Florida TaxWatch Announces New Chair and Board Members

Florida Tax Watch President and Chief Executive Officer Dominic M. Calabro officially announced the new Chair and members of the Board of Trustees of Florida TaxWatch today, December 30, 2010.

“It is my distinct pleasure to announce the new Chair and Board of Trustees members of Florida TaxWatch. These distinguished Floridians, through their commitment and contribution to the future of Florida, will be a driving force in creating a more effective and efficient government for all taxpayers,” said Calabro.

Marshall Criser III has been announced as Chairman of Florida TaxWatch.  He has served as a member of the Executive Committee and Board of Trustees as an integral part of Florida TaxWatch for several years. Chairman Criser is President of AT&T in Florida, responsible for leading the company’s operations in the state.  Prior to the merger of AT&T and BellSouth in 2006, Chairman Criser held the same position with BellSouth.  He is the immediate past Chair of the Florida Chamber of Commerce and serves as a member of the Executive Committee of Florida Council of 100 and Enterprise Florida. He was also selected by the House of Representatives to serve as the co-chair of the Higher Education Coordinating Council.  He also serves on the boards the Florida Research Consortium, IT Florida and the University of Florida Foundation.

“I am honored to become the Chair of Florida TaxWatch.  I thank the immediate past Chair, David A. Smith of Jacksonville. Under David’s leadership, TaxWatch identified more than $7 billion in potential savings and efficiencies in state government operations.  I look forward to building on the illustrious 31-year history of Florida TaxWatch and working with President and
Chief Executive Officer Dominic Calabro and the Florida TaxWatch team throughout my term as Chair,” said Criser.

Eleven distinguished Floridians from across the state have been named to the Florida TaxWatch Board of Trustees. These leaders have demonstrated a clear commitment to the mission of Florida TaxWatch to improve taxpayer value, government accountability and citizen understanding.

“It is my honor to announce the new members of our Board of Trustees, each of whom is a proven leader in their community and across the state.  We welcome each of them to the Board as we work toward a fruitful and successful upcoming year,” said Calabro.

