DIA staff expected in place by Jan. 1

[thelakelander]

Aundra Wallace plans to have DIA staff in place by the first of the year.

by David Chapman, Staff Writer

Aundra Wallace plans on having help for the day-to-day operations of Downtown revitalization by the first of the year.
Wallace, Downtown Investment Authority CEO, told members of the authority's board Wednesday he has been developing job descriptions for the senior and junior project manager positions, two of the four positions total for the authority

If approved by the board, he said the jobs could be posted online by the end of next week and be available through just before Thanksgiving.

After screening, an interview panel of board members and Wallace, would help review candidates the last week of November and early December with the hiring soon after.

"I'd like to have staff in place when we come back in January," he said.

The senior project manager will have a skillset that includes real estate analysis, while the junior position will have more of an environmental and regulatory expertise.

full article: http://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/showstory.php?Story_id=540811

[thelakelander]

DIA hires on the way:

Reinforcements for the Downtown Investment Authority are on the way in the coming weeks.
They just have taken a little longer than expected — a common criticism City Council members have had for the authority since it was created.

In mid-October, just after the authority's $1.5 million budget had been approved, authority CEO Aundra Wallace laid out a hiring plan to the board for bringing on two additional staff.

The plan: descriptions and postings available just before Thanksgiving, screenings and reviews through December and hiring soon after, with the hope of being in place Jan. 1.

full article: http://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/showstory.php?Story_id=542483

[IrvAdams]

From the article:

Neither Wallace nor Barakat said they knew how much in salaries and benefits for the two positions haven't been spent. Barakat said if the authority is able to reallocate those funds, he will still suggest having council approve any shift.

If possible, though, he said the money could be used to hire experts to help with the business plan, using an example of a walkability expert to review Downtown's one-way streets for conversion to two-way roads.

I'm really excited about this possibility. The one-ways drive me nuts. I just don't see the logic.

[thelakelander]

^I actually don't see why it is so difficult to transform one-way streets into two-way streets locally. What would an outside walkability expert bring to the table that COJ's in-house bike/ped coordinator can't? Many of the things that DT Jax needs isn't rocket science. All the data needed is already present and has been present for years. Now we just need to implement.

[Noone]

^I actually don't see why it is so difficult to transform one-way streets into two-way streets locally. What would an outside walkability expert bring to the table that COJ's in-house bike/ped coordinator can't? Many of the things that DT Jax needs isn't rocket science. All the data needed is already present and has been present for years. Now we just need to implement.

+1

[edjax]

This organization just seems to be a bit slow.   On everything they do.