Personnel File- People on the Move,

August 5, 2019

NSF Staff

JULIA NESHEIWAT has been appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis as Florida’s chief resilience officer. Nesheiwat is a former deputy assistant U.S. secretary of state and served as chief of staff to special envoys and under-secretary for energy, environment and sustainability. 

TASHA CARTER has been appointed by state Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis as insurance consumer advocate. Carter most recently has served as director of the Division of Consumer Services in the Florida Department of Financial Services.

CHRIS ANDERSON, VIKKI CANNON, JD PEACOCK AND DOUG CHORVAT have been appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis to the Restoration of Voting Rights Task Force. Anderson is the Seminole County supervisor of elections. Cannon, of Fernandina Beach, is the Nassau County supervisor of elections. Peacock, of Shalimar, is the Okaloosa County clerk of the court. Chorvat, of Brooksville, is the Hernando County clerk of court.

JAMES O. EIFERT, KEITH HOSKINS AND STANLEY BOZIN have been appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis to the Florida Defense Support Task Force. Eifert, a major general, is adjutant general of the Florida National Guard. Hoskins, a retired Navy captain, is senior vice president of Navy Federal Credit Union. Bozin is a retired Navy rear admiral.

DONALD ANDERSON, DUANE DE FREESE, QUAY DORTCH, JILL FLEIGER, LEANNE FLEWELLING, CHARLES JACOBY, BARB KIRKPATRICK, SHERRY LARKIN, ANDREW REICH, RHONDA WATKINS AND DAVID WHITING have been appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis to the Red Tide Task Force. Anderson is a senior scientist in the Biology Department of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. De Freese serves as the executive director of the IRL Council. Dortch manages two National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration programs. Fleiger is an environmental administrator for the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services’ Division of Aquaculture. Flewelling is ecosystem assessment and restoration section leader for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s Fish and Wildlife Research Institute. Jacoby is the supervising environmental scientist for the estuaries section at the St. Johns River Water Management District. Kirkpatrick is executive director for the Gulf of Mexico Coastal Ocean Observation System. Larkin is a natural resource and environmental economist in the Food and Resource Economics Department at the University of Florida. Reich is scientific adviser to the chief of the Bureau of Environmental Health at the Florida Department of Health. Watkins is a principal environmental specialist with Collier County Pollution Control. Whiting works as deputy director over the laboratory and water quality standards programs within the Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s Division of Environmental Assessment and Restoration.

MICHELLE BRANHAM has been appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis to the Alzheimer's Disease Advisory Committee. Branham, of Jacksonville Beach, is vice president of public policy for the Alzheimer’s Association. 

PHILIP TOAL, SAVANNAH PARVU AND SARA MAHONEY have been appointed by Attorney General Ashley Moody to the Direct Support Organization for the Statewide Council on Human Trafficking. Toal is a mental-health counselor. Parvu is a nationally recognized speaker on human trafficking.  Mahoney served as New York City press secretary for former New York Gov. George Pataki. 

JIM BALTZELLE, GARY GREEN AND FRANK DENTON have been elected to leadership positions with the First Amendment Foundation. Baltzelle, who was elected chairman, is director of local media, Southeast, for the Associated Press. Green, who was elected vice-chairman, is deputy news editor and digital director for Innovation News Center. Denton, who was elected treasurer, is retired editor of The Florida Times-Union.

BOB GUALTIERI, BOBBY SCHULTZ, TOM KNIGHT AND BOBBY MCCALLUM have been elected to leadership positions with the Florida Sheriffs Association. Gualtieri, who was elected president, is the Pinellas County sheriff. Schultz, who was elected vice president, is the Gilchrist County sheriff. Knight, who was elected secretary, is the Sarasota County sheriff. McCallum, who was elected treasurer, is the Levy County sheriff.

JEFF HEWITT AND JARED HEWITT have been named by the Florida Sheriffs Association as the 2019 Law Enforcement Officers of the Year. Jeff Hewitt is a sergeant and Jared Hewitt is a deputy for the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office. They are a father and son and were honored for their actions during a wildfire last year in Eastpoint.

JONATHAN MARTIN, DANNY NIX AND DAVID CICCARELLO have been appointed or reappointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis to the Florida SouthWestern State College Board of Trustees. Martin, of Fort Myers, is an attorney at Parvey & Frankel Attorneys, P.A. Nix, of Punta Gorda, is owner of Nix and Associates Real Estate. Ciccarello, of Fort Myers, is a partner at Wilbur Smith law firm.

THOMAS KIDWELL AND DEVERON GIBBONS have been appointed or reappointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis to the St. Petersburg College Board of Trustees. Kidwell, of St. Petersburg, is a financial adviser with UBS Financial Services, Inc. Gibbons, of St. Petersburg, is vice president of public affairs with Amscot Corp.

RANDALL HOWARD has been appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis to the Daytona State College Board of Trustees. Howard, of New Smyrna Beach, is senior vice president and chief financial officer of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.

CHAD HARROD has been appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis to the Tampa Port Authority. Harrod, of Tampa, is chief executive officer of Harrod Properties, Inc. and its affiliated companies.

RAYMOND SANDELLI has been appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis to the Lee County Commission. Sandelli is a managing partner at CRE Consultants.

THERISA MEADOWS has been appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis as Holmes County supervisor of elections. Meadows, of Bonifay, has been the assistant Holmes County supervisor of elections since 2007.

TONY LIMA will head the Miami operations of the firm SL7 Consulting. Lima is former executive director of the LGBTQ advocacy group SAVE.

--- Got a new chief of staff, executive director, campaign manager, press secretary, spokesperson or otherwise important new person in your office or organization? The News Service welcomes personnel announcements, which are aggregated for periodic publication. Please send announcements to j.saunders@newsserviceflorida.com and include contact information.