The General Counsel Qualification Review Committee, responsible for recommending a candidate for the city of Jacksonville’s next top attorney to Mayor Donna Deegan, will start interviews Aug. 8
In a meeting to review the applications July 31, Chair Jason Gabriel called the six applicants that submitted resumes and applications by the committee’s July 28 deadline “high caliber. ”
The list of attorneys seeking the general counsel’s job comprises:
• Former City Council member Randy DeFoor.
• Former City Council member Brenda Priestly Jackson.
• Former General Counsel and current Senior Deputy General Counsel Jason Teal.
• City Deputy General Counsel Sean Granat.
• Deputy General Counsel of Government Operations Lawsikia Hodges.
• Chief Legal Counsel for the Florida Department of Health in the Duval County Health Department Amy Meyer.
Despite the deadline in the public advertisement printed in the Jacksonville Daily Record and distributed by the Jacksonville Bar Association, committee members said the process remains open and they would accept additional qualified applicants.
Deegan also could add candidates. The city charter says the committee “shall consider any candidates suggested by the mayor and may consider candidates of its own choosing.”
To be eligible for the position, the candidate must have 10 years of experience as a practicing lawyer or judge.
Gabriel told reporters after the meeting that he expects the next general counsel will be from the resumes in front of the committee.
“I’d say it’s a very high likelihood that it’s one of these six. But I can’t rule out the possibility that there may be another. Because, you know, it’s an open and fluid process,” Gabriel said.
“Until we make a recommendation, it’s an open process.”
The five-member committee will contact applicants’ references before interviews begin at 3:30 p.m. Aug. 8 at City Hall.
The interviews will continue at 4:30 p.m. Aug. 9, followed by a final meeting at 8 a.m. Aug. 15 when the committee could make its recommendation.
Gabriel assigned each committee member candidates for initial introductions.
Flagler College President and former Jacksonville Mayor John Delaney will reach out to Hodges; Milam Howard Nicandri & Gillam partner attorney W. Braxton Gillam will contact Meyer; Orr | Cook managing attorney Michael Orr will speak with Randy DeFoor; Gabriel will start talks with Granat; and Jacksonville Bar Association President Blane McCarthy will meet with Teal and Priestly Jackson.
Gabriel was general counsel from June 2015 through May 2021, and he’s now a Jacksonville-based attorney for the national law firm Burr & Forman.
The committee decided July 31 not to narrow the field.
Orr said until Deegan tells the committee what direction she wants to take, anyone who applies should be interviewed.
“We’re trying to get the best candidate for this position and you both know more than anybody, it’s a critical position that has a lot of responsibilities,” Orr said to Delaney and Gabriel. “So I think interviewing all of them makes sense.”
Deegan’s thinking
The committee briefly discussed the qualifications of each candidate but had more to say about Teal’s application.
Before taking office, Deegan decided not to keep Teal as general counsel and appointed retired attorney Bob Rhodes to serve as interim.
“The mayor could have kept Jason (Teal) and did not. So, I guess the question is do we use his time up when it seems to me as a signal that she is not inclined to appoint that way,” Delaney said of the 23-year city attorney.
“That may be misreading it. She may say, “Hey, if you send the name back to us, maybe I’ll consider it.’”
McCarthy said Teal’s application shows the candidate feels like he may have the opportunity to regain his position and should be interviewed.
Gabriel said after the meeting that Teal, Hodges and Granat were all “top-notch.”
“When I was general counsel, all three were my deputies,” he said. “That gives you some indication of how I view all three of them.”
The city’s last three general counsels — Cindy Laquidara, Gabriel and Teal — all were promoted from within the office.
Gabriel said the committee will be looking at each candidate’s competency, the working knowledge of Duval County’s consolidated government on paper and in practice, and an understanding of the political environment in which their legal opinions and decisions will be made.
According to Gabriel, all should study and be “students of the charter.”
“I think there is a strong argument that someone from within knows the idiosyncrasies, the intangibles, and a lot of the inner workings and has a running start,” Gabriel told news reporters. “So, there’s a perspective that’s a high value.”
“There’s also a perspective that someone from the outside brings a fresh set of eyes and a fresh ... vision to the table,” he said.
Timing
Gabriel and Delaney said City Council, which has to confirm Deegan’s appointment by a 13-vote supermajority, is an equal part of the process.
Council President Ron Salem addressed the committee July 31 to work out a way to adjust the hiring timeline so the final vote doesn’t land on Sept. 26,when the Council is expected to vote on the $1.75 billion fiscal year 2023-24 budget.
The committee’s goal is to send a recommendation to Deegan so she can announce her appointment by Aug. 16.
That’s the last day the administration can file legislation and make it through Council’s six-week committee cycle for a final vote by Oct. 1.
Deegan’s appointment will be interviewed by the Council Rules Committee before a final vote by the full Council.
The city charter says a general counsel vacancy needs to be filled within 90 days. That’s Oct. 1, three months after Deegan took office July 1 and the mayor’s interim general counsel started.
Salem said a vote on a night that’s as historically “contentious” as the budget vote could be challenging.
“Depending on the candidate and depending on the discussion, it could be a bit difficult,” he said.
Gabriel said Council could consider a special meeting on or before Oct. 1 to finalize the appointment. The charter allows Deegan to extend Rhodes’ appointment 60 days until the spot is filled.