Latest news with #Eskamani
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Court blocks major exemptions from Florida's parental consent requirement for abortions for minors
A surprise decision by a state appellate court has stripped away some options available to minors who are seeking an abortion without their parents' consent. The ruling reverses protections state lawmakers implemented when they passed the parental consent law back in 2020. Florida's parental consent law includes some exceptions that allow a minor to petition a judge to access an abortion without their parents' approval. Those exceptions include the minor proving they're sufficiently mature to make the decision, the court determining parental consent wouldn't be in the minor's best interest or if the minor is the victim of child or sexual abuse inflicted by their parent or guardian. Now, those first two options are off the table. >>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<< [DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks] In a ruling issued by the Fifth District Court of Appeal, a three-judge panel determined the maturity and best interest standards violate the 14th Amendment rights of parents. 'Any deprivation of parents' due-process rights to notice and opportunity to be heard can no longer be justified by their children's asserted constitutional right to obtain an abortion (much less a secret abortion that cuts presumptively fit parents out of the decision),' wrote Judge Jordan Pratt. 'It's really devastating. We know that the majority of time minors who are accessing abortion include their parents in that decision-making process,' said Amber Gavin with a Woman's Choice Clinic in Jacksonville. Gavin argued the ruling will impact the state's most vulnerable youth. 'This avenue was kind of a last resort for minors who are not able to include their parents in this decision-making process for fear of retribution like being kicked out of their homes,' said Gavin. State Representative Anna Eskamani (D-Orlando) noted the judicial bypass was only used 130 times last year. 'So, it's a very small population,' said Eskamani. She said she fears even though this ruling only impacts Florida for now, it could end up having national implications. 'It could go to the US Supreme Court and it could impact the judicial waiver process for everyone across the country,' said Eskamani. The ruling came after Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier inserted himself into a case involving a 17-year-old girl who was appealing a decision that rejected her petition for a judicial waiver. In a post on social media he called the ruling a, 'Major win… protecting the rights of parents to prevent their underage children from undergoing dangerous abortions without parental consent'. [SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter] Click here to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action News Jax live.
Yahoo
28-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Citizens fight for bill that would change the appointment process for FWC Commission
BAY COUNTY, Fla. (WMBB) – Brent Fannin started a petition to reform the FWC commission. He now has around 6,500 signatures. He also wrote a proposed bill, approaching state Representative Anna Eskamani to file it. 'She said all of her slots were full and we weren't going to do it. And then a month later, she called 15 minutes before the deadline to file it, and she said, hey, I've got a spot what do you want to do?,' recalled Fannin. Eskamani filed Joint House Resolution 1625, which calls for changes to the appointment process for FWC commissioners. 'The heart of the bill is attempting to ensure that professionals and conservation scientists who work in this space are having a seat at the table versus the appointees just take shape as donors to Governor DeSantis, developers, farmers, individuals that have a need to to profit off land versus those that their profession is to protect it,' said Representative Eskamani. FDLE and FWC on scene conducting an investigation at Gulf World Marine Park Fannin says he knew the chances were slim that they get the 3 committees required to pass the bill. 'She was very honest with me and said, look, this isn't going to go through. Hopefully we'll get the conversation started at the highest level that we can,' said Fannin. The bill has yet to be presented at its first stop, the natural resources and disasters committee. 'The one person that's supposed to bring that bill before his committee is Representative Adam Botana, and he's not doing it. And he specifically, he actually called me a couple of days ago and he said he's not going to do it. And I said, ok, we're not done yet,' added Fannin. Instead, Botana brought Representative Jason Shoaf's House Bill 1133 before the committee last week. HB 1133 would appoint FWC commissioners based on geographical locations, ensuring 'statewide representation.' Critics say the two bills are not the same and hundreds of concerned citizens have accused Botana of stalling HJR 1625. 