Mayor Accepts Bill Killingsworth's Resignation

[urbanlibertarian]

From the Florida Times-Union:

Jacksonville City Hall cuts directors, lays off staff
Posted: September 28, 2011 - 1:46pm  |  Updated: September 28, 2011 - 2:47pm

By Timothy J. Gibbons

Mayor Alvin Brown has accepted the resignation of half a dozen appointed officials, a move coming on the heels of the layoffs of several dozen lower-level employees.

Those cut include the director of public works, director of recreation and community services and director of central operations.

The mayor's office declined to comment on the layoffs, with Chief of Staff Chris Hand saying it wouldn't discuss personnel matters.

It was unclear when the positions will be filled.

The resigning directors include Joey Duncan, director of Public Works; Wight Greger, director of Housing and Neighborhoods; Ebenezer Gujjarlapudi, director of Environmental Compliance; Bill Killingsworth, director of Planning and Development; Roz Phillips, director of Recreation and Community Services; and Devin Reed, director of Central Operations.

Phillips is retiring, and Duncan and Killingsworth have the option to revert to civil service positions.

The rank-and-file workers were cut as part of the reductions in the 2012 fiscal year budget, which the City Council passed Tuesday night. About 225 positions were cut, but the vast majority of them did not appear to be filled.

Those layoffs stem from  the budget passed by City Council last night.

The cuts are coming across a range of city departments and employee levels. The employees who are being laid off are being placed on paid administrative leave in lieu of being given two weeks' notice.

Read more at Jacksonville.com: http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2011-09-28/story/jacksonville-city-hall-cuts-directors-lays-staff?cid=hp-justin#ixzz1ZH7qVW7v

[Tacachale]

From the Florida Times-Union:

Jacksonville City Hall cuts directors, lays off staff
Posted: September 28, 2011 - 1:46pm  |  Updated: September 28, 2011 - 2:47pm

By Timothy J. Gibbons

Mayor Alvin Brown has accepted the resignation of half a dozen appointed officials, a move coming on the heels of the layoffs of several dozen lower-level employees.

Those cut include the director of public works, director of recreation and community services and director of central operations.

The mayor's office declined to comment on the layoffs, with Chief of Staff Chris Hand saying it wouldn't discuss personnel matters.

It was unclear when the positions will be filled.

The resigning directors include Joey Duncan, director of Public Works; Wight Greger, director of Housing and Neighborhoods; Ebenezer Gujjarlapudi, director of Environmental Compliance; Bill Killingsworth, director of Planning and Development; Roz Phillips, director of Recreation and Community Services; and Devin Reed, director of Central Operations.

Phillips is retiring, and Duncan and Killingsworth have the option to revert to civil service positions.

The rank-and-file workers were cut as part of the reductions in the 2012 fiscal year budget, which the City Council passed Tuesday night. About 225 positions were cut, but the vast majority of them did not appear to be filled.

Those layoffs stem from  the budget passed by City Council last night.

The cuts are coming across a range of city departments and employee levels. The employees who are being laid off are being placed on paid administrative leave in lieu of being given two weeks' notice.

Read more at Jacksonville.com: http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2011-09-28/story/jacksonville-city-hall-cuts-directors-lays-staff?cid=hp-justin#ixzz1ZH7qVW7v

That's too bad, but not really unexpected. Hopefully Killingsworth will stay on in the civil service position. He does good work.

[tufsu1]

just remember...this is the Mayor that many of us helped elect!

[Kay]

just remember...this is the Mayor that many of us helped elect!

Well, I want my money back. 

[riverside planner]

What the f**k?!!!!!!!!!!!!   Bill has been the most innovative and effective planning director that the city has had.  This is a huge mistake.

[Tacachale]

Well, it's not all that uncommon to let go of directors in a new administration. The problem is that there appears to be no rhyme or reason to who Brown is getting rid of, and this is just more evidence of that. But the article does say that Killingsworth can stay on in a civil service position; hopefully he will.

[Dashing Dan]

This is NOT good news for Jacksonville. 

I had heard a rumor that something like this might happen, but it was convincingly denied. 

I'm not hopeful right now.

[avs]

Are the positions themselves going away as part of the budget cuts?  Or just replacing the people with new hires at less salary???

[Non-RedNeck Westsider]

Its the equivelant of telling Tim Tebow that his services arent really necessary as a high school coach anymore.

You stick to politics, let me stick to sports -<snark>- 

Wasn't BK one of the spearheads / originators of the new mobility plan? 

Hasn't he been instrumental in helping SPF with their mothballing legislations?

These two stand out, but I'm sure there's too many more initiatives here to name that he's been a major part of.

Oh, wait a sec, he's been doing positive things..... nevermind.

[thelakelander]

Bad news indeed.  Bill Killingsworth was in the right place at the right time and implementing innovative award winning planning concepts that other communities across the country are attempting to replicate.  Whoever takes his place will have a pair of huge shoes to fill.

[thelakelander]

Wasn't BK one of the spearheads / originators of the new mobility plan?

That was his baby.  It just won the Florida Chapter of the American Planning Association's Award of Excellence earlier this month at the statewide conference in Palm Beach.

Hasn't he been instrumental in helping SPF with their mothballing legislations?

Yes, he actually listened to neighborhood residents and got that kick started as well.

These two stand out, but I'm sure there's too many more initiatives here to name that he's been a major part of.

Oh, wait a sec, he's been doing positive things..... nevermind.

A few others include the Riverside/Avondale Zoning Overlay, the San Marco By Design work and Context Sensitive Streets guidelines.  This set of events are a huge hit for anyone who would like to see our urban core advance to higher levels.

[fsujax]

Terrible. This really disappoints me.

[avs]

He had also met with us on the Urban Ag stuff and was very open minded about the ideas...

[fsujax]

Good luck Stephen. The zoning code rewrite is imperative to TOD development. Someone in City Hall needs to understand this.

[Non-RedNeck Westsider]

I know this come to a shock to most, but could this be part of a bigger plan.

We've heard the mayor talk about creating a division to oversee DT exclusively?  Glass half full?