Daily Record Financial News &
Tuesday, June 30, 2015
Vol. 102, No. 162 • One Section
35¢ www.jaxdailyrecord.com
Curry adds Stewart to ‘dream team’ Council veterans Lee, Gaffney also join administration
By David Chapman Staff Writer John Peyton said he’s “almost envious” of the team Mayor-elect Lenny Curry has assembled. The latest slate of Curry appointments announced Monday has someone with whom the former two-term mayor is extremely familiar: Kerri Stewart, who will become Curry’s chief of staff. She served as Peyton’s chief administrative officer, policy adviser and is a former director
of Housing and Neighborhoods. Peyton said Stewart has “demonstrated extraordinary results” throughout her roles in government. “Having a chief of staff that understands how the government works … has had an ongoing relationship with the legislative branch of government and understands budgets, that’s critical,” said Peyton. After serving for several months as Mayor Alvin Brown’s CAO, Stewart went to the private sector when she joined Infinity
Global Solutions as a senior vice president. The Jacksonville-based firm specializes in economic development and public-private partnerships. Back in City Hall with a Curry administration that includes CAO Sam Mousa, Peyton called the collection of talent “the dream team.” “She will not miss a beat,” he said. Stewart will make $190,000 in the role. She did not return calls for comment.
Stewart wasn’t the only key personnel move announced Monday. Curry also is relying on two City Council veterans to help him. He turned to Denise Lee, the outspoken term-limited District 8 representative, to serve as a director of blight initiatives. Lee has experience in the area, heading a council initiative tackling Jacksonville’s blight issues for more than a year. She said she will continue that effort in her new role, working Appointments continued on Page A-2
Stewart
Incentives discussed for jobs at lower pay
“I had some background in real estate and a master’s in public administration. I thought, ‘That fits me perfectly. I could do that.’” Jim Overton, on why he ran for property appraiser
Photo by Max Marbut
City might find value in some lower-wage jobs
Term-limited Duval County Property Appraiser Jim Overton was packing up his office last week.
Overton ends 22 years of service Gerald Ford loss pushed Republican to local office
By Max Marbut Staff Writer Jimmy Carter defeating Gerald Ford in the 1976 presidential election set the stage for Jim Overton’s 22-year career in local government service. Overton in 1976 was working for the Republican National Committee, so when voters favored the Democrat, he and his GOP colleagues were soon looking for their next positions. “If Ford had been elected, I would have had a job — at least in the Executive Office Building and maybe in the White House
Public
— doing something,” said Overton, who is term-limited as property appraiser and leaves office today. One of the stops during his job hunt was a visit to the late U.S. Rep. Charles E. Bennett, whom Overton met years before while growing up in Jacksonville. He was hoping to find another job in Washington, D.C., but Bennett suggested a different option. “He said, ‘You need to get your stuff and go back to Jacksonville. Build a political base and run for office,’” Overton recalls. Heeding the advice, Overton came home and joined his father’s business, selling
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broadcast equipment and production systems to television stations throughout the South. After several years, Overton’s lifelong penchant for politics began growing again. He was involved in student government in high school and college and had been a member of the YMCA Youth Legislature. “I always liked the political process, parliamentary procedure and the notion of making laws,” said Overton. After he ran an unsuccessful campaign for the state Legislature in 1990, Overton was off the ballot in Jacksonville until Overton continued on Page A-4
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Mayor-elect Lenny Curry might be asked to welcome more lower- and midwage jobs to town with the help of city assistance. “There is an unemployed and underemployed group that going from an $8 (an hour) job to $12-$15 is a healthy step up,” said former Mayor John Delaney, chair of Curry’s Economic Development Transition Subcommittee, after a Monday meeting. That would be a comparison of $16,640 a year to $24,960-$31,200. In past years, the city has focused on providing taxpayer incentives to higher-paying jobs, defined as those that start with average salaries of almost $50,000. However, lower- and midwage jobs provide paychecks to workers who might not be adequately skilled or qualified to fill higher-wage positions. Moreover, high-wage employers typically have not located in economically distressed areas, while lower-paying companies might choose to set up there if incentives can help with the decision. Also, some workers, such as college students, might seek lower-skilled or entrylevel positions as they earn money while training or studying for careers. The lowerwage jobs serve as a feeder system to help employees reach higher-skilled positions. Delaney suggested the group consider a strategy for such “step-up wages.” He said Monday he refers to the “sociological return” of making lower-paying positions available, especially in areas of town where highly recruited companies aren’t moving.
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