New Jacksonville department heads are promoted from within

Two heads of Jacksonville departments are being promoted from within, it was announced Friday by the office of Mayor Lenny Curry.

Diane Moser, chief of Talent Management, has been promoted to serve as director of Employee Services. Stephanie Burch, chief of Real Estate, has been promoted to director of Neighborhoods.

Curry described these roles as “critically important” to his administration.

Moser has almost a quarter-century of experience in city government, with stints managing personnel services, and managing human resources at the Jacksonville Public Library.

Previous personnel services director Kelli O’Leary now works for the Jacksonville Transportation Authority, having left City Hall in September.

Neighborhoods chief Burch, a former counsel for the Florida Department of Transportation, is a recent addition to city government.

She was hired in March 2016 as chief of real estate.

However, the position heading the Neighborhoods department is a considerably more high-profile slot, especially in light of Neighborhoods being a major organizational priority for the Curry administration.

Neighborhoods was re-instituted in a much-ballyhooed reorganization, after the previous administration eliminated the department.

Finding leadership for the department has been a challenge. Derek Igou resigned the post without much warning in April, due to having a degree from an unaccredited university.

Kim Scott served as acting head of the department in the interim.