Sam Mousa
Published on January 23, 2025 at 11:06 am
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Former Jacksonville Chief Administrative Officer Sam Mousa, a stalwart of five city administrations, has died.
Mousa, 72, died Wednesday night at Mayo Clinic before undergoing heart surgery.
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Considered a skilled administrator, Mousa served most recently as chief administrative officer during Lenny Curry’s tenure as mayor.
“Sam’s deep love for Jacksonville shined bright through his decades of service over five mayoral administrations,” Mayor Donna Deegan said in a statement issued Thursday morning. “His legacy will continue to be felt for many years to come and he will never be forgotten. My heart goes out to his family and may we all keep them in our prayers.”
Mousa’s cousin, City Council member Ron Salem, released a statement saying “Sam was a tireless public servant who devoted decades of his career making Jacksonville a better place.”
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“During his service for five mayors, Sam became known for his commitment to excellence, his remarkable work ethic and his ability to navigate the complexities of government with wisdom and grace,” Salem said. “His contributions have literally shaped the city we see today, and his legacy will endure in the thousands of projects he championed, the people he mentored and the city he loved so deeply. We’ve lost a true giant.”
Mousa’s career
Before becoming chief administrative officer for Curry, Mousa had more than 40 years of executive management and engineering experience in both the public and private sectors. His private sector experience included roles as executive vice president with J.B. Coxwell Contracting Inc. and managing principal with JBC Planning & Engineering LLC.
Curry said this in 2019 when Mousa retired as chief city administrator:
“While considering a campaign for mayor five years ago, every person I met told me if I wanted to understand how to effectively run our city, I needed to talk to Sam Mousa. That was how Sam and I started our partnership, and not a day has passed since where I didn’t rely on Sam’s expertise, insight, and friendship to help turn bold ideas into action.”
According to Florida Politics, Mousa’s parents immigrated from Ramallah, Palestine. When his father passed away from a heart attack decades ago, Mousa and his widowed mother moved from Texas and the family put down roots in one of Jacksonville’s most vibrant communities of Middle Eastern immigrants.
Mousa is survived by his wife and three children.
