Connect with us

Politics

Mark Kaplan is stepping back from University of Florida

Published

on


On a stressful day in the office, Mark Kaplan went outside to get some fresh air in Gainesville.

He walked around the University of Florida campus on a quick break when he stopped and took in the scene — a student ukulele club playing. Kaplan couldn’t help but smile.

Kaplan has long felt the magic of working for UF as Vice President for Government and Community Relations. This has been a dream job for Kaplan, a lifelong Gator fan.

But at 57, Kaplan said he is stepping back from his role after dealing with health issues and going on medical leave this year. Kaplan said he is optimistic about his continued recovery but decided it is the right time to move on.

“I’ve only got one of me to take care of. This has been a good reminder of putting my attention on what’s most important,” Kaplan said.

Interim UF President Kent Fuchs praised Kaplan’s tenure in an email sent to his leadership team announcing his upcoming departure.

“The relationships Mark has built and the respect he has earned during his decades of leadership in Florida have served UF incredibly well,” Fuchs wrote. “The university community and I have benefited in countless ways from his wisdom, collaborative spirit, calm, steady approach to his work, and ability to get things done.”

Kaplan became the UF Vice President of Government and Community Relations in 2018 — 30 years after he earned his bachelor’s degree in political science at UF.

“In a lot of ways, this is a dream job to get to do this at your alma mater,” said Kaplan, who called working in higher education “intellectually stimulating.”

Kaplan said he got a front row seat as UF was on the cutting-edge of artificial intelligence and college athletes have been transformed by NIL payments in recent years.

Kaplan’s carefully planned day could get blown up at anytime; he never knew what he could get thrown into, he said. That made his work unpredictable and exciting.

“Just the vastness of UF creates a certain novelty every single day,” Kaplan said. “We talk about UF being among the most comprehensive universities in the country, with one of the few places in the country that has a vet school and a pharmacy school and a medical school and a law school. And one of the things that comes from all of that is it adds to the scope of things that you’re paying attention to and issues that you get to work on.”

The job could be grueling — Kaplan was on the road several months a year.

UF operates offices year-round in Tallahassee and Washington, D.C.

Kaplan’s traveled to Tallahassee during the Legislative Session and committee weeks to advocate for more investment in UF since tuition has remained relatively flat for the past decade, Kaplan said. In D.C., the office lobbied for more funding for the state and collaborated with other university associations and organizations to advance higher education.

“It would be impossible to overstate how much of a force for good Mark has been for our state, our university, and the scores of people he’s mentored along the way. Through example, he has taught a generation of Florida leaders how to approach problems with humility, alacrity, patience, and perspective,” said Chris Emmanuel, UF’s Director of Government Relations.

Before UF, Kaplan’s career included high-profile roles in all three branches of government.

Kaplan worked as Gov. Jeb Bush’s Chief of Staff, special counsel for the Speaker of Florida’s House of Representatives and a judicial clerk to a member of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit

Other stops included working as the executive director for the Florida Housing Finance Corp., the state’s affordable housing agency, and as global head of public affairs at the Mosaic Company.

But returning to Gainesville was special for Kaplan. It’s where he once played tuba in the marching band and piccolo during basketball games as a UF undergraduate.

Kaplan still returns with his tuba to play with alumni and the college band for the Homecoming game’s halftime show.

“My back was stronger when I was 18 years old than it is today,” Kaplan said. “It’s gotten harder, but I can still do it. It’s still a lot of fun, something I look forward to.”

In an interview this week with Florida Politics, Kaplan acknowledged the bittersweet feelings of leaving a job he values while also looking forward to the next chapter of his life. 

He jokes he can finally find time for a hobby.

Kaplan and his wife, Sherry, will travel and spend more time with their family, which includes four adult children, he said.

“I have no idea what the next couple of decades are going to hold, but I’m excited about being able to take a little bit of time for myself and for my family and just sort of be open to the universe,” Kaplan said.


Post Views: 0



Source link

Continue Reading

Politics

Baby Boomers favor Florida for relocation over all other states

Published

on


Florida is not losing any popularity among retirees. In fact, it’s tops in the U.S. for annual migration among the Baby Boomer generation and near the top for several other generations.

A new study using 2023 data by StorageCafe, a self-storage company, shows the Sunshine State’s “silver tsunami” net migration among Baby Boomers amounted to 50,615.

The StorageCafe analysis looked at the number of people moving to different states, ranking states based on net migration, both overall and relative to each state’s population. The study also factored in the reasons people are moving, as well as age, income, education level, employment status and home prices, among other factors.

Florida was not only first among migration for Baby Boomers, it had more than double the amount of relocations over North Carolina, which came in second. North Carolina’s net migration among Baby Boomers sat at 20,349 in 2023. That was followed by South Carolina in third, Arizona in fourth and Georgia in fifth.

Florida was plus-136,700 in net migration in 2023. That’s the 10th straight year Florida has seen a net of at least 100,000, amounting to a net gain of 1.5 million people in that time.

While Baby Boomers account for the largest portion of retirees moving to Florida, the next generation in line for retirement, Generation X, appears warm to Florida as well. But the Sunshine state is not at the top of the list for Gen Xers, though it’s close. Florida finished second, only behind Texas. Florida saw a net migration of 23,261 Gen Xers two years ago.

Millennials nearly matched that number, with a net migration of 25,189. That put Florida third behind Texas at No. 1 and North Carolina at No. 2.

