Section Committees

Table of Contents

Bar Liaisons

The Florida Bar

Florida Bar Council of Sections Representative

  • The Section Chair acts as liaison to the Florida Bar Council of Sections.

Florida Bar Council of Sections CLE committee

  • The Section Chair-Elect acts as liaison to the Florida Bar Council of Sections Continuing Legal Education (CLE) subcommittee.

Florida Bar Young Lawyer’s Section

Courtney Wilson
[email protected]

  • This position acts as liaison between the CCLGL Section and the Young Lawyer’s Section of the Bar.

Board of Governors Representative

Michael J. Gelfand
[email protected]

  • The Board of Governors (BOG) Representative is a member of the BOG who acts as the liaison with the Section, and raises Section concerns, positions, or interests to the BOG.

City, County and Local Government Law Section Committees

Diversity and Inclusion Committee

Xavier Alban, Committee Chair
[email protected]

  • The Section values diversity and understands that historically marginalized groups remain underrepresented in the legal profession.  It is the mission of the Section to be diverse and inclusive, with a goal of ensuring the Section mirrors our society in its membership and leadership. The Diversity and Inclusion Committee helps identify and coordinate strategies for increasing member engagement, raising awareness of Section benefits, fostering a strong sense of community, and supporting Section goals with thoughtful programs and projects. This committee also administers the Section’s Diversity Fellowship Program, which was adopted in April, 2021.
  • Committee Members: Ella Gilbert, Kimberly Rothenburg

Grants Committee

Amber Slayton, Committee Chair
[email protected]

  • The Section’s Student Internship Grant Awards program provides grants to Florida local government in-house attorney offices (for counties, municipalities, school boards, and special taxing districts) to fund paid college student or law student internships during the summer each year.   The funds are awarded to those offices that best demonstrate that the student will be afforded an opportunity to gain insight into the practice of local government law. The Grants Committee reviews and awards grant applications, and makes recommendations about the program to the Executive Council.
  • Committee Members: Kelly Fernandez, Nick Noto

Law Student Awards Committee

Thomas Fossler, Committee Chair
[email protected]

  • The Section’s annual Law Student Awards are designed to recognize one law student at each Florida law school who has excelled in a law school course focused on local government law issues, or has exhibited an interest in local government law during the academic year. Student award winners receive a $500 cash award and a plaque recognizing their achievement, as well as an invitation to participate in the awards luncheon at the Section’s Annual City, County and Local Government Law Seminar. The Law Student Awards committee chair is responsible for contacting each Florida law school to seek student nominees, as well as working with the Section’s Bar Administrator to coordinate communications and awards, and hosting the law students who attend the Annual Seminar.

  • Committee Members: Bob Shillinger

Legislation Committee

Edward (“Eddy”) G. Labrador, Committee Chair
[email protected]

  • The chair of the Legislation Committee tracks annual legislation that may be of interest to Section members, and presents it to the Executive Council for review.
  • Committee Members: Rebecca O’Hara

Membership Committee

  • The current Secretary of the Section is the chair of the Membership Committee, per Section 2, Article III of the Section Bylaws.
  • Committee Members: Kimberly Rothenburg, [email protected] (delegated Chair), Patrick Krechowski, Ella Gilbert

Mental Wellness Committee

Miriam Soler Ramos, Committee Chair
[email protected]

  • The Mental Wellness Committee works to provide information and programming to further the goal of destigmatizing mental health issues, and to help CCLGL Section members find support. This may include organizing or moderating stand-alone CLEs or seminar panels.

Nominating Committee

  • The nominating committee consists of three (3) members of the Executive Council appointed by the Chair. Traditionally, this consists of three members of the Executive Committee. The Nominating Committee nominates incoming Executive Committee member(s) pursuant to Section 1, Article III of the Section Bylaws.

