Lake Ray to apply for Jaxport CEO

[BobbyJo]

acme54321...FYI, my comment stemmed from a civics class project about politicians who use their position for personal and monetary gain.  The current article(s) about Lake Ray announcing his candidacy publicly, and receiving city council "endorsement" for a Jaxport CEO job perpetuate the perception of corruption and illustrate the "good ole' boys club" mentality of local politics.  Perfect examples for this topic.  My comment was no more "inflammatory" than the others.  Outside of the classroom topic, my personal opinion is that a large operation like Jaxport needs a port professional from outside of the JAX and/or Florida political arena.  They need a strong leader, not a career politician who is looking for a sweet job. If they do appoint a politician like Lake Ray, my original comment stands that Jaxport, and by association Jacksonville, will become a laughing stock with no credibility. Just saying.

[Cheshire Cat]

The interviews for the new CEO for Jaxport are being scheduled.  At least three Jacksonville applicants are in the mix, one being Lake Ray.

Jacksonville Port Authority board members will start interviewing candidates this week for the position of chief executive officer.

At least three local candidates are in the running.

City Councilman Jim Love, who is the council’s liaison to the port, said he understands JaxPort executives Roy Schleicher and Eric Green will be interviewed by board members. Love said he did not know who any of the other invited candidates are.

Schleicher is interim CEO and Green is senior director of government and external affairs.

State Rep. Lake Ray of Jacksonville said he has been invited to do interviews with the board. He said the interviews will start Thursday.

JaxPort spokeswoman Nancy Rubin said Heidrick and Struggles, the search firm contracted by JaxPort to lead the hunt for a CEO, has been contacting applicants to set up the interviews.

JaxPort did not immediately provide the names and resumes of the candidates who were selected

http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2013-04-10/story/jaxport-board-will-start-interviewing-ceo-candidates-week

[Cheshire Cat]

Jaxport has released the names of eight of the applicants for the open CEO position.  There appears to be a number of qualified and experience candidates for the job.  Let's hope we get the right one to make our port the best it can be.

By David Bauerlein   

The Jacksonville Port Authority’s search for its next chief executive attracted a national field of candidates, including former heads of the Virginia Port Authority and South Carolina State Ports Authority.

Others seeking to guide JaxPort through ambitious expansion plans are the former chief executive of Global Container Terminals, the deputy director of the Port of Miami and the former CEO of Trailer Bridge.

Those five candidates will compete with three previously declared candidates â€" JaxPort interim CEO Roy Schleicher, state Rep. Lake Ray and JaxPort senior director Eric Green.

The person picked will replace Paul Anderson, who left JaxPort in December to become chief executive of the Tampa Port Authority. Anderson’s salary was $320,000 a year. The salary of his successor will be subject to negotiation.

After finishing one-on-one interviews with candidates this week, the JaxPort board will convene next Monday to discuss the candidates and decide the next step in choosing who will guide JaxPort’s push for a deeper ship channel and status as a top-tier East Coast port.

The candidates interviewing with board members are:

■ Jerry A. Bridges, who was executive director of the Virginia Port Authority from 2007 until 2012. The port in Norfolk, Va. ranks as the third-busiest for cargo containers on the East Coast. Bridges is former chairman of the American Association of Port Authorities.

■ Bernard Groseclose, who was CEO of the South Carolina State Ports Authority from 1996 until 2009. Charleston, S.C. is the East Coast’s fourth-busiest port for containers.

■ Juan Kuryla, who has been deputy director of Miami’s port since April 2009. Miami ranks close to Jacksonville in cargo containers and has embarked on deepening its harbor to 50 feet so it can compete for super-sized ships.

■ Michael E. Moore, the CEO of Global Container Terminals from 2008 to 2012. The company operates four cargo terminals at ports in Canada and the New York-New Jersey area. From 2005 to 2008, Moore was senior vice president commercial for DP World, which is the world’s third-largest operator of cargo container terminals.

■ Ivy Suter, who was CEO of Trailer Bridge, a Jacksonville-based shipping company, from 2009 to 2011

http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2013-04-15/story/jaxport-releases-names-eight-candidates-ceo-post

[PalmTree]

The majority of other candidates are not even currently employed!  What search firm would bring so many unemployed and weak candidates to the table?  Doesn't make any sense except they are trying to make Ray look good in comparison.  Ah, the politics of Jacksonville.  No wonder Jon Anderson left so quickly.  Almost laughable, but at the people of Jaxport's and Jacksonville's expense, and reputation.

[thelakelander]

What's Lake Ray's experience with running a port operation?  Without some form of experience, most of these guys (even the unemployed ones) seem like they would be more beneficial on the surface.

[Cheshire Cat]

The majority of other candidates are not even currently employed!  What search firm would bring so many unemployed and weak candidates to the table?  Doesn't make any sense except they are trying to make Ray look good in comparison.  Ah, the politics of Jacksonville.  No wonder Jon Anderson left so quickly.  Almost laughable, but at the people of Jaxport's and Jacksonville's expense, and reputation.

You ask a very valid question. Clever positioning of those in power for a friend to slide into open office is certainly not unheard of. 

The unemployed thing doesn't bother me so much if in fact the candidates have a legacy of strong leadership when they were employed as there can't be that many jobs for a Port CEO out there.  Of course how are we supposed to know what is said during the interviews and it would take some serious investigation to find out on our own what the job records of many applying actually are.

[copperfiend]

The majority of other candidates are not even currently employed!  What search firm would bring so many unemployed and weak candidates to the table?  Doesn't make any sense except they are trying to make Ray look good in comparison.  Ah, the politics of Jacksonville.  No wonder Jon Anderson left so quickly.  Almost laughable, but at the people of Jaxport's and Jacksonville's expense, and reputation.

The overwhelming majority of the candidates have better resumes than Ray. It sounds like Bridges was forced out by the Va. governor.

[urbaknight]

Hire the guy with experience in the Northeast!

[Cheshire Cat]

Hire the guy with experience in the Northeast!

Because?  Not a challenge, just wondering why. 

[tufsu1]

What's Lake Ray's experience with running a port operation?  Without some form of experience, most of these guys (even the unemployed ones) seem like they would be more beneficial on the surface.

he ran the local office of an engineering firm that does port work

[urbaknight]

Hire the guy with experience in the Northeast!

Because?  Not a challenge, just wondering why. 

Because the Northeast is the center of the continent, the place and the people are more advance than here. Just look at the size and scale of the infrastructure. If you have experience there, then anything else will be smaller and easier to run.

[thelakelander]

What's Lake Ray's experience with running a port operation?  Without some form of experience, most of these guys (even the unemployed ones) seem like they would be more beneficial on the surface.

he ran the local office of an engineering firm that does port work

Is that it?  That's sort of like someone running a local orange juice stand using that as experience to apply for the top position at Tropicana.