But even for a generation that isn’t considering retirement yet, Florida did well. Among Generation Z, Florida saw a net migration of 14,098 in 2023. That was fifth in the nation behind South Carolina, Arizona, North Carolina and the District of Columbia.


Post Views: 0



Source link

Continue Reading

Politics

Pam Bondi presses Kash Patel on disclosing Jeffrey Epstein docs

Published

on


Less than 24 hours after Attorney General Pam Bondi announced the imminent release of documents related to the late Jeffrey Epstein, she says there is more information that her Office hasn’t seen.

And she wants it by Friday morning with no exceptions or omissions.

“I repeatedly questioned whether this was the full set of documents responsive to my request and was repeatedly assured by the FBI that we had received the full set of documents,” Bondi wrote FBI head Kash Patel, as reported by Fox News. “Late yesterday, I learned from a source that the FBI Field Office in New York was in possession of thousands of pages of documents related to the investigation and indictment of Epstein.”

On Wednesday, Bondi promised Jesse Watters “a lot of flight logs, a lot of names, a lot of information” about the activities that expect to ensnare and implicate some of the most powerful and prominent people in the U.S.

She attributed delays to the need to redact identifying information about more than 250 victims during that prime-time interview.

Now she’s giving Patel a short window to release all relevant materials about the dead sex trafficker.

“By 8:00 a.m. tomorrow, February 28, the FBI will deliver the full and complete Epstein files to my office, including all records, documents, audio and video recordings, and materials related to Jeffrey Epstein and his clients, regardless of how such information was obtained,” Bondi wrote. “There will be no withholdings or limitations to my or your access.”

The report surfaced after U.S. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna blasted the incomplete release based on a story by New York Post reporter Steven Nelson that said Epstein’s personal address book, a 100-page document, would be published without context.

“I nor the task force were given or reviewed the Epstein documents being released today,” Luna posted on X. “A NY Post story just revealed that the documents will simply be Epstein’s phonebook. THIS IS NOT WHAT WE OR THE AMERICAN PEOPLE ASKED FOR. GET US THE INFORMATION WE ASKED FOR instead of leaking old info to press.”

Epstein ultimately pleaded guilty in 2008 to charges of soliciting and trafficking underage girls, serving just 13 months on work release in a private wing of a Palm Beach jail.

New reporting on Epstein’s case in 2018 helped authorities reopen it.

Epstein died of an apparent suicide in his jail cell while awaiting trial in 2019. His accomplice and sometimes girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell, a British socialite, was later charged and convicted of sex trafficking in 2020.

The state of Florida unsealed records from his 2008 state investigation and case against Epstein.

The transcripts have long been shielded from public perusal due to state limitations on exposing grand jury evidence. Gov. Ron DeSantis signed legislation in February that created a narrow exemption to those limits to unseal Epstein’s records on July 1.

The transcripts can be viewed here.

___

A.G. Gancarski, Jacob Ogles and Jesse Scheckner of Florida Politics contributed to this report.


Post Views: 0



Source link

Continue Reading

Politics

Taylor Yarkosky files bill to compensate child who overdosed

Published

on


Clermont Republican Rep. Taylor Yarkosky has filed a claims bill (HB 6541) that would compensate a child for permanent injuries he sustained due to what his attorney says was a result of negligence by the Department of Children and Families (DCF).

Yarkosky’s bill follows efforts by Doral Republican Sen. Ana Maria Rodriguez last year (SB 2) and in 2023 seeking $20 million for the child, known as “C.C.” Yarkosky’s measure also adopts that $20 million figure.

The now-10-year-old C.C. was left permanently injured, suffering an anoxic brain injury, seizures, strokes and other neurological impairments.

C.C.’s lawyer Stacie Schmerling told Florida Politics at the time SB 2 was filed that DCF had done nothing about the multiple abuse reports they had received, despite knowing that his mother — Fort Myers resident Anna Highland — was addicted to opioids and had been taking methadone while pregnant.

“DCF’s responsibility is to take action to protect the child, to make sure the child does not suffer any further harm at the hands of a drug addict parent, whether it’s abuse or neglect, and certainly there were multiple opportunities for intervention. DCF got a report to protect this child the day he was born, and their obligation was to that. And they didn’t,” Schmerling said.

At the time C.C.’s birth, Highland was licensed as a foster parent by DCF and had a significant amount of involvement with the Department going back to 2012. Highland’s drug abuse during pregnancy caused C.C. to experience severe withdrawal symptoms, necessitating almost a month of hospitalization and morphine treatment.

Despite receiving six separate child abuse allegations related to Highland’s drug use within a seven-month period, DCF allowed C.C. to be released back into Highland’s care and eventually closed the investigation, deeming the substance abuse claims unsubstantiated and her methadone use non-threatening to child safety.

In 2015, DCF received two child abuse reports alleging that Highland was abusing a foster child, but both were closed without investigation. On Sept. 12, 2015, 13-month-old C.C. overdosed on Highland’s methadone, leading to a coma and a one-month hospitalization.

DCF’s investigation revealed that Highland and her mother delayed seeking medical help for approximately five hours. Consequently, C.C. was removed from Highland’s care and placed with his father.

The bill claims DCF failed in its duty to protect C.C. by allowing him to remain in his mother’s care without proper safety measures and seeks a $20 million settlement to be paid into a trust for C.C.’s exclusive use. Attorneys fees and costs, as well as lobbying fees and similar expenses, would be restricted to 25% of the amount awarded.

If passed, the bill would take effect upon becoming law.


Post Views: 0



Source link

Continue Reading

Trending

Copyright © Miami Select.