My Story

A life of service, resilience, and community commitment

I am Fitz Desprez, a Haitian-American entrepreneur, real-estate professional, community advocate, former public-safety professional, basketball coach, media personality, and disabled United States Army combat veteran. My life has been shaped by service, sacrifice, perseverance, faith, family, and an enduring commitment to helping others.

My journey has taken me through military service, criminal justice, homeland security, investigations, real estate, athletics, broadcasting, business development, veterans’ advocacy, and community leadership. Every chapter has reinforced one principle: service does not end when a uniform is removed or a job is completed. Service is a lifelong responsibility.

I am running as a Republican candidate for Mayor of Jacksonville in 2027 because I believe our city can become the best version of itself: safe, affordable, responsive, culturally vibrant, and accountable to its people. My mandate is to help Jacksonville pursue its full potential—not through slogans alone, but through measurable work and public accountability.

My Haitian-American heritage

My Haitian-American heritage is central to my understanding of courage, independence, human dignity, and self-determination. Haiti’s revolution created an independent nation born from a successful revolt against slavery. The lives of Jean-Jacques Dessalines, Toussaint Louverture, and Dutty Boukman remind me that freedom, leadership, and progress often demand courage and sacrifice.

My roots connect me to Cap-Haïtien—the historic City of the North—and Port-Margot. I am proud to be Haitian, and I am equally proud to be an American who served this country in uniform. To me, these identities express the same values: freedom, faith, family, perseverance, courage, and responsibility.

I want young people, immigrants, veterans, first-generation Americans, and everyone who has faced hardship to know that a difficult beginning does not determine the final outcome. People can learn, rebuild, adapt, and continue contributing.

Education, justice, and public safety

I earned a Bachelor of Science in Criminology, which strengthened my understanding of criminal behavior, law enforcement, courts, corrections, social policy, and the relationship between public institutions and the communities they serve.

My professional experience includes work connected with the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office Drug Court program in Hempstead, New York. That experience showed me how accountability, treatment, rehabilitation, and public safety can work together. Justice must protect victims and neighborhoods, but punishment alone cannot solve addiction, poverty, and every condition that contributes to crime.

I later served within the United States Department of Homeland Security through the Transportation Security Administration. My background also includes work in law enforcement, security, public safety, and private investigations in New York and Florida. Investigative work taught me to document facts, evaluate conflicting accounts, respect due process, and avoid conclusions based on rumor, prejudice, favoritism, or convenience.

United States Army and Operation Enduring Freedom

Military service is one of the defining chapters of my life. The Army demanded discipline, courage, adaptability, teamwork, and dedication to something larger than personal ambition. I deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom and served in and around Bala Baluk and Shindand during the 2011 mission.

According to my service account, I assisted my commander, supported United States Air Force operations, contributed to force-protection efforts, and supported the training of members of the Afghan National Police and Afghan National Army. That work demanded communication, cultural awareness, patience, and the ability to build relationships under dangerous and uncertain conditions.

I remain connected to the legacy of C-246, 2nd Platoon—the Reivers—and the expression ‘Second to None.’ Army Strong, All Blue Skies, and Cause God Loves the Infantry are more than sayings to me. They carry memories of mission, sacrifice, humor, grief, and brotherhood.

I salute the men who deployed in 2007 and all who served during the Operation Enduring Freedom era. I also remember Swain H. Sulker. His loyalty, laughter, and fighting spirit remain part of our story, and his memory strengthens my commitment to veterans, military families, and the next generation.

Disability, PTSD, and the mission to prevent veteran suicide

I am a disabled combat veteran, and I have spoken openly about living with post-traumatic stress disorder and serious service-connected limitations. The transition from combat to civilian life is not always simple. Veterans may carry injuries, disrupted sleep, anxiety, isolation, pain, and difficulty adjusting long after a deployment ends.

The Department of Veterans Affairs has recognized me as totally and permanently disabled and unable to maintain traditional employment. I do not view disability as the end of my ability to contribute. Entrepreneurship, real estate, coaching, chaplaincy, media, veterans’ advocacy, and community organizing have allowed me to continue serving while adapting to my circumstances.

Preventing veteran suicide is personal to me. Strength includes speaking honestly, seeking care, accepting support, and helping another veteran do the same. My long-term vision includes a Veterans and Community Resource Center where veterans and families can access benefits guidance, mental-health resources, housing support, job training, entrepreneurship education, legal referrals, spiritual care, and community programs in one welcoming place.

Faith, chaplaincy, coaching, and youth

Faith has sustained me through war, disability, loss, uncertainty, and hardship. My service as an American Legion chaplain has included listening, comforting families, honoring military anniversaries, supporting memorials, and helping people reconnect with hope. I believe spiritual support should reinforce dignity and compassion, never divide or condemn.