'Stalling basically means that there are different stakeholders, whether they're some elected officials or special interests, who don't want to see your bill move. And thus make efforts to stop it. And I suspect that's the heart of this issue. Now, with that said, we also don't have a Senate companion at this time. So it is very hard for any bill to move forward without a Senate companion,' said Eskamani. But state senators are giving frustrated voters a glimmer of hope regarding FWC Commissioner Chairman Rodney Barreto's reappointment confirmation. 'I have had many phone calls about Rodney Barreto. Is there any way that we could have him attend via Zoom at the next meeting that we might be able to ask some questions?,' said Senator Gayle Harrell. 'We're celebrating that little win right there, even though we you know, we haven't rejected him completely. It's really good to know that they're paying attention to us,' said Fannin. 'I do think that there's already been a few indications, not just with Barreto, with other DeSantis appointees of senators expressing concern and doubt about the qualifications of these individuals,' said Eskamani. Chairman Barreto will answer senators questions on Monday. We've reached out to Representative Adam Botana's staff a number of times this week about claims that he's stalling the bill. He has yet to respond. The next opportunity for the bill to be heard is Tuesday, April 1st. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
20-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
GOP proposal would let Floridians vote to create ‘COGE' auditor to ferret out waste
Billionaire Elon Musk, a senior adviser to President Donald Trump, arrives for a meeting with Senate Republicans at the U.S. Capitol on March 5, 2025. (Photo by) Florida Republicans in the 2025 legislative session are enamored with the idea of duplicating President Trump's and Elon Musk's DOGE system to eliminate perceived waste and fraud in government bureaucracy. That includes a proposal to put a constitutional amendment on the 2026 ballot creating a new Cabinet-level position called the Commissioner of Government Efficiency (COGE). That officer would be elected by the voters to investigate and report on fraud, waste, and abuse in state government. The proposed amendment would eliminate the Florida Auditor General's position, as well the Office of Lieutenant Governor. The House State Affairs Committee approved the joint resolution (HJR 1325) on Thursday morning, but only after an hour of intense questioning by lawmakers on both sides of the aisle as to whether the proposed office was necessary. Brevard County Republican Tyler Siriois, a co-sponsor along with Southeast Florida Republican John Snyder, told the committee that they drew inspiration from the national conversation about the size and scope and efficiency of the federal government. He promised, however, that the office would apply 'more of a scalpel instead of a sledgehammer,' because, he said, Florida already has the smallest state workforce per capita in the country and that it's already run as a 'lean, mean machine.' What makes his proposal different from the federal model, Sirois said, is that the measure comes with an opportunity for voters to repeal the position — although not until 2044. Needless to say, the proposal received strong pushback from Democrats on the committee. 'DOGE, as it currently stands, has been a trainwreck,' said Orlando Democrat Anna Eskamani. 'Look at the federal government, at what Elon Musk has done in firing civil servants for no reason beyond a preference to fire them.' 'DOGE is a hot fire trashcan mess, okay? And it's ruining people's lives and we cannot be aspiring to be something that's such a mess,' said Miami-Dade County Democrat Ashley Gantt. 'I don't think Florida should imitate that.' The legislation says that the COGE will audit and investigate within the executive branch of state government and within cities, counties, and special districts — a provision that worried Eskamani, who is running for mayor of Orlando in 2028. 'We have been going after local governments in multiple committees, tightening the state grip on them and impacting their ability to raise revenue to respond to pay their police and their fire and so forth. So also gives me hesitation, because I do think there's actually a mirror to look at ourselves before we even start holding local governments to a standard that we don't often follow ourselves,' said Eskamani. Under the proposal, if lawmakers pass the resolution in both chambers by the 3/5ths votes required to place it on the ballot next year, and 60% of the voters approve in November 2026, the Speaker of the House and the Senate President would convene a special session of the Legislature to select the new commissioner no later than March 2, 2027. That person would serve until the 2028 election, when voters would fill the position. The office would go up for re-election in 2030, to make it congruent with the elections held in off-years for Florida Cabinet officers. St. Petersburg Democratic Rep. Lindsay Cross said that didn't make much sense to her. 'By that time, maybe we don't like DOGE anymore and there's something else and we wish we would be doing things more efficiently as a Legislature,' she said. 