March 21, 2018 
 
Mr. Mayor, 
After almost 4 years working alongside you and our amazing team, I formally submit my letter of resignation, 
effective April 13​th​2018.  
It has been one of the greatest honors of my life to this point to have served with you in such a progressive 
and forward thinking administration. Together, we have been on the front lines every single day to make 
this community better, and I am proud of your leadership during these turbulent times. From the small 
things, like stuffing backpacks for students and families each school year; to the big things, like spending 20 
hours a day at the Emergency Operations Center to help our community recover from the hurricanes we’ve 
seen; I will cherish the experiences, relationships, and the purpose driven work of this office.  
As a part of your team, I am proud of my work to promote the assets and support systems needed to help 
small businesses and entrepreneurs thrive. Over the last several years we have achieved some remarkable 
things, including: Becoming the fastest growing economy in Florida; Becoming the first community to 
repeal its business license tax in Florida; Becoming a top 10 City in the nation for start-up growth; And 
becoming a model for Florida on how to promote Ride-Sharing and Home-Sharing technologies. I am also 
proud to have helped build programs like the Tallahassee Future Leader’s Academy; which went from 
employing 50 young people in our community to becoming a national model for opportunity youth; the I/O 
Avenue Code school, which has brought much needed attention and support for getting underrepresented 
workers into well-paying tech jobs; and Elevate Tallahassee, a first of its kind workforce incentive program 
for businesses and education partners to address job training needs.  
Finally, it has been an honor to represent this government before the Florida legislature, federal 
government, and regional partners. We have successfully achieved over $121 million of state, federal, and 
grant funding for this community, that has benefited law enforcement, our international airport, and our 
transportation services. I am proud to say that in addition to these resources, we have also earned over 
$500,000 in local funding and sponsorships for our local initiatives like the Mayoral Fellowship Program, the 
Family First Initiative, and the Longest Table.  
I believe now more than ever that the City of Tallahassee needs leaders who can build on these kind of 
successes, while also rising to the challenges we still have to face. There is still a great deal of work to do to 
make this community a great place for everyone who lives here, and I look forward to continually doing my 
part to ensure we keep moving toward that reality.  
Thank you for being a great teacher, mentor, and friend; and thank you for all you have done these last 15 
years to move Tallahassee forward.  
Sincerely, 

  

Dustin R. Daniels
Chief of Staff
Of?ce of the Mayor City of Tallahassee