.

Deegan said the team consisted of people across the political spectrum, which she promised during the campaign, who would work well with the heavily Republican City Council.

“Nobody gets into this to be a shrinking violet,” Deegan said. “You get into this to make a difference, so I’m thrilled to have people on my team that are used to speaking out and are really productive members of this community.”

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Pat McCollough and Karen Bowling will hold the top administrative spots as chief of staff and chief administrative officer, respectively. McCollough worked as Deegan's campaign manager, and Bowling would be returning to the role after serving in the same position under Mayor Alvin Brown.

The new positions will be filled by Lakesha Burton, Parvez Ahmed and Sunil Joshi.

Burton, a longtime JSO officer and former candidate for sheriff, will fill the new chief of public safety role. Ahmed, a finance professor at University of North Florida and two-term member of the Human Rights Commission, will serve as director of diversity, equity and inclusion. Joshi, formerly the president of the Duval County Medical Society, will work in the newly created role of chief health officer.

Deegan and her team take office July 1 before quickly presenting the city’s budget later that month. She announced her transition team in May, but the transition committees have largely not yet met.

The public safety transition committee was scheduled to meet for the first time Wednesday afternoon, but the meeting was not noticed on the transition website – only with the Kids Hope Alliance where it is taking place, according to Deegan’s new Chief of Communications Officer Phil Perry. Perry said future transition team meetings will be noticed on the official transition webpage.

Perry will work alongside Melissa Ross, a longtime WJCT radio broadcaster who hosts First Coast Connect. Ross covered the mayoral election and will work as Deegan’s director of strategic initiatives and liaison to the press.

Ross’ last show with the radio will be June 23 on a previously scheduled “live breakfast show with a live studio audience” as a guest, not as a host, she told the Times-Union.

“I am just onboard with Mayor-elect Deegan’s vision for the city of Jacksonville, and it was an exciting opportunity to be part of this administration, one that I think fits my skill set,” Ross said. “It’s a new chapter.”

Deegan also brought in members from previous government roles, including former City Council President Anna Brosche as chief financial officer. Brosche will take office in October – as she has commitments to her current job at BDO Alliance. Mike Weinstein, who served in both the John Delaney and Lenny Curry administrations, will serve in the interim.

Deegan previously announced Weinstein would help negotiate the upcoming Jaguars stadium renovations.

Bob Rhodes will hold the second interim position of general counsel while Jason Gabriel, former General Counsel under the Curry administration, serves as the chair of the qualification review committee to evaluate counsel candidates.

Deegan will announce remaining open positions in the coming weeks, Perry said.

Here’s the full list of the appointed executive team:

• Executive assistant: Erica Connor

• Chief of staff: Pat McCollough

• Chief administrative officer: Karen Bowling

• Chief communications officer: Phil Perry

• Director of strategic initiatives and liaison to the press: Melissa Ross

• Chief of public safety: Lakesha Burton

• Chief health officer: Dr. Sunil Joshi

• Director of diversity and inclusion: Dr. Parvez Ahmed

• Chief financial officer: Anna Brosche

• Interim chief financial officer: Mike Weinstein

• Director of economic development: Ed Randolph

• Chair of the qualification review committee: Jason Gabriel

• Interim general counsel: Bob Rhodes

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Donna Deegan announces new mayoral administration leadership team