Deegan to ask city council to waive requirements for director of neighborhoods pick Al Ferraro: report

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (FLV) – Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan will reportedly ask city council to waive the requirement for her recently picked director of neighborhoods appointee to have a four-year college degree, according to the Florida Times-Union.

Deegan picked Al Ferraro, a Republican former city council member and former mayoral candidate, to serve as the director of neighborhoods.

The Florida Times-Union reported that city ordinances say to serve as director of neighborhoods, the requirement is at least a bachelor’s degree, which the outlet said Ferraro does not have. Another requirement includes five years of administrative or executive experience.

Deegan will ask city council to waive the requirement for Ferraro to have a four-year college degree when they vote on Ferraro being in charge of the department, according to the outlet.

The director of the neighborhoods department oversees animal care and protective services, environmental quality division, mosquito control division, municipal code compliance division, housing and community development division, office of consumer affairs, neighborhoods services office, neighborhoods property administration, and the city’s customer service center.

Ferraro has served eight years on city council and is the owner of a small business, which Deegan’s office reportedly pointed to as a means to waive the requirements of the director of neighborhood’s role. Her office also noted his community leadership roles and his connections to neighborhoods across the city.

Ferraro is the owner of a Jacksonville landscaping business. He was elected as a city council member in 2015 and was subsequently re-elected in 2019, serving District 2, and could not run again due to term limits. He ran for Jacksonville mayor and did not continue on to the May runoff election.

The Florida Times-Union said waiving the requirements for a bachelor’s degree has been done before. Previously, city council waived a requirement for former Mayor Lenny Curry’s appointees.

For example, within the last six months waived requirements were requested for municipal code compliance chief and solid waste division chief.

The city’s ordinance code reportedly said that the required bachelor’s degree must be from an accredited college or university.