The chief of the Jacksonville’s Building Inspection Division is stepping down after 20 years of service in city government.
Joshua Gideon, who has led the division for more than five years after starting as a field inspector and coming up through the ranks, said March 3 he was leaving to pursue a new opportunity within another local government.
He said his decision also was based on a city policy that allows employees ages 55 and older with 20 years of experience to receive a stepped-up level of retirement benefits.
Gideon’s retirement from the city is effective April 26, after he turns 55.
“I don’t have anything set in stone yet, but it’s something I’m still pursuing and it looks like it’s going to come to fruition,” he said when asked about his new employment opportunity.
Gideon, a Fort Pierce native, came to Jacksonville in 2004 from Palm Bay. He said his wife, a Jacksonville native, wanted to move back after the family’s home here was badly damaged by Hurricane Frances.
At that time, Jacksonville was experiencing a house construction boom and needed inspectors. Gideon came from a family of construction contractors and brought customer-relations experience from working at Cracker Barrel, where he started as a dishwasher to help pay for college and rose to a management trainee.
“It was just a perfect storm, pardon the pun, to get us up here,” he said. “It’s been a joy ever since.”
After working in the field, he was promoted to a quality assurance position and drew the notice of a mentor, former division chief Tom Goldsbury. More promotions followed, including Goldsbury selecting him as deputy chief and developing a succession plan for Gideon to advance to chief after Goldsbury’s retirement.
When Goldsbury stepped down effective July 2019, Mayor Lenny Curry named Gideon as his successor.
Looking back
As he prepares to depart the city, Gideon said he would miss the camaraderie he experienced in the division.
“People encouraged each other, we held each other accountable. We strove to be better, and we supported each other in that process. So that’s probably going to be one of the hardest things (about retiring from the city), is looking at leaving this great group of people that I’ve been able to work with for the past 20 years.”
Asked about his accomplishments, Gideon pointed to the January 2024 rollout of the city’s JAXEPICS online tool for submitting, processing and tracking building permits. The EPICS portion of the acronym stands for Enterprise Permitting, Inspections and Compliance System.
“We are seeing faster review times, especially in the Building Inspection Division,” he said. “That’s been a real positive.”
Along with the new system, Gideon said the division restructured its reviewers into teams instead of having them act as individuals.
“Now they’re working together, so if somebody’s out of the office we’re sharing a common queue,” he said. “We’re not letting permits sit and wait until somebody comes back from vacation or comes back from being sick, we’re addressing permits and getting them out faster and not letting things languish.”
A heated meeting
Gideon’s retirement notice came on the same day he faced questions and criticism from some members of the City Council Land Use and Zoning Committee on legislation, Ordinance 2025-0026, aimed at providing a local historic landmark designation to a 145-year-old Henry C. Arpen Farmhouse in Mandarin. The owner of the house, Michael Danhour, said he tried unsuccessfully to obtain permits from the city to move it in an effort to save it.
Gideon told the committee Feb. 19 that an applicant for one of two needed permits filled out information but failed to submit it online, leaving the inspection division with no permit to review.
Committee member Rahman Johnson noted that Council member Michael Boylan, whose district includes the property, had sent the division email messages seeking to resolve the situation.
“What I’m looking at probably, maybe, is that it was a technology glitch and there was a box that wasn’t checked or filled out,” he said. “Maybe because that box wasn’t checked, (the permit) kicked out. But when it kicked up to the Council member, who then submitted it to you all … why was the issue not rectified?”
“They never clicked submit for approval, so we have no idea the permit is there to review,” Gideon responded.
“Some of the frustration I’ve had over the years with the whole department is it’s just not customer-service forward and friendly,” committee chair Kevin Carrico said, characterizing the division’s attitude toward applicants as “they couldn’t figure out, so it’s on them and we’ll just let it wait for 16 months.”
The LUZ voted 6-1 to recommend approval of an appeal to allow for the structure to be demolished. Member Ken Amaro was the dissenting vote, with yes votes coming from Carrico, Johnson, Raul Arias, Joe Carlucci and Reggie Gaffney Jr.
Speaking to the Daily Record on March 3, Gideon said the LUZ meeting had nothing to do with his departure. He said he had already begun talking to personnel officials about his retirement benefits, with a goal of giving the city “plenty of time to find the right candidate to replace me.”
Noting that he had gone before the LUZ committee before, including while serving as interim planning director for a short period, Gideon said it wasn’t unusual for the meetings to generate pointed questions and comments.
“The Council members are very passionate about their positions and looking out for their constituents,” he said. “During those committee meetings, a lot of that passion really comes to the forefront.”
In his retirement notice, Gideon recommends Chuck Gibson to succeed him. Gibson is the building inspections manager and deputy building official.
‘Higher calling’
During the interview, Gideon offered another detail about how he came to Jacksonville. He said a certified letter with his job offer for the city happened to be delivered at his storm-damaged Palm Bay home on the same day his wife had gone back there to gather some belongings.
“If she hadn’t driven up at that time and hadn’t been there right at that time, you and I wouldn’t be talking,” he said. “There was definitely a higher calling to come to Jacksonville.
“It’s been a wonderful experience to make Jacksonville my home, and I wouldn’t consider any other city home at this point,” he said.