'To me, this seems like artificially creating something that I don't think we need.' But Republicans on the committee insisted there is an overwhelming need to ferret out government waste and that the proposal is just another tool to do just that. Pasco County Republican Randy Maggard noted that committees during this year's legislative session have found excessive spending, and he applauded Sirois and Snyder for their resolution. 'Yeah, we need oversight. Yeah, this is important,' he said. 'This is the taxpayers' money. We should be responsible for that. This conversation is not new,' he said. Duval County Republican Wyman Duggan said that legislators have previously uncovered excess spending and corruption, but they work only part-time. 'Having a full-time government entity looking into these issues in the 13th largest economy, I think, is eminently reasonable.' And he countered that it isn't comparable to what's happening at the federal level with Musk and DOGE, saying the position would be an elected Cabinet-level office, not an appointed department-level office. 'This is going to be at the highest profile level, directly accountable to the people,' he said. The resolution says that if approved, the ballot measure would eliminate the Office of Lieutenant Governor. That position is vacant right now following the resignation last month of Jeanette Nuñez after she was selected as interim president of Florida International University. Several lawmakers on the committee struggled to understand how the succession would work if something happened to the governor. The sponsors replied that the succession would remain as laid out in state statute. Without a lieutenant governor, the next official to take over would be the attorney general, followed by the chief financial officer and the commissioner of agriculture. The Legislature could change that arrangment through implementing legislation should the amendment pass, Sirois and Snyder said. Gov. Ron DeSantis has been touting Elon Musk's efforts and last month issued an executive order creating the Florida State Department of Governmental Efficiency (DOGE) task force, which he said will work to further eliminate waste within state government, save taxpayers money, and ensure accountability in Florida. The committee passed the proposal mostly along party lines, with Caruso the only Republican to vote no. The resolution will now go to the House floor for a vote. The Senate companion sponsored by Brevard County's Randy Fine (SJR 1756) has two more stops in that chamber before reaching the floor. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
10-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
‘Wake up Democrats!': Frustration boils over with party's response to Trump
Alex Jimenez of Winter Park, a 65-year-old corporate vice president, might look the part of a moderate suburban Democrat open to a bipartisan message in the Trump era. But Jimenez is in no such mood. 'WAKE UP DEMOCRATS!' he wrote in a recent letter to the Orlando Sentinel. 'The clock is ticking. … Get to work!!' Jimenez, who considers himself center-left, is 'extremely disappointed with Democrats at the moment,' he said. ''Rudderless' is the word I think of in describing the party, while Republicans run roughshod over the Constitution and social norms.' 'A slap on the face': Orlando Marine vet among thousands to lose jobs in federal employee purge Much of the Democratic base seems increasingly frustrated with what members call a weak response to the Trump administration's tornado of controversial and potentially unconstitutional actions. Those include mass firings of federal employees, halting federal grants, annexation threats against Canada and Greenland, and on-and-off tariffs. The next major showdown could come next week in the House of Representatives, where Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson has a narrow margin to approve a budget with controversial cuts to Medicaid and other programs. Democratic leaders want concessions in return for any help passing a budget, including guarantees that President Donald Trump will not continue to freeze funding. But that could also risk a government shutdown. 'There really has to be more boxing gloves on right now,' said state Rep. Anna Eskamani, D-Orlando, who has launched a bid for Orlando mayor in 2027. 'Democrats have good ideas, but they're seen as 'weak',' Eskamani said. 'They're not fighting. So this is the time to give yourself permission to fight. It's really important that we lead and not be afraid of our own shadow.' Eskamani helped organize a protest against Trump in Orlando on Tuesday, part of a statewide 'March for Democracy' event that also included rallies in Miami, Tallahassee, and Seminole County. The Orlando rally included members of the Ukrainian community, just days after Trump berated Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office and paused all military aid to the embattled country. 