Duval County Tax Collector Michael Corrigan has resigned, effective June 1, to become chief executive officer of Visit Jacksonville. A special election to select his replacement will be held in conjunction with the Aug. 28 Florida primary.
Corrigan, who was about to enter the final year of his second term, submitted a letter of resignation to the Duval County supervisor of elections and Gov. Rick Scott last Thursday.
"I understand the importance of tourism to our state and I knew that my successor as Duval County Tax Collector would be elected in less than a year," Corrigan wrote in his letter.
City Council President Anna Brosche has drafted a resolution setting qualifying for candidates to replace Corrigan to be held the third week of June, with the first election in August and the second in November, consistent with the primary and general elections. If no one gets more than 50 percent of the vote the first go-around, voters will make the final determination later in the year.
Three current or former City Council members have already announced they were candidates for the job: Doyle Carter, Jim Overton and Lake Ray.
Carter is in his third term as a Jacksonville City councilman, representing the Westside. He will complete his second and final term next year. Overton is a former councilman and three-term Duval County Property Appraiser. Ray is also a former state representative and ran unsuccessfully for Congress in 2016.
University of North Florida political scientist Mike Binder said residents should look for a candidate with experience handling lots of money.
“I’d look to the candidates’ abilities to handle and run a fairly large organization that’s in charge of millions and millions of dollars,” he said. “You know, who has some experience with that perhaps? Is there somebody who has experience managing people?”
Binder said tax collectors are responsible for more than just taking your money to fund projects and programs. They’re in charge of drivers licenses and car registrations too.
Binder said this kind of position really isn’t about right or left governing philosophes so much as it is about priorities.
“I’m not sure that it’s necessarily a Democrat or Republican ideal so much as it’s who the person is and how they envision the office running and working. How do they handle the appearance of the office? What do they have their workers doing? What type of leadership do they put forth for their employees when they deal with the public,” he said.
Binder said some may choose to focus more on in-person customer service and others may want to make more services available online, for example.