Basketball also shaped my leadership. As a college assistant coach and youth and summer-program coach, I learned to combine discipline with patience, communication, and encouragement. I helped teams grow from difficult starts into winning seasons, earned coach-of-the-tournament recognition twice, and contributed to multiple league championships.

Healthy competition is not detrimental to our well-being and progress; it can be advantageous. It reveals the skills others possess and becomes a teaching and motivating device. In sports, business, and civic life, competition should push us toward preparation and excellence—not hostility.

I want Jacksonville’s young people involved now, not merely described as the future. They should have meaningful opportunities in education, skilled trades, entrepreneurship, technology, aviation, public safety, media, sports, culture, and civic service. At the same time, a strong community protects its elders and values their wisdom.

Real estate, entrepreneurship, and economic opportunity

As Chairman and President of The Desprez Group Inc., I lead a family-centered real-estate investment and service organization built around the message Home. Future. Family. I believe a home can provide safety, dignity, stability, and a foundation for generational progress.

My work has involved sellers, buyers, homeowners, investors, professionals, and business partners across traditional listings, buyer representation, property acquisition, creative financing, land, lead generation, marketing, and transaction support. Responsible real-estate professionals must explain price, obligations, risks, timelines, and alternatives clearly. People facing hardship deserve options and honest information—not pressure.

Entrepreneurship can expand opportunity, create employment, circulate money locally, and strengthen neighborhoods. Government should make it easier for responsible businesses to find information, navigate permitting, compete for contracts, access training, and understand requirements without needing political connections.

Broadcasting, journalism, and The VINN Reports

I have pursued radio, broadcasting, and community media because information can educate, connect, and hold institutions accountable. My concept, Real Estate in the Community with Fitz-Gérald Desprez, combines practical discussion of homeownership and entrepreneurship with culture, sports, finance, and neighborhood concerns.

I also developed The VINN Reports as an independent media and investigative-journalism platform. My guiding belief is that public institutions should be open to scrutiny. Responsible reporting must preserve evidence, distinguish verified facts from allegations, give people an opportunity to respond, and correct errors when necessary.

Veterans United and the Swain H. Sulker legacy

As Founder and President of Veterans United LLC, I work to preserve veterans’ stories, honor service, support military families, and create opportunities for continued service. Veterans bring leadership, resilience, teamwork, and international experience home with them, and some return with visible or invisible wounds. A grateful community must recognize both realities.

The Swain H. Sulker Family Scholarship Fund turns remembrance into opportunity. Its purpose is to support high-school seniors, college students, trade-school students, and children of veterans. Education takes many forms, and every worthy path—university, community college, technical training, apprenticeship, or skilled trade—deserves respect.

Swain was not simply part of our story; he helped create it. The scholarship carries the message: Honoring His Legacy. Investing in the Next Generation. Legends live on through the lives they inspire.

My vision for Jacksonville

Jacksonville is a city of military families, veterans, entrepreneurs, neighborhoods, waterways, cultural diversity, educational institutions, professional sports, transportation assets, and extraordinary potential. My priorities are safe neighborhoods, lower costs, better city services, smaller and more effective government, and people-first investment.

Safe neighborhoods require professional first responders, prevention, youth opportunity, reliable infrastructure, community partnership, and transparent accountability. Lower costs require disciplined budgeting, competitive procurement, preventive maintenance, and honest evaluation of fees and spending. Better city services mean every resident receives a professional response regardless of ZIP code, income, race, age, political affiliation, or personal connection.

My Day Zero agenda calls for advance preparation so lawful action can begin immediately. It includes a world-class performing arts center proposal, urgent road repairs, drainage and flood-control work, a Veterans and Community Resource Center, public-safety modernization, attainable housing and neighborhood revitalization, clean water and sewer investment, renewed parks and youth sports, better mobility, and small-business and workforce hubs.

I believe public officials should be visible and accessible. Goals should be stated clearly, responsibility assigned, progress measured, and failures acknowledged early. Public workers should be partners in improvement, while every office and program must demonstrate public value.

Together, we win

My life has included achievement and adversity. Military service tested my courage. Disability tested my adaptability. Entrepreneurship tested my patience. Coaching tested my ability to motivate. Chaplaincy tested my compassion. Investigative work tested my judgment. Each experience taught me something about responsibility and service.

I do not claim to be without flaws. I believe public service should include people who understand hardship and know what it means to feel unheard. My task is to combine urgency with organization, ambition with realistic planning, and passion with disciplined execution.

I have a mandate: help Jacksonville become the best city it can be. We are Jacksonville Strong. We are Army Strong. We remember Swain H. Sulker, honor our veterans, care for our community, and work to prevent veteran suicide.

Together, we win. Army Strong. Community Strong. Jacksonville Strong. God bless our veterans. God bless America. And God bless Jacksonville, Florida.