'If we ground ourselves in the personal stories of our own neighbors who are impacted by these policies, then maybe, just maybe, it'll help Democrats have a spine in this moment of constitutional crisis,' Eskamani said. Michael D. Wadley, 76, a retired urban planner and former NASA employee who served in the Army Security Agency, was very blunt in a letter to the Sentinel on Tuesday. 'The Democratic Party seems to have folded up their tents and gone home,' wrote Wadley, a lifelong Democrat, also of Winter Park. 'My advice to my adult children is sell your houses and move, maybe even to Canada. I can't believe what's happening to this country.' But Matt Isbell, a Democratic elections analyst in Florida, said the discontent among the party base was off-target for a party that controlled neither the White House, the House nor the Senate. 'I think that a lot of the criticism of Democrats in D.C. is just people wanting to be angry at something,' Isbell said. 'There's nothing the Democrats in Congress right now can really do about what's happening. They can't control what they can't control.' Democratic House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has defended his leadership amid criticism. 'We're going to continue to keep the focus on the American people,' he told The Hill. The grassroots frustration reached a fevered pitch during President Donald Trump's speech to Congress on Tuesday, when some Democrats dressed in hot pink as a protest and others held paddle-shaped signs with slogans such as 'False' and 'Save Medicaid.' Both were slammed as ineffective on social media. Texas congressman Al Green's shouted at Trump during his speech and was ejected, and Orlando-area congressman Maxwell Frost and several others walked out before Trump finished. Both actions seemed to have been undercut, however, when 10 Democrats voted to censure Green, including U.S. Rep. Jared Moskiwitz, R-Parkland. 'No Kings': Maxwell Frost among Democrats to exit Trump speech in protest A 'very unhappy' party leadership also gave Frost and the others a 'talking to about their tactics,' Axios reported. Despite leadership's disapproval, Frost's protest has started to resonate. Replicas of the t-shirt he wore during his walkout, which read 'No Kings Live Here,' are already being sold online. Frost has been among the most visible Democrats in protests against Trump and Musk, including those held outside the Treasury and Education departments. Jayden D'Onofrio, the chair of the Future Leaders Florida political committee, a progressive Gen-Z group, said Democrats are still recovering from 'a butt-kicking' in the 2024 election. 'It's going to take time to perfect what needs to happen as a party, whether it's messaging, whether it's organizing, and just gearing up for 2026,' D'Onofrio said. 'It's not every day you come off a massive election loss like that and then get right back up and get ready to keep moving.' Ultimately it's the economy that will determine each party's political future, he said. 'Every single voter across this country is going to feel it in their pocketbooks, wallets and their families at home,' D'Onofrio said of the effects of the president's tariffs and economic threats. Isbell said Americans should prepare. 'The cold reality is that the time to stop all of this was the election, and that did not happen,' Isbell said. 'So now we are going to have to suffer for it. That pains me. But I'm hunkering down for a bunch of pain.'
Politico
07-03-2025
- Politics
- Politico
Eskamani sets her sights on Orlando's top job
Presented by Good morning and happy Friday. Democratic state Rep. ANNA ESKAMANI hopes to become mayor of a city that remains one of the state's ever-shrinking Democratic strongholds, telling Playbook she wants to prioritize the needs of residents and not just visitors in tourism hot spot Orlando. The mayorship will be open for the first time in 25 years, with BUDDY DYER calling the 2023 election his last. But in that time, the state's control over local governments has ballooned. Eskamani, 34, has been in the Florida House seven years and said she understands that Tallahassee may try to interfere with her vision for Orlando if she wins. 'The Legislature, unfortunately, has had a track record of targeting local municipalities through preemption,' she said. 'And it's nothing new.' In 2023, DeSantis suspended Democrat MONIQUE WORRELL from her role as Orange-Osceola County state attorney. Worrell won her job back in November, but whether she'll be allowed to stay is an open question. The governor also announced the creation of Florida's very own DOGE task force, dedicated to 'audit[ing] the spending habits of local entities to shine the light on waste and bloat.' In response, Eskamani pointed to DeSantis' use of state dollars to campaign against amendments on pot and abortion, as well as legal fights over laws he signed and the state's relocation of migrants from Texas to Martha's Vineyard. 'It's like, first of all, look in a mirror,' she said. 'There's so many examples of your wasteful spending.' The mayoral election isn't until 2027, which means whoever wins may face an early test on navigating changes to property taxes. DeSantis has said he thinks the legislature should go as far as it can to put a ballot measure before voters during the 2026 election that would eliminate, or at least reduce, the tax. To Eskamani, it's part of a 'larger, more insidious agenda' to consolidate state power and 'destroy and weaken local governments.' 