“I am pleased that these distinguished Floridians will join me on the Board of Florida TaxWatch.  As Chairman, I look forward to their service and contributions,” said Chairman Criser.
Rodney Barreto is the founding partner of Floridian Partners, LLC and President and CEO of
The Barreto Group, Inc., a diversified company specializing in corporate and public affairs
consulting as well as real estate investment. Mr. Barreto is a partner in Healthcare Data
Solutions (HDS), a board member of US Century Bank, and chairman of the 2010 South Florida
Super Bowl Host Committee, which he also chaired in 2007. In 1999 and 2006, Mr. Barreto was
named one of the top 100 most powerful people in South Florida by South Florida CEO and the
Latin Builders Association named him “Consultant of the Year” in 2004. Prior to his career in
public affairs and real estate, Mr. Barreto was a City of Miami police officer.
Colin Brown is President and Chief Executive Officer of JM Family Enterprises, Inc., a
diversified automotive corporation ranked by Forbes as the 33rd-largest privately held company
in the United States. Before joining JM Family, Brown served as general counsel and a member
of the senior management team for two FORTUNE 500 companies. In 2005, Brown was
nominated by Governor Jeb Bush to serve as a member of The Florida Council of 100 and also
has served on United Way of Broward County’s Board of Directors.
David Christian is the Senior Vice President and Regional Community Affairs Manager for
Regions Bank. He serves on the Board of Directors for the nonprofit leadership center of Tampa
Bay and Florida Community Partners.
Ann W. Duncan is the President and Founder of Vertical Integration, Inc., a commercial real
estate brokerage and consulting firm specializing in the representation of corporate and public
sector entities. Previously, she served as Senior Vice President of CLW Real Estate Services
Group, where she led corporate service teams for numerous national accounts. She currently
serves on the State of Florida’s Board of Governors (BOG) which oversees the State’s eleven
public universities, serving as Chair of the Research and Economic Development Committee as
well as student affairs. She is also President of CoreNet’s Tampa Bay Chapter.
Tom Findley is a shareholder at Messer, Caparello & Self law firm where he specializes on
white-collar criminal defense, antitrust litigation, and the False Claims Act. Findley previously
served as a Middle District of Florida Assistant U.S. Attorney and as a clerk to U.S. Eleventh
Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Joseph Hatchett. He is also a graduate of Leadership Florida.
John Kirtley is the co-founder of KLH Capital, a private equity firm based in Tampa. For several
years he has been working in the cause of parental choice and education reform. In 1998, he
created the Children’s Scholarship Fund of Tampa Bay. He is also the former President of
Children First America and a former director of The American Education Reform Foundation,
both national school choice advocacy organizations. He is currently Chairman of Step Up For
Students and the Vice Chairman of Alliance for School Choice and American Federation For
Children PA.
Sydney W. Kitson is Chairman and CEO of Kitson & Partners, a Florida-based real estate
company specializing in the creation, development and management of master-planned
communities, commercial properties, resort properties and golf courses. Syd Kitson is an active
member of the Urban Land Institute, lectures at Princeton University, sits on the Policy Advisory
Board for the Florida Solar Energy Center, and is a member of the Florida Council of 100. He is
also on the Board of Directors of Florida Gulf Coast University Foundation and the Calusa
Nature Center & Planetarium. Kitson is also a member of the NFL Alumni Association and the
National Football League Players Association.
Governor Bob Martinez is Senior Policy Advisor with Holland & Knight’s Securities and Public
Companies practice. Governor Martinez is one of Florida’s most respected leaders and his
distinguished career in public service spans more than 40 years. Career highlights include
serving in the following positions: Cabinet-level office as the nation’s second Drug Czar under
President George H.W. Bush from 1991-1993, Governor of Florida from 1987-1991, Mayor of
the City of Tampa from 1979-1986, and Vice Chairman of the Southwest Water Management
District from 1975-1979.
Eric Silagy currently serves as Senior Vice President of regulatory and state governmental
affairs at Florida Power & Light Company (FPL), one of the nation’s leading electric utilities,
where he has responsibility for directing regulatory and legislative policies. Previously, he
served as FPL’s chief development officer and before that, served as vice president / general
manager for the Texas region at FPL Energy, now NextEra Energy Resources. He has also
served as vice president, mergers, acquisitions & divestitures at Entergy Wholesale Operations,
based in Houston, and as vice president, development, Southeast Asia for The Wing Group, a
subsidiary of Western Resources. He has also held several positions on the staff of U. S.
Senator J. Bennett Johnston of Louisiana, including chief of staff.
Bob Stork is the Chief Executive Officer of Communications International Inc. (CII), a fullservice
wireless communications provider. Stork has a degree in engineering science and has
more than 30 years of management and technical engineering experience in RF and RF
propagation. During the past 30 years, Stork has grown CII to become a premier company in
the high-end telecommunications industry. CII has 11 locations, nine of which are in Florida.
Scott Teel is the Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for Gulf Power Company. He
served as the Vice President and CFO for Southern Company Operations in Atlanta previously.
Scott joined the company in 1999 and assumed responsibility for natural gas operations as a
Gas Team Leader in Fuel Services. Prior to joining Southern Company, Scott held positions at
Sonat, where he managed a regional natural gas marketing and trading group, and at Ernst &
Young.
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Florida TaxWatch is a statewide non-partisan, non-profit research institute that over its 31-year history has become widely
recognized as the watchdog of citizens’ hard-earned tax dollars. Our mission is to provide the citizens of Florida and public officials
with high quality, independent research and education on government revenues, expenditures, taxation, public policies and
programs and to increase the productivity and accountability of Florida Government. On the web at www.FloridaTaxWatch.org.