party affiliation) and did not have to campaign in a run off. Delaney and Glover were acquaintances as Glover was a senior Jacksonville Sheriff Office Director while Delaney was Chief Assistant State Attorney. The two became very close personal friends, and each supported each other’s initiatives throughout their tenure. Glover later joined Delaney at UNF as a special advisor for several years before Glover became President of Edward Waters College, now Edward Waters University. The two remain personally close, and Glover remains both popular and influential in local politics. During his mayoral term, Delaney was noted for launching the Better Jacksonville Plan, a massive, multi-billion dollar package of projects for municipal improvements funded by a Referendum. The plan called for spending $2.25 billion (approximately $5.5b in 2020 dollars.) The Referendum passed 58-42%. This paid for roads, bridges, water and sewer expansion, environmental clean up, land acquisition for parks, bike paths, neighborhood and regional libraries, and four new downtown buildings: the Baseball Grounds, a Triple A baseball facility; a new Arena; new county courthouse, and new central Library. He also started the Preservation Project, a series of land acquisitions for parks. As a result, Jacksonville has the largest park system of any American city, approximately 100 square miles. He cut the tax rate by 10% over his term while able to enhance services through efficiencies, privatization, and outsourcing. When combined with his predecessor Mayor Ed Austin’s term, the headcount of civilian (non-Police or Firefighter) city employees were cut by between 1/4 and 1/3 between 1991-2003 depending on the methodology used to measure headcount. There were no lay-offs during his tenure. He was one of the most popular mayors in Jacksonville's history, enjoying consistently high approval ratings and running unopposed for his second election. He worked to be bi-partisan and inclusive, leaving office with approval ratings for Republicans and Democrats, and for white and African Americans above 80%. He was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters by the HBCU (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) Edward Waters College, now Edward Waters University. In 2003, he received the President's Conservation Achievement Award from The Nature Conservancy for the Preservation Project. University of North Florida Delaney was appointed President of the University of North Florida (UNF) in 2003. During his tenure the university saw a surge of building projects, including a new Student Union and other facilities. Under his leadership, the university launched an