'It's not a tax break. It is a tax shift, because the dollars have to come from somewhere,' she said. 'And obviously you would have to make cuts. But there are just some things that you can't cut. You can't cut police response times. You can't cut fire response times. So it just puts local governments in a really impossible situation.' That doesn't mean that Eskamani thinks the status quo is working. Instead, she said she would want to work with voters to look at other options, such as using the tourism development tax — largely collected through hotel stays and short-term rentals — for community projects such as public transit. She filed a bill this session that would eliminate the provision that requires at least 40 percent of the tourism development tax to be used solely for advertising tourism in Orange County. Eskamani is seeking Orlando's top job at a time when the state's GOP base has swelled. Florida Democrats set out to try to chip away at the Legislature's GOP supermajority by running through Central Florida in 2024. But it didn't work; Democrats only gained one of the seats and lost another. When it comes to sustaining Orlando's Democratic base and working-class identity, Eskamani acknowledged that, for the local Democratic Party, there's work to be done in building 'stronger relationships, especially with younger demographics of voters [and] communities of color.' She said she hopes if she becomes mayor, the city can measure success not only by its GDP, but by whether residents are bringing in higher wages. Orlando is Orange County's largest city or, as Eskamani calls it, the county's 'anchor.' And the county contributes billions in state revenue, something Eskamani said she hopes the city will be able to leverage. It brings in more than 74 million tourists a year, in large part thanks to major attractions that include Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando Resort, both of which are expanding. 'We often get ostracized … because of the political climate, but it's like, you need us to survive,' she said. 'We subsidize the existence of other physically constrained counties every year, so we play a very important role in the long-term success of Florida.' — Isa Domínguez Have a tip, story, suggestion, birthday, anniversary, new job, or any other nugget that Playbook should look at? Get in touch at: kleonard@ ... DATELINE TALLAHASSEE ... BALLOT REFERENDUM OVERHAUL — 'Florida's Republican-controlled Legislature is taking its first steps in 2025 to crack down on ballot initiatives following contentious and bitter election battles over abortion access and recreational marijuana in 2024,' reports POLITICO's Gary Fineout. 'The legislation that started moving Thursday doesn't come close to the severe restrictions suggested by DeSantis, but it would still place steep new hurdles for ballot initiatives that critics suggest would all but choke off future efforts.' RAISING PRIVACY CONCERNS — 'Florida seeks drug prescription data with names of patients and doctors,' by Reed Abelson and Rebecca Robbins of The New York Times. 'Florida's insurance regulator has demanded an unusually intrusive trove of data on millions of prescription drugs filled in the state last year, including the names of patients taking the medications, their dates of birth and doctors they've seen. 'The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation in January sought this information from pharmacy benefit managers like UnitedHealth's Optum Rx and CVS Health's Caremark, companies that oversee prescription drugs for employers and government programs. It remained unclear why the state was ordering the submission of so much data.' SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES — 'President Trump's relentless drive to expand his authority and test constitutional limits come even as DeSantis' boundary-busting days look like they're ebbing,' reports John Kennedy of USA Today Network — Florida. 'It's the latest mile-marker in the pair's long, entangled relationship.' LGBTQ FLORIDA POLL — 'Less than half of young LGBTQ Floridians feel accepted in their communities, according to a new report released by The Trevor Project,' reports Ana Goñi-Lessan of USA Today Network — Florida. LAND USE — 'State legislators are proposing another change to a deadline for approving developments in response to a dispute in Miami-Dade County,' reports POLITICO's Bruce Ritchie. 