Member News

TaxWatch Board of Trustees Elects Executive Committee

The Florida TaxWatch Board of Trustees at its December 2007 annual meeting elected the following TaxWatch members to serve on the TaxWatch Executive Committee:

• Chairman – David Smith, Chairman & CEO – PSS World Medical, Inc.
• President & CEO – Dominic M. Calabro, President & CEO, Florida TaxWatch
• Chairman-Elect – Martha Barnett, Partner – Holland + Knight
• Treasurer – Marshall Criser III, President – AT&T
• Secretary – Alan Ciamporcero, President Southeast – Verizon
• Immediate Past Chairman – Mike Jennings, Vice President – Prudential Financial
• Member at Large – John D. Baker, President and CEO, Patriot Transportation Holding, Inc.
• Member at Large – Barney Barnett, Vice Chairman – Publix Super Markets, Inc.
• Member at Large – Robert E. Coker, Senior Vice President - U.S. Sugar Corporation
• Member at Large – Steve L. Evans, Florida TaxWatch Chief Operating Officer, former TaxWatch Chairman, and retired IBM Vice President
• Member at Large – Ed Hannum, Senior Vice President & Chief Operating Officer – AvMed Health Plans
• Member at Large – Martha Korman, President and CEO, National Graphics Imaging
• Member at Large – Ron LaFace, Shareholder – Greenberg Traurig
• Member at Large – David Mann, Executive Vice President – SunTrust Florida
• Member at Large – Paul Noland, Senior Vice President – Walt Disney World Resort
• Member at Large – John B. Zumwalt III, President and CEO, Post Buckley Schuh & Jernigan, Inc.

TaxWatch Membership Elects New Members to Board of Trustees

Florida TaxWatch Members at its December 2007 annual meeting elected the following TaxWatch members to first time terms on the Florida TaxWatch Board of Trustees:

• Peter Harris – ADG
• Bill Herrle – National Federation of Independent Business
• Cindy O’Connell – Hill & Knowlton
• Bill McBride
• Mary Lou Rajchel – Florida Trucking Association
• John Andrew Smith – Smith & Smith Consulting
• Mark Wilson – Florida Chamber of Commerce

Member Congratulations

Florida TaxWatch member Tammie J. Nemecek, President & CEO of the Economic Development Council of Collier County, has been selected as the recipient of the Urban Land Institute Southwest Florida (ULI) 2010 Pathfinder Award. The Pathfinder Award recognizes individuals who best fulfi ll the ULI’s mission to provide leadership in the responsible use of land in creating and sustaining thriving communities worldwide and brings public attention to their benchmarking achievements.

Florida TaxWatch Board Member Mike Mitrione with Gunster law firm in West Palm Beach has been named Corporate Lawyer of the Year in West Palm Beach by Best Lawyers magazine. Lawyers honored as “Lawyers of the Year” have received particularly high ratings from peer-review surveys based on more than 2.8 million detailed evaluations of lawyers by other lawyers. Only a single lawyer in each specialty in each community is honored as the “Lawyer of the Year.”

Congratulations to Florida TaxWatch Board member Ben Hill Griffin, III, for being inducted into the Florida Agricultural Hall of Fame. He is one of only four agricultural leaders who will be inducted this year. The induction will take place in February 2010 during the 32nd annual awards celebration at the Florida State Fair in Tampa.

D. Burke Kibler, III, a founding Board Member of the Citizens Council for Budget Research passed away Sunday, December 13th at age 85. Mr. Kibler was a Lakeland lawyer who oversaw the expansion of the Holland & Knight firm to national prominence. Friends and family remembered Mr. Kibler as a fighter whose intellect, determination and values carried him through polio and prostate cancer, and to many great achievements, including growing the largest law firm in the South and surviving in one of the military’s most dangerous positions where he was awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart. Mr. Kibler is survived by six grandchildren.

Congratulations to Florida TaxWatch Chairman David A. Smith, Chairman & CEO of PSS World Medical, Inc., in Jacksonville, for being named a national finalist for Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year. The awards program recognizes outstanding entrepreneurs who are building and leading dynamic, high-growth businesses on a regional, national, and global level.

Congratulations to Carol Dover, President & CEO of the Florida Restaurant & Lodging Association in Tallahassee, for her reappointment by Florida Governor Charlie Crist to the Florida Commission on Tourism.

Congratulations to Florida TaxWatch Center for Educational Performance & Accountability (CEPA) Advisory Board Member Steve Uhlfelder of Tallahassee for his appointment to the Governor’s Children and Youth Cabinet.

Congratulations to the following Florida TaxWatch members who were named in Florida Trend’s October – Orlando/Orange County Community Portrait, Must-Know Contacts: Dick Batchelor, Dick Batchelor Management Group; Meg Crofton, Walt Disney World Resort; Ray Gilley, Metro Orlando EDC; Fred Leonhardt, GrayRobinson; Jacob Stuart, Central Florida Partnership; and Al Weiss, Walt Disney Parks and Resorts.

Congratulations to Florida TaxWatch Board member, Ray Gilley with the Metro Orlando Economic Development Commission, for being appointed by the Governor to serve on the University of Central Florida Board of Trustees.

Congratulations to Florida TaxWatch member Stephen C. Riggs, of Destin and partner in the CPA firm of Carr, Riggs & Ingram, for being appointed by the Governor to the University of West Florida Board of Trustees. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of the University of West Florida Foundation.

Congratulations to Florida TaxWatch Board of Trustees Kathy Adams, of West Palm Beach, president and chief executive officer of MediaReach Inc., who was appointed to the Early Learning Coalition of Palm Beach County. Adams will serve as chair.