President's Message

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Greetings FLASLA Members! On January 31^st a legislative forum was held in Palm Beach County organized by a joint group of design professionals including FLASLA as a host organization. The meeting was attended by LAs, architects, engineers, planners, surveyors, interior designers and others. Also in attendance were Florida State Senators and Representatives. The forum gave the individual professions a chance to speak and interact with our elected officials to address issues we find relevant to us. While some issues that were addressed are common to all professions, including the Consultants Competitive Negotiations Act and legislation focused on public/private partnerships, others were specific to LAs, including issues regarding major water legislation and any actions associated with FL Statutes Chapter 481. The event was well attended by the local FLASLA membership and we were able to deliver a strong and unified message to the government officials in attendance.

While this is a local example of how FLASLA is representing the membership, there is also a group of member volunteers that work on issues throughout the year. The Government Affairs Committee (GAC), led by FLASLA’s Member-at-Large for Advocacy and Licensure, Jonathan Haigh, meets monthly to discuss and devise strategies as they relate to State legislative action, as well as local municipal rules and regulations. They work tirelessly to keep a watchful eye on upcoming legislation that may affect the profession, whether it is in regard to our practice act, FDOT project funding, or local municipal requirements for the preparation of landscape plans.

Keeping the GAC on track is Diana Ferguson, Esq. of the Tallahassee firm Rutledge Ecenia. Diana and her team continually monitor all things related to the profession at the government level and report their findings almost on a daily basis to the GAC. In addition our new Executive Director, Corