Jack McLean (mayor)
Jack McLean | |
---|---|
City Manager of Quincy, Florida | |
Assumed office 2019 | |
City Manager of Quincy, Florida | |
In office 2009–2014 | |
City Commissioner of Tallahassee City Council | |
Assumed office 1987 | |
Mayor of Tallahassee | |
In office 1986–1986 | |
Preceded by | Hurley W. Rudd |
Succeeded by | Betty Harley |
City Commissioner of Tallahassee City Council | |
In office 1984–1986 | |
Personal details | |
Died | 1949/1950 (age 71–72)[1] |
Education | B.A. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill J.D. Florida State University |
Jack L. McLean Jr. (born 1949/1950) is an American politician who served as the second African-American mayor of Tallahassee, the state capitol of Florida.[2] He currently serves as city manager of Quincy, Florida.[3]
Biography[]
Mclean graduated with a B.A. in African Studies from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and received a J.D. from Florida State University.[1] He served as the chairman of Florida Public Employees Relations Commission, the Florida Human Relations Commission, and as executive director of Legal Aid of North Florida.[1]
In 1982, he ran to serve the remaining two years of the term of City Commissioner Shad Hilaman who had died in office.[2] On February 23, 1982, he was defeated for a seat on the City Commission by a white candidate, Judd Chapman, after his 116-vote lead was overcome by absentee ballots.[2] It was alleged that the City Treasurer-Clerk, Herb Seckel, unethically solicited additional ballots to ensure Chapman's victory.[2] McLean filed a lawsuit against Seckel for “gross negligence” with evidence that Seckel delivered absentee ballots to numerous residents who had not requested them which was forbidden under state law.[2][4][5] The Courts ruled that no local laws were broken and let Chapman's election stand.[2] The public outrage over the treatment of a Black candidate (Tallahassee which was 1/3rd Black, had previously only publicly elected a single government official since Reconstruction, James R. Ford, who was elected as a City Commissioner in 1971) led to the resignation of Seckel in April and the transfer of election supervision to the Leon County Supervisor of Elections in June 1982.[2] McLean choose not to contest the results and in 1984, he was elected as City Commissioner with 65% of the vote after Chapman choose not to run for reelection[2] defeating a conservative Black candidate who had the support of the business community. The election ensured that a Black would be elected to the position as Tallahassee elected its commissioners on an at-large basis.[6] It also ensured that Tallahassee would have a second Black mayor as City Commissioners rotated into the position with McLean's term coming in 1986, the second African-American mayor in Tallahassee's history.[2] (Tallahassee switched to the direct election of its mayors in 1997). In 2009, McLean served as City Manager in Quincy, Florida in neighboring Gadsden County until he was fired by a 3–2 vote by the City Commission in 2014.[3] He sued the city for his pension and later settled out of court.[3] He returned to private practice of law until in 2018, he was rehired by the city of Quincy as interim City Manager and then City Manager on May 7, 2019.[3]
Other than his public service, McLean has worked as an attorney with Holland & Knight and McGuireWoods and founded his own law firm, Mack and McLean, which later merged with McGuireWoods. His practice concentrated on government service, employment law, and labor law.[3]
References[]
- ^ a b c "Group 2 Candidates". Tallahassee Democrat. February 7, 1982.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Ensley, Gerald (September 26, 2015). "1982 election last gasp of 'good 'ol boy' system". Tallahassee Democrat.
- ^ a b c d e Bryan, Scott J. (June 5, 2019). "Jack Is Back - Former Quincy manager, attorney is back in charge". The Gadsden County Times.
- ^ Seckel's family disputes this characterization noting that Seckel’s son married a black woman and that 3 of his grandchildren are biracial.
- ^ "Stewart's Blog: Is this Gerald Ensley's Final Article?". Tallahassee Reports. September 29, 2015.
- ^ Rabby, Glenda Alice (July 1, 1999). The Pain and the Promise: The Struggle for Civil Rights in Tallahassee, Florida. ISBN 9780820320519.
- 21st-century American politicians
- Living people
- Mayors of Tallahassee, Florida
- African-American mayors in Florida
- Holland & Knight people
- McGuireWoods people
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill alumni
- Florida State University College of Law alumni
- 21st-century African-American politicians