Donna Deegan withdraws controversial pick for Jacksonville Neighborhoods Department head

Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan reached across party lines to nominate a Republican who ran against her in 2023 to head the Neighborhoods Department. But after days of rumors, Deegan is withdrawing that nomination at the nominee’s request.

Democrat Deegan selected former Republican City Councilman Al Ferraro for the role, as one of a series of theoretically unifying picks for staff jobs that seemingly could build a bridge with the supermajority GOP legislative branch.

After deferring City Council consideration of the nomination last month so he could talk to his former colleagues, however, the withdrawal moved forward just before Labor Day.

“Al has always stood up for people and neighborhoods even when it has hurt him politically. Today is no different,” said Deegan. “I’m grateful for his willingness to serve Jacksonville, and I look forward to identifying a role where he can continue doing so.”

The Mayor didn’t release a statement or offer a response to questions on the subject until the end of the day. However, City Council subcommittee agendas revealed Ferraro was not moving forward.

Ferraro would have required a waiver to serve in that director role, as he only has a high school diploma and municipal code stipulates baseline requirements of “a bachelor’s degree or higher from an accredited college or university and at least five years of experience in an administrative or executive position.”

While waivers have been granted from the City Council for people taking other roles, that was often because they were being promoted from within to head departments they knew well. In this case, Ferraro was an outside hire with no executive experience beyond running a landscaping service for decades.

He would have needed majority support for not just the nomination but the waiver itself.

Ferraro was lightly regarded during his eight years on Council. He only chaired one minor committee (Transportation, Energy, and Utilities). Ferraro also was never backed for Council leadership, another sign he wasn’t respected even on the supermajority GOP legislative branch.

Another concern expressed is that Ferraro was recently embroiled in a conflict with the department he seeks to lead over campaign signs. Ferraro disputed fines he incurred for signs wrongly placed, blaming the Lenny Curry “machine” for his problem and saying it was political payback for running against preferred candidate Daniel Davis.

“That’s not the way that politics and elections are supposed to be working in our country. We’re not a banana republic,” Ferraro told Action News Jax.

The “banana republic” line particularly roils sources on Council.

“He didn’t really make friends when he was on Council,” said another source who described Ferraro as “always crying and throwing the other Council members under the bus.”

He could be selected for a position that doesn’t require Council confirmation. Some have said he will handle Blight Initiatives for the city.