Sponsorship Committee

Janette Smith, Committee Chair
[email protected]

  • The Sponsorship Committee solicits sponsors to support our CLE programs, develops and maintains relationships with our regular sponsors, and proposes new ways to recognize sponsors and increase sponsorships. See the Sponsors page for more details.
  • Committee Members: Joe Ruiz, Jennifer Cockcroft

Technology Committee 

Amanda Coffey, Committee Chair
[email protected] 

  • The Technology Committee combines several previously separate committees (including the Communications, Social Media, Technology, Website, and Listserve committees), and is responsible for evaluating the Section’s technology needs. It also moderates the Section’s Listserve, updates  the Section website, assists in building and sharing social media content, and innovates creative ways to utilize technology to forward Section goals.
  • Committee Members: Janette Smith, Xavier Alban, Claudia Capdesuner

CCLGLS Publication Committees

Florida Bar Journal Committee

Ellie Neiberger, Committee Chair
[email protected]

  • The Florida Bar Journal Committee chair solicits articles on Local Government Topics for the Florida Bar Journal, and assists authors with questions related to publication in the Journal.
  • Committee Members: Lina Busby

Newsletter: “The Agenda” Committee

Cristina Suarez, Committee Chair
[email protected]

  • The Agenda is the Section’s Newsletter, published two to four times per year. The Agenda Committee chair solicits articles and other features, and formats and publishes The Agenda.
  • Committee Members:  Abigail Jorandby, James Saunders, Mary Sneed

Stetson Law Review Symposium Committee

Jason Ester, Committee Chair
[email protected]

  • The Stetson Law Review Symposium Committee Chair acts as the liaison between the Section and the Stetson University College of Law, Law Review editorial board. This person ensures the Section contract with the school is up-to-date, shares any news and deadlines related to the annual book, and may assist in soliciting articles for upcoming law journals. The Section’s partnership with Stetson Law Review helps encourage law students to become interested in practicing local government law, while providing a valuable resource of annual articles and case digests on local government law issues. 
  • Committee Members: Regina Kardash

CCLGLS Award Committees

Marsicano Award Committee

Mark Barnebey, Committee Chair 

  • The Ralph A. Marsicano Award is the most coveted and respected award presented by our Section to an attorney who over a period of time has made significant and outstanding contributions to the development of local government law in Florida. The Marsicano Award Committee solicits nominations for the annual award, and may help coordinate logistics related to the award presentation.
  • Committee Members: James “Jim” Linn; Sam Goren

Paul S. Buchman Public Service Award

  • The Paul S. Buchman Public Service Award is awarded annually to a local government attorney for outstanding contributions in the area of legal public service. Traditionally, the Section Chair acts as the Chair of the Buchman Award Committee. 

The H. Hamilton “Chip” Rice, Jr. Award

  • The H. Hamilton “Chip” Rice, Jr. Award is awarded annually to a local government attorney who has served the Section with distinction through mentoring, teaching and leadership.  Traditionally, the Section Chair acts as the Chair of the Rice Award Committee.

Continuing Legal Education (CLE) Programs

CLE Program Chairs coordinate our recurring CLE events, including annual or bi-annual conferences and seminars. The chairs solicit and cultivate relationships with presenters/speakers, and help the Section’s Bar Administrator to coordinate logistics, marketing, technology, and communications related to the CLE.

CLE Committee (General)

  • The Treasurer acts as the CLE Committee Chair for special CLEs, including lunch webinars and other programs aside from the annual seminars and conferences (details below).

City, County and Local Government Law Certification Review Course— Annual

Andrew Dunkiel, Program Chair
[email protected]
Tracy Lyons
[email protected]

Local Government Law in Florida Conference— Annual

  • The Chair-Elect is the Program Chair for the Annual Local Government Law symposium, which is coordinated with help from the Chair.

Public Employment Labor Relations Forum (PELRF) — Annual

Glenn Thomas, Program Chair
[email protected]
Amy Toman
[email protected]

Sunshine Law, Public Records and Ethics for Public Officers and Public Employees— Annual

Chasity O’Steen, Program Chair
[email protected]

Land Use— Biennial

Nancy Ann M. Stuparich, Program Chair
[email protected]
David Tolces
[email protected]

Public Finance — Biennial

George Smith, Program Chair
[email protected]

Temporary Committees