Inspector General Selection and Retention Committee

Sec 602.305. Selection, Term, Contract, Removal and Vacancy.

Meeting Information

Get the latest meeting notices, agendas, and minutes for the Office of Inspector General (OIG).
 

Committee Members

Chair of Ethics Commission

Ellen Schmitt is the Advance Care Planning Consultant for Baptist Health. She is Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Certified Case Manager. Ellen has been employed at Baptist Health for 30 years, and has served on the Baptist Jacksonville Ethics Committee for over 25 years.

Prior to serving on the Jacksonville Ethics Commission, Ellen served on the Metropolitan Jacksonville Area HIV Health Services Planning Council from 2008 until her term expired in February 2017. Ellen is actively involved with PFLAG of Jacksonville and completed a term as president of that organization in September, 2018.

Chair of TRUE Commission

The son of immigrants from Haiti, Daniel Henry is a native Floridian, first-generation American, and millennial leader in Jacksonville. Growing up, Daniel’s parents instilled in him the value of hard work, service, and integrity.
 
Professionally, Daniel is a Vendor Relationship Administrator with Citizens Property Insurance, a nonprofit, government insurance company that insures Florida home, business, and condo owners who are unable to find private-market coverage. Focuses include the development of solicitation scopes of work and contracts, contract document reviews, and negotiation. Prior to joining Citizens, he spent 11-years between CSX Transportation, Acosta Sales & Marketing, and FIS. His focuses included corporate governance, employee stock option plan administration, employment litigation, legal analysis, bankruptcies, civil litigation, project management, and providing legal support to top-level c-suite executives.
 
Taking on the mantle of service, Daniel was appointed to the Taxation, Revenue, & Utilization of Expenditures (“TRUE”) Commission in August 2017 by the City Council. In July 2019, he was unanimously elected Chair of the TRUE Commission, with a mandate to advise on the city’s long-range financial soundness and keep the public better informed on issues related to city financing and budgeting. Prior to his service on the commission, he was appointed to the Duval County Election Advisory Panel (“EAP”) by the City Council in March 2016. He served as Chair of EAP from 2018 to 2019.
 
In January 2019, Daniel was unanimously elected Chair of the Duval County Democratic Party, the 6th largest county party in the state. Upon his election, he broke multiple glass ceilings: becoming the youngest party chair in the state, the youngest chair in the local party’s history, and the first African-American male to be elected to the position. Prior to being elected Chairman, he was the immediate past First Vice Chair and Secretary of the party, in addition to being the President, Vice President, and Communications Director of the Jacksonville Young Democrats.

Chief Judge

Judge Mark Mahon is a native of Jacksonville and a third generation attorney.  He graduated from Florida State University in 1978 with a degree in business and from FSU law school in 1981.   Mahon worked as an Assistant State Attorney from 1981 – 1984 when he joined the private practice of law with his father Lacy Mahon Jr.  He subsequently practiced law with his father and they were joined in private practice by Russell Healey in approximately 1987.   While in private practice, Mahon was named to the Jacksonville Transportation Authority and served as chair for two years and was elected to the Florida  House of Representatives in 2000.  In 2007, Mahon left the private practice of law and the legislature after being appointed Circuit Court Judge by Governor Charlie Crist.   Recently, Judge Mahon was elected to serve as Chief Judge of the Fourth Circuit beginning in January 2015.   Mahon is the father of four children and has been married to his wife, Mary, for 18 years. 

City Council President

Terrance Freeman’s father was an Army veteran and Baptist minister and his mother was a career social worker. Together, they modeled what a selfless leader looks like, and Terrance has carried their example with him all of his life. After a successful professional baseball career, he earned bachelors and master’s degrees in physical education and sports psychology and started work on his Doctoral Degree.
 
Mr. Freeman has always believed that helping our young people succeed is a tremendous calling, and he spent over ten years as a teacher, a school administrator, and coach. He was the Political Affairs Manager for the Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce and then served as Executive Council Assistant for City Council Member Aaron Bowman. 
 
In 2016 Mr. Freeman ran a very competitive, but ultimately unsuccessful, race for the House District 12 seat in the Florida Legislature, gaining name recognition in the community as an up-and-coming young political leader. His reputation for civic involvement led to his appointment by Governor Rick Scott to fill the seat of a City Council member in 2018, and then he was elected to a full term in his own right in the spring of 2019 as an at-large council member representing all the citizens of Jacksonville.

• 2021 elected by city council as Vice President
• 2022 elected by city council as Presdient
• A hard worker and student of government, in his short time on the Council Mr. Freeman has been the primary sponsor of legislation to extend an Inter-local Agreement continuing the City’s participation in the First Coast Workforce Development Consortium.
• Introduced legislation honoring the legacy of community activist Gary Lee Mills, Sr. with an Honorary Street Designation.
• Appropriated $350,000 to purchase playground equipment for Lonnie Miller Regional Park; and to authorize an agreement for management of the City’s Moncrief Community Center by 100 Black Men of Jacksonville, Inc. and the I'm A Star Foundation. The 100 Stars 1^st STEM Center built in Northwest Jacksonville.
• Introduced legislation JSEB Innovation
• PSG Micro Grant Program
• Apprenticeship Department (first in the State)

Mayor of Jacksonville

Public Defender for the Fourth Judicial Circuit

Charlie Cofer was born in Radford, Virginia.  His father was a Methodist minister, and his mother was a high school teacher.  He graduated from Duke University in 1974, and from law school at the University of Virginia in 1977.
  
Cofer served as an Assistant Public Defender for over 18 years, including 10 years as a member of the Homicide Team.  He handled more than 63 contested jury trials, and 26 homicide trials.  Cofer was appointed as a judge in 1998.  He was re-elected to that position three times. During his 17 years as a judge, he handled over 78,000 criminal cases and over 27,000 civil cases. Cofer resigned his position as a Duval County Judge on November 30, 2015, in order to run for Public Defender for the Fourth Judicial. He won the general election and took office on January 3, 2017.

Charlie Cofer served as President of the Dad’s Club at Hendricks Avenue Elementary School; Chair of the Southside United Methodist Church Kindergarten; Chairman of the Pastoral Counseling Center in San Marco; President of the River City Swim League; and President of the Board of Governors of San Jose County Club.

State Attorney for the Fourth Judicial Circuit