Downtown Investment Authority Selects CEO

[Debbie Thompson]

Now, if he's really smart, he'll hire Lake. Or at least consult with Lake.

[CityLife]

http://www.bizjournals.com/jacksonville/news/2013/06/06/dia-ceo-candidate-hanna-was-introduced.html

Interesting article from the Business Journal and perhaps worthy of its own thread. I'm not the least bit surprised...and in fact even speculated in an email before the meeting yesterday (to a few posters here) that Hanna was the handpicked choice. After reading the JBJ article, the Mayor's office may have even done the same for both Hanna and Wallace.

The real question is, did we really get the best possible candidates? Or did the Mayor's Office stack the deck in favor of their preferred choices? I might let the dust settle a little before drawing any conclusions...but this is a little fishy. Especially when you consider they didn't even bring in Edwards for an interview.

[CityLife]

Selected blurbs from the story:

"CEO candidate Kevin Hanna was introduced to members of the Downtown Investment Authority before the search process started, a board member said Thursday.

"Board member Melody Bishop said she was attending a meeting at City Hall with Chris Hand, chief of staff for Mayor Alvin Brown, and Paul Crawford, deputy director of the Office of Economic Development, when Hanna, director of real estate development for the New Orleans Redevelopment Authority, was introduced to her."

She said she was meeting with Hand and Crawford to discuss the framework for the DIA's subcommittees when she met Hanna. She couldn't recall the date but said the meeting was scheduled after the DIA had selected North Carolina-based Jorgenson Consulting to handle the search process but before the mayor's office had approved the selection, likely some time in late February or early March.

She said she couldn't remember whether Hand or Crawford brought up Hanna's presence.

"Within the first five minutes, they said, 'Oh this certain person happens to be in town,'" Bishop said. "At that time, I was suspicious. I thought, 'What do you mean, they happen to be in town?' Then later, in thinking about it and reading his resume and seeing how he operates, I believe he really was passionate and had pushed himself."

As she was leaving the meeting, Bishop said, either Hand or Crawford told her, "He's over there in that office. We'd like you to go."

[thelakelander]

So are you saying you don't believe Hanna just happened to take a random eight hour trip to Jacksonville, find city hall, and all of these public officials in the same room on a certain meeting date.........all on his own accord?

[Noone]

I attended the 6/6/13 DIA CEO candidate hiring interview process and walked up and introduced myself and welcomed Aundra Wallace to Jacksonville while proudly wearing my Mayor Alvin Brown's Kayaking Adventures tshirt and my first thought while I'm shaking this mans hand is I'm going to need a bigger kayak.

The nine member DIA Board was there with the one exception of Robert Clements. Each candidate was given 45 minutes. The interviews were going to be taped but there were audio difficulties but Mr. Wallace was clear and audible for everyone that was there. Maybe it's just me but my first impression is that Mr. Wallace is the Michael Duncan of Jacksonville and lets all get ready to walk the Green Mile which Is Downtown Redevelopment.

Mr. Wallace had the attention of the Board and was precise and deliberate with his answers and offered solutions. Just throwing it out there but one hot potato from the get go and I got this just from the questions being asked by board members will be the old courthouse. Reuse for residential and hotel or tear it down.

Mr. Wallace told everyone that he will be living Downtown and he does like to walk. He says he has a Participatory management style and that everyone has a stake in the success. Tell me what you think. I'm ready to walk and talk!

Kevin Hanna was the second interview and I just missed him coming in the room because when I did notice him he was just getting seated. right off the bat he said that in the first 60 days he will be meeting with city council. I'm thinking good luck. There are council members that it's been years and have never had a call back or email returned. I digress. then in 90-120 days a draft of CRA for approval.

Mr. Hanna didn't win. And after listening to Mr. Wallace who set the bar higher as far delivery and preparation you just kept looking at the clock when the 45 minutes would be up. on more than one occasion a board member asked for a brief answer to a question instead of the super elongated ones. The board remained polite and we do have to remember that this is the process going forward.

A new Authority.
Embrace It
Or
It will Embrace Us

[simms3]

Interesting comments.  Thanks Noone!

[marksjax]

If he actually resides Downtown then I am 100% a fan from the get go.
By doing so he is making a statement.
Welcome to Jacksonville Mr. Wallace!

By the way, we have a pretty sweet happy hour.
First drink is on us...
Mark's
315 East Bay St
Jax, Fl. 32202

[thelakelander]

He mentioned, he'd be a downtown resident. He currently resides in downtown Detroit.

[Shine]

It’s interesting how many people jumped on the guy being “from Detroit” when his experience has been diverse including executive level work in South Florida.  Thing is, a guy who comes with experience with a “hard case” city like Detroit may be more of what we need.  Sleepily little ol Jacksonville plays a political game where a lot of elbows get thrown.  Its not going to be a cake-walk.   It looks to me the DIA sharpened their pencils on this one and conducted business the way it should.  I think the new Director will do a good job.

[RiversideLoki]

Digging this up from the dead... did anyone see this article?

http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20140529/METRO01/305290038

Detroit — City officials spent as much as $537,000 per home renovating 30 houses under a federal program to fight blight only to sell most for less than $100,000 apiece, a Detroit News investigation has found.

*snip* Whaaaaaat?

In total, the land bank spent nearly $8.7 million from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development on 30 homes. That's an average of $290,000 per home, and the 13 most expensive homes cost $300,000 to $537,000 apiece. The return on the investment from sales so far: $2 million.

The money was spent under a former director, Aundra Wallace, who left last summer for an economic development job in Florida. He didn't return phone calls for comment. His successor, along with Mayor Mike Duggan, have distanced themselves from the program and instead are auctioning homes to buyers who will make repairs themselves.

Hoo boy!

[thelakelander]

We're in the second week of July but Times-Union has a story on this now:

Detroit paper: Millions lost on repairs on Jacksonville Downtown Investment head's watch

Before moving to Florida last year, the head of Jacksonville's Downtown Investment Authority oversaw a redevelopment program in Detroit that lost millions of dollars flipping 30 houses, a Detroit newspaper reported.

The Detroit Land Bank Authority spent $8.7 million repairing and modernizing houses it later sold for $2 million, the Detroit News said.

The Land Bank, which assembles and resells blocks of vacant land, was headed until 2013 by Aundra Wallace, who left to become the DIA's first CEO.

The News quoted a woman who bought one of the homes saying the money spent on renovations "makes me sick." It noted the Land Bank spent $537,000 renovating one home that sold later for $108,000.

But Wallace said comparisons like that miss the point of the renovations, which he said "were sound decisions" carefully designed to build homebuyers' confidence.

"Detroit neighborhoods were facing and are still facing daunting challenges," Wallace said in emailed answers to Times-Union questions.

full article: http://members.jacksonville.com/news/metro/2014-07-08/story/detroit-paper-millions-lost-repairs-jacksonville-downtown-investment

[thelakelander]

I'm familiar with the neighborhood where $537k was spent on the restoration of a home.  It's called Boston-Edison and was the preferred early 20th century destination for residences owned by Detroit's largest automakers. The houses are pretty large and the neighborhood has declined pretty bad.  As a matter of fact, I spent a few hours at a friend's house in this neighborhood this past Saturday.

Here are a few images of what this neighborhood looks like: