Orlando Police Chief Retiring is Chief John Mina, who is running to become Orange County Sheriff, following the retirement of Jerry Demings, who is running for mayor of Orlando.
The Florida Phoenix A new online news agency will be housed in Tallahassee’s Florida Press Center. The progressive-leaning site will be ad-free thanks in part to being funded largely by the New Venture Fund. The Phoenix will cover Florida state government and politics.
University of Florida Mark Kaplan is the new vice president of government and community relations. Kaplan was previously head of public affairs and chief communications officer for The Mosaic Company.
Volunteer Florida The organization announced some new hires and changes: Erin Sjostrom is the new chief financial officer; Audra Peoples will be their external affairs director; and Aly Coleman is an external affairs coordinator. Internal changes include Savannah Kelly becoming executive liaison and legislative coordinator; Erik Steffen is now director of information technology; Tracie Lambright is now senior financial analyst; and Anitra Thomas becomes the AmeriCorps program manager.