Sayfie Review Florida Leaders Summit Announces Panelists for "Public-Private Partnerships in Higher Education" Breakout Session
The Sayfie Review Florida Leaders Summit is proud to announce the following panelists for its “Public Private Partnerships in Higher Education” breakout session: Frank Rapoport, Rep. Greg Steube, John Cal and Christine Haas.
Moderator
Frank M. Rapoport. Mr. Rapoport is a senior partner and a leader in Peckar & Abramson’s Public-Private Partnerships practice group. He works in the firm’s New York and Washington D.C. offices.
Mr. Rapoport concentrates his practice on construction, government contracts, infrastructure development and public-private partnerships (P3s). He represents project sponsors, equity investors, lenders and contractors in connection with transportation, social infrastructure, energy, water and parking projects in the United States.
Mr. Rapoport serves as the Chief Strategy Advisor for the Association for the Improvement of American Infrastructure (AIAI), the P3 industry’s advocacy nonprofit corporation. He has also been collaborating with the National Governors Association’s Best Practice Center on the establishment of a national P3 best practices center.
Mr. Rapoport has published articles and op-eds nationwide on the benefits of P3s and is quoted regularly in The Wall Street Journal and other esteemed publications. He has testified before the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, and is active in promoting P3 legislation in Pennsylvania, Florida, California, New York, New Jersey and other emerging markets.
Panelists
State Representative Greg Steube. Representative Greg Steube serves House District 73 in the Florida House of Representatives. District 73 includes parts of the counties of Sarasota and Manatee and is one of the fastest growing districts in the State of Florida in both size and population.
During the 2013 Legislative Session, Rep. Steube sponsored House Bill 85, relating to public-private partnerships. The bill, which was signed into law by Gov. Rick Scott, helps streamline the process to create private investment opportunities toward public projects. It also outlines financing provisions to allow public entities to lend funds to private enterprises and to use federal loans and commercial loans.
In the Florida House of Representatives, Representative Steube has served as the Vice Chairman of the Business & Professional Regulation Subcommittee and the Vice Chairman of the Health Innovations Subcommittee. He has also served on House Appropriations, Regulatory Affairs Committee and Rulemaking Oversight & Repeal Subcommittee.
Currently, Rep. Steube is an attorney with Becker & Poliakoff and works in the Firm’s Business Litigation Practice Group. He practices in the areas of Government Law, Real Estate and Corporate Litigation, Condominium and Homeowner Litigation, Probate Litigation, and Family Law.
John Cal, Associate Vice President, Facilities Management, Florida International University; Chairperson, Florida Council for Public Private Partnerships. As the associate vice president for Facilities Management, Mr. Cal is responsible for real estate master planning, facilities operations and construction. Operations includes the management of more than 120 permanent buildings totaling more than 8 million square feet located at the two major campuses, Modesto Maidique Campus (MMC) and Biscayne Bay Campus (BBC), along with the Engineering Center (EC) located in Sweetwater, and the Wolfsonian Museum and Annex located in Miami Beach. Together all four sites encompass approximately 575 acres and require an operating budget exceeding $35 million with 330+ employees. The University also operates 3 satellite locations: the Business School site at 1100 Brickell in downtown Miami, CARTA’s Miami Beach Urban Studio on Lincoln Road, and a Broward location in Pembroke Pines.
John holds a Bachelor of Science (BS) in Engineering from the United States Military Academy at West Point and a Master in Public Administration (MPA) from Harvard. As an Olmsted Scholar, he studied International Relations at Universidad Complutense de Madrid (Spain). John and his wife, Helena Kohr-Cal, have five children.
Christine Haas, Senior Counsel, University of California, Office of the General Counsel. Ms. Haas has worked in the Office of General Counsel as Senior Counsel – Construction for the UCSF campus/medical center, since April 2013. Prior to joining the General Counsel’s office, Ms. Haas held positions as President and CEO of Ethos Law P.C.; General Counsel, Lend Lease (US) Public Partnerships LLC; and as a Partner with Thelen, Marrin, Johnson & Bridges.
Ms. Haas’ primary areas of practice include construction law and real estate matters, including public private partnerships. She is a graduate of the University of California, Los Angeles (B.A. 1985) and the University of San Francisco School of Law (J.D. 1990).
