A task force led by former Duval County Supervisor of Elections Bill Scheu will spend the next three or four months examining the city's economic development efforts with an eye toward increasing compliance.
Scheu will be joined by accountant Jack Meeks, retired businessman Robert Miller, Fidelity National Financial Chief Compliance Officer Paul Perez, Mayport Ventures CEO Daniel Rice, Community Foundation executive Grace Sacerdote, philantropist Robert Shircliff and financier Cleve Warren.
The review stems in part from a council auditor report in December that pointed out a raft of problems with the Jacksonville Economic Development Commission, including financial sloppiness and lack of contract oversight.
"Jacksonville deserves better," said Mayor Alvin Brown, who said the task force will "assure the most productive future for economic development."
"The key is making sure that we are doing what we said we would do when we deal with economic development, that we hold ourselves to a high level of compliance," Brown said.
The task force will begin meeting in February, Scheu said, and probably convene every other week or so. The focus will be on what changes should be made in the future, he said, although past mistakes will be examined.
At the same time, Brown said, he has reached out to the Council Auditor's office to ask it to do a more in-depth review of the agency.
