JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The No. 2 executive at the Jacksonville Port Authority has resigned, port officials announced on Friday.

Ron Baker, Jaxport's deputy executive director and chief financial officer, requested leave last month while the FBI investigates companies that have won contracts or do business with the port.

In a resignation letter to the city's attorneys, Baker said his departure would be in the best interest of the port.

"I understand that recent news stories have become a distraction for the many things we have sought to do at the port," Baker wrote in a letter obtained by the Florida Times-Union.

Jaxport Executive Director Rick Ferrin announced late Friday he had immediately accepted Baker's resignation, but said he could not elaborate.

"As we continue our internal review and as many of these matters remain under investigation, I ask for your continued patience," Ferrin said in a statement. "I am committed to releasing full details at the appropriate time."

When Baker took his suspension, port officials said there is no reason to believe that either the port authority or Baker are part of the FBI's investigation.

After the FBI began its investigation, Jaxport begin its own review of its contracting and business relationships.

Earlier this year, Tony Nelson, vice-chairman of Jaxport's board of directors, also requested and was granted a leave of absence during the investigation. Two businesses that Nelson runs were among those searched by the FBI.

In the same statement announcing Baker's resignation, Ferrin said Michael Poole would serve as acting chief financial officer, assuming overall responsibility for the port's finance department.

Poole joined Jaxport in 2006 as director of finance. Prior to that he served as deputy port director at the Port of Pensacola.