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The people government agencies hire for homeless services positions tend to come from the nonprofit world, maybe with some business experience mixed in.
Decorated war veterans who have started and run $100 million sports leagues and have overseen global entertainment firms usually don't go for that kind of work.
So Sarasota city officials, including City Manager Tom Barwin, were more than a little stunned, pleasantly, when they saw Doug Logan's resume. Logan was one of 31 people to apply for the city's new position, director of special initiatives on chronic homelessness, says city spokeswoman Jan Thornburg. He was one of 10 who got to the interview stage, and he was hired earlier this month.
The job is part of an eight-part plan the city approved in April to fight homelessness. “This is a significant position,” says Thornburg. “It's a significant issue that needs to be addressed.”
Adds Thornburg: “Doug just really stood out.”
That's not a surprise.
A sampling of Logan's career stops and life accomplishments includes:
A lieutenant in the U.S. Army in Vietnam in 1966, where he was awarded two Bronze Stars for heroism in combat.
Founded Major League Soccer in the U.S. He then ran that league, which had more than 120 employees and an annual budget of $90 million. He was commissioner, president and CEO.
CEO and general secretary for USA Track & Field Inc., the national governing body for Olympic track and field events.
Ran the largest live entertainment company in Mexico in the mid-1990s, with 500 employees and an annual operating budget of $55 million.
Helped launch the first Arena Football game when he was building manager of the Rockford MetroCentre, now the BMH Harris Bank Center.
All those positions require a large amount of get-it-done now leadership combined with a go-big vision — something not always found in high quantities in government. But city officials are confident Logan, a Sarasota resident since 1987, is the right fit at the right time for an issue that's generated heavy media attention. And Logan is confident his business experience will be an asset.
“I'm not a social worker and I'm not looking for a career,” Logan says in a press release. “Quite honestly, I hope I work myself out of a job.”
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