Sunburn — The Morning Read Of What’s Hot In Florida Politics — 1.7.22

By Peter Schorsch

Former Florida Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Ryan Matthews and governmental consultant Angela Drzewiecki are joining the Government Affairs and Lobbying Team at GrayRobinson.

The pair come to the firm from Peebles Smith & Matthews, a government and public affairs firm specializing in local government, utilities, environmental and infrastructure issues for the last 30 years.

“We are thrilled to have Ryan and Angela join GrayRobinson’s Government Affairs and Lobbying Team,” said GrayRobinson President and CEO Dean Cannon. “They bring in-depth knowledge of the function and operation of local governments, municipal utilities, and Florida’s regulatory and permitting processes, as well as the overall legislative process, which bolsters the legal and advocacy service offerings our robust team provides within these essential sectors.”

Matthews and Drzewiecki are bringing some clients, including the College of Florida Keys, Florida Chamber of Commerce, Florida Ground Water Association, Florida Municipal Insurance Trust, Florida Sheriffs Association, MetroPlan, Orlando Utilities Commission and Toho Water Authority.

They will also continue to serve clients represented by both firms, including the city governments of Kissimmee, Orlando and Tampa, as well as the Florida Association of Counties, Florida League of Cities, Florida Municipal Electric Association, Florida Municipal Power Agency, JEA, Monroe County and the Village of Islamorada.

Matthews joins GrayRobinson as a shareholder in the Tallahassee office, focusing on environmental, land use and local government issues. Drzewiecki, who joins GrayRobinson as a government consultant in the Tallahassee office, will focus on appropriations, law enforcement and general local government issues.

“Angela and I are delighted to be joining GrayRobinson,” he said. “Having worked with Dean Cannon and members of the firm over the years, we are proud to become a part of a team whose caliber of service consistently ranks them among the top producing and most highly acclaimed lobbying and law firms in Florida.”

___

For many, today is the last Friday before all hell breaks loose in Tallahassee.

For Ron Pierce, he’ll be celebrating his birthday — the last one before the big 5-0.

Although RSA Consulting may have just celebrated its 13th birthday, Ron has been part of the Tallahassee scene for nearly 25 years, building a reputation as one of the hardest-working (and most genuine) people in The Process.

Please join me in wishing Ron a very happy birthday!

___

The Florida Chamber Foundation will hold its 2022 Economic Outlook & Jobs Solution Summit virtually this afternoon, delivering viewers an in-depth look at where the state economy stands and where it could be at the dawn of the next decade.

The summit launches at 1 p.m. and will feature talks by some of the top experts in the business community. After opening remarks from Florida Chamber President Mark Wilson, Wells Fargo Senior Economist Mark Vitner will overview the national economic landscape.

A dozen other talks and discussions follow. One panel, titled “Demand Outpaces Supply: When There Are More Open Jobs Than Talent,” will feature Polk State College President Angela Garcia Falconetti, St. Petersburg College President Dr. Tonjua Williams, and Miami-Dade College Madeline Pumariega.

Later, Susan Fiorito, a professor and dean at FSU’s Jim Moran College of Entrepreneurship, will discuss the rise of entrepreneurship with Shane Smith, the Central Florida Director for the Jim Moran Institute for Global Entrepreneurship.

As with other Florida Chamber events, the organization will use the opportunity to showcase its extensive economic research — Chamber Foundation EVP David Gillespie is set to deliver an update on the organization’s workforce research, and Sean Snaith, the director of UCF’s Institute for Economic Forecasting, is slated to detail the Florida Chamber Foundation’s 2022 Economic Forecast.

A full agenda and registration details for the 2022 Economic Outlook & Jobs Solution Summit are available online.

___

The new year brought a new name for the Florida Children’s Council, which this week rebranded as the Florida Alliance of Children’s Councils and Trusts, or FACCT for short.

FACCT is a nonprofit organization that serves as the statewide umbrella organization for the Children’s Services Councils and Trusts. It engages with businesses, agencies, and other key stakeholders to support Florida’s children, youth and families.

The organization pools the collective strengths of individual Children’s Services Councils and Trusts to advocate for sound, evidence-based statewide policies such as prevention and early intervention systems.

United under “a new purpose-driven name,” the organization said it will continue to provide data-driven “FACCTs” based on statewide and local outcomes to Florida decision-makers, business leaders, agencies, and communities to ensure children are healthy, educated, and prepared for a successful future.

Along with the new name comes a new logo that invokes FACCT’s “cradle to career” approach to child welfare — literally — by illustrating an infant, child, graduate, and briefcase-carrying worker standing side-by-side at sunrise.

More information on the organization and its work is available on FACCT.com.

— SITUATIONAL AWARENESS —

—@RepValDemings: Honoring this evening all who protected democracy, and our Capitol on that tragic day 1 year ago. My prayers remain with the victims, my fellow members of Congress, staff and our Capitol police. God bless America.

—@marcorubio: The upscale liberals who control the media and Democrat party believe Jan 6th was another Pearl Harbor or 9/11. And the rest of America, including many Democrats, think they are nuts

—@RepStephMurphy: To see so many of my colleagues attempt to whitewash the events of #January6th is disheartening. How can you take them seriously as legislators when they sow disinformation and undercut our Constitution?

—@RepGregSteube: Today @VP made history as a national disgrace. Nearly 3,000 people died on 9/11, and about 2,400 were killed at the attack of Pearl Harbor. Her blatant disregard for the legitimacy of those tragedies by correlating them to 1/6 is reprehensible.

—@DarrenSoto: I was in the chamber on #January6th and saw the violent insurrection firsthand. Tonight, I was proud to stand with our constituents in #FL9 as we remember this terrible tragedy. Together we will defend our democracy!

—@ShevrinJones: You have to be a sick person to compare the #January6th insurrection to the demonstrations that took place after the killing of a Black man. Let’s be clear, if Black/Brown people would have stormed the Capitol, they would still be cleaning the blood from the stairs, TODAY!

—@SpencerRoachFL: Jan 6th, 2021: a day to be commemorated, not celebrated. A mob defiled the Capitol, literally (by smearing feces on the walls & in the halls) & figuratively (by disrupting the peaceful transfer of power for the first time in the 246-year history of our Republic.) Never again.

—@KKFla37: (Ron) DeSantis this AM shows again he’s much more in tune with the GOP base than (Donald) Trump is. In reference to Jan. 6 he discussed the FBI, the corporate media, the DC/NYC elites, Nancy Pelosi, Floridians don’t care, etc. He’s perfectly Nixonian in the themes he hits. DeSantis actually went to Harvard not Whittier but he seems to be Nixon reincarnated in so many ways. Cultural tough talk, pushes the right’s buttons about elites, the media & the Northeast while compiling a record that is ideologically inconsistent.

—@ScottMorrisonMP: Mr. (Novak) Djokovic’s visa has been canceled. Rules are rules, especially when it comes to our borders. No one is above these rules. Our strong border policies have been critical to Australia having one of the lowest death rates in the world from COVID; we are continuing to be vigilant.