Wave Magazine Online Jacksonville University News Hub
JU Public Policy Institute Director Rick Mullaney doesn’t need to boast about his contributions to the betterment of the Jacksonville community. The numbers speak for themselves:
Nearly 30 years of public service. Advised and served three mayoral administrations and 13 City Council presidents. Thirteen years as the city’s General Counsel, longest in the 45-year history of local consolidated government. Legal representation of a $5 billion-a-year city government.
For his service, Mullaney was honored by the Jacksonville City Council Tuesday, Sept. 10, with a resolution that commended him for his outstanding tenure with the city of Jacksonville.
The measure was introduced by Council Member Matt Schellenberg and passed earlier this year. It reads in part:
“The City of Jacksonville hereby honors and commends Richard A. ‘Rick’ Mullaney for his outstanding performance as Jacksonville’s longest-serving and one of its most effective General Counsels, and extends its best wishes for the success of his new Public Policy Institute at Jacksonville University and his many other civic involvements.”
Mullaney said he was honored and humbled by the recognition.
“It was an honor and privilege for me to work with outstanding mayors, city councils, constitutional officers and independent authorities during my nearly 20 years at City Hall,” he said. “I want to thank and recognize the very talented lawyers, paralegals, secretaries and staff that joined the General Counsel’s Office during my tenure from 1997-2010. Their talent transformed the office.”
As an example of that talent, more attorneys that Mullaney hired have gone on to the judiciary (two federal judges, one First District Court of Appeals judge and three Circuit Court judges) than the number who became judges after being hired by the other 12 General Counsels combined.
“It is a compliment to the very talented people who came to the office during my tenure,” he said. “That talent made it a truly outstanding office and one of the best public law offices in the state.”
The JU PPI, offering the first master’s degree in public policy in Florida as well as three master’s in public policy dual degrees in law, business and marine science, was praised by the Council in its resolution for being “a resource for research, public programs and collaborative efforts to analyze and solve important public policy issues in Northeast Florida, the state and the nation.”
Mullaney’s public service goes beyond the walls of City Hall, according to the resolution. He has served St. Vincent’s HealthCare Foundation and St. Vincent’s HealthCare System since 2004 and 2005, respectively, as chairman of the Board of Directors for St. Vincent’s HealthCare Foundation in 2009-2011, and as St. Vincent’s HealthCare Systems Strategic Directions Committee Chair in 2006-2007. Among many other activities, he also is chairman of Gateway Community Services.
For more information about the JU PPI, visit www.ju.edu/ppi.
To read the resolution, see the .pdf document below: