A.G. Gancarski
To borrow a phrase, “here’s what we know (and don’t know) about the Lenny Curry administration.”
What we know: Sam Mousa is the new Chief Administrative Officer. What can Jacksonville expect? Well, I’ve spent the last four days listening to the man talk as real with me in the room typing every word as he would if I weren’t in the room at all. And his message was only enhanced by the presence of a certain old hand, one who might make a great CFO to his CAO.
I’ve heard politicians talk budget before. Rarely have I heard them do it with Mousa’s precise and cutting turn of phrase.
I’ve seen bureaucrats leave the room after sessions with him shaking their heads. Their looks said it all: they had been challenged to bring their A game. They knew his rep. And they expected to be graded on a curve. Read my last four days of copy, and you’ll see what went down. Mousa called people from any and every department out, making them defend the efficiency of their bureaucracies, which seemed to be something they weren’t used to in every case.
As a fan of limited and efficient government, I love that. But he didn’t do it alone.
At the table with him for the bulk of the week was Mike Weinstein. I’ve never been a huge fan of Weinstein as a candidate. But as an insider, there are few who are stronger presences, and he could be indispensable in City Hall. He served an important role all week long. He was able to re-state Mousa’s criticisms when needed, and think through a question that he might have raised. Yet, when questions had to be asked, he did so directly, yet calmly.
Mike Weinstein would make one heck of a Chief Financial Officer.
I asked Brian Hughes about Weinstein. His response was blunt.
“Currently assisting with transition. Mayor-elect continues to focus on transition process and staff announcements will be made when decisions are finalized,” wrote Hughes in an email.
Another potentially important figure: Susie Wiles, who was one of the many people who contributed to getting Curry elected, and has been pivotal since. Does she have a role going forward?
“Susie Wiles is the policy director for the transition. She sometimes attends budget task force meetings, and she coordinates the policy subcommittee meetings with the other leadership team members. In the campaign, she acted as a senior advisor and was a valuable member of the successful team. Mayor-elect Curry continues to focus on the transition process and staff announcements will be made when decisions are finalized,” wrote Hughes in a different email, using three compound sentences in a four sentence response.
So here, again, is what we know. There are three major players, and we know the future of one of them. What will next week bring? The committee meetings wrap up at University of North Florida on Friday. And there look to be three more days of budget meetings. From there, the pieces will have to be set up on the chess board. How they are assembled will tell us a lot about how Curry intends to negotiate the always-interesting first year of a Jacksonville mayoral administration.
