Outgoing Florida Emergency Management Director Jared Moskowitz To Work Through April
TALLAHASSEE (CBSMiami/NSF) -- Outgoing Florida Emergency Management Director Jared Moskowitz will serve through the end of April, the Division of Emergency Management announced in a tweet Tuesday.
The announcement of a departure date came a day after Gov. Ron DeSantis confirmed Moskowitz was stepping down and Deputy Director Kevin Guthrie would take his place.
"The Division thanks Dir. @JaredEMoskowitz for his leadership & service the last two years," the division said in a tweet. "Under his guidance, FL has continued to be a nationwide leader in emergency management. Dir. Moskowitz will continue to serve FDEM through April 30, 2021, to ensure a smooth transition."
The Division thanks Dir. @JaredEMoskowitz for his leadership & service the last two years. Under his guidance, FL has continued to be a nationwide leader in emergency management.
— FL Division of Emergency Management (@FLSERT) February 16, 2021
Dir. Moskowitz will continue to serve FDEM through April 30, 2021, to ensure a smooth transition. pic.twitter.com/2C70vOb3Vf
An appointee of DeSantis, Moskowitz has spent the past two years running point on issues ranging from hurricanes to COVID-19 testing and vaccinations. Moskowitz, a Democrat whose family lives in Broward County, is a former member of the Florida House.
"My 4-year-old said to me a couple of weeks ago: Daddy works for the governor. I don't want daddy to work for the governor anymore. I want daddy to come home," Moskowitz said. "And when your 4-year-old says that to you, you listen."
At the start of the pandemic last year, Moskowitz said, he was away from his family for three months to help lead the response to a catastrophic public health crisis that has so far killed nearly 29,000 in Florida and infected more than 1.8 million Floridians.
"I spent a tremendous amount of time away from them. My family quarantined without me in the beginning of the pandemic without me for months," Moskowitz said in a telephone interview Monday afternoon, just hours after submitting his resignation to the governor.
At a Monday news conference at the Capitol, Gov. Ron DeSantis thanked Moskowitz for his service.
"He has worked incredibly hard. He's done a fantastic job," DeSantis said. "He's done well by us."
Moskowitz said Sunday that he did not have another job lined up and downplayed possibilities that he might seek any of the public offices that are coming up for election next year.
(©2021 CBS Local Media. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The News Service of Florida contributed to this report.)