'Without comment, a state appeals court last month backed state planners who, in 2023, declared a proposed industrial park near Biscayne Bay had been withdrawn from review because Miami-Dade County failed to vote on the measure at a second public hearing within 180 days. Rep. Judson Sapp (R-Palatka) said his bill filed last week would fix the 'mistake' in state law by rewriting the deadline language. But a lawyer who represented environmentalists in the case suggested there isn't a problem to fix.' LEGISLATION ROUNDUP — State Rep. DANNY BURGESS (R-Zephyrhills) introduced legislation that would have six school districts try out a cellphone ban pilot program, reports Lucia Viti of the St. Augustine Record. … McKenna Schueler of Orlando Weekly recaps bills that have been filed to restrict unions. — 'DeSantis opposes repealing Florida's no-fault auto law. Will his stand stall Legislature's efforts?' by Christine Sexton of the Florida Phoenix. — 'Centene legal settlements are still unfinished with two states. One is Florida,' by Andy Miller of KFF Health News. — 'Tate brothers leave Florida amid James Uthmeier criminal probe,' reports A.G. Gancarski of Florida Politics. — 'Mysterious affliction causing endangered sawfish to spin and die resurfaces in Florida,' reports Curt Anderson of The Associated Press. EXTRA! EXTRA! The influential online news publication Florida Politics on Thursday printed its inaugural newspaper, which will contain in-depth coverage about the session. Copies will be available at the state Capitol. PENINSULA AND BEYOND — ''Don't be afraid of us': Bradshaw rejects mass immigration raids in talk to Hispanic leaders,' reports Valentina Palm of the Palm Beach Post. — 'Pinellas won't enforce ICE agreement school police chief signed without authorization,' by Jackie Llanos of the Florida Phoenix. — 'Florida is cracking down on Spring Break 'chaos and mayhem,' DeSantis says,' by Gabrielle Russon of Florida Politics. TRUMPLANDIA AND THE SWAMP FLORIDA MAN'S WARM WINTER — Just because he's president doesn't mean DONALD TRUMP is quitting the snowbird lifestyle. Trump is headed to Palm Beach for his sixth weekend in Florida in a row since taking office, per Kristina Webb of the Palm Beach Daily News. FORMER DESANTIS ADVISER — 'Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, Trump's nominee to head the National Institutes of Health, is using his Florida grand jury testimony about COVID-19 as part of his pitch,' reports Noreen Marcus of the Florida Bulldog. 'Florida grand jury testimony is confidential. But on Wednesday, just as his confirmation hearing before a U.S. Senate committee began, the Florida Supreme Court released Dr. Bhattacharya's name and testimony, granting a waiver sought by Statewide Prosecutor Nicholas Cox.' — 'This scientist was making Florida beaches resilient to hurricanes. DOGE fired him,' by Max Chesnes of the Tampa Bay Times. CAMPAIGN MODE RERUN? — 2018 Democratic gubernatorial candidate GWEN GRAHAM is taking time to consider what she should do next, she said over X on Thursday after a supporter urged her to run for governor again. Graham, the daughter of the late BOB GRAHAM, is a former state legislator and US House representative who lost her primary against progressive ANDREW GILLUM. After her comments got some attention, Graham posted again later: 'My initial response has no ulterior meaning. I have just completed 3 plus years in DC. I am mourning my Dad every day. I want to spend quality & quantity time with the people and animals I love while I ponder how I can further contribute. That's what my Dad would want me to do.' AFTER KEY REPORTING DEADLINE — Rep. BYRON DONALDS' (R-Fla.) gubernatorial campaign is hosting a poolside cocktail reception and dinner May 1 at Mar-a-Lago, reports Forrest Saunders of E.W. Scripps. Tickets for the whole evening's events are $50,000 a person. GONE MISSING — 'DeSantis warns Donalds about missing votes. He missed plenty in 2018,' by Kirby Wilson of the Tampa Bay Times. 'During key months of his first gubernatorial run in 2018, [DeSantis] missed dozens of congressional votes. From July to September of that year, he was in the 98th percentile of all U.S. representatives in terms of missing votes, according to the nonprofit GovTrack. That means he was one of the most absent lawmakers in Washington during that stretch. (DeSantis resigned from Congress in September 2018.)' GEN Z PUSH — The Florida Future Leaders PAC has launched a Municipal Victory campaign to encourage and support young people to run for public office. The group endorsed DOMINICK VARGAS for Boynton City Commission District 3, KERRI-ANN NESBETH for Miramar City Commission District 4, and KEITH WALCOTT for Miramar City Commission District 3. They will spend $50,000 on those races. The group also brought on NATHANIEL PELTON as Municipal Victory director. TRANSITION TIME — MAX CASTROPAREDES has launched Pax American Strategies LLC, a Surfside, Florida-based advisory firm that will specialize in providing political intelligence and strategic advice to asset managers, merchant banks, political campaigns, and sovereign wealth funds. He served in the Department of Homeland Security in the first Trump administration and is also an alum of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies. — Daniel Lippman ODDS, ENDS AND FLORIDA MEN — 'What was falling from the sky over South Florida on Thursday? A space ship — sort of,' by Angie DiMichele of the South Florida Sun Sentinel. BIRTHDAYS: Former Florida Rep. Joe Geller … (Saturday) Michael Bileca, chair of Miami Dade College board of trustees and former legislator ... Attorney Lance Block … (Sunday) Kristy Campbell, former press secretary for Jeb Bush ... Adam Smith, communications director for the City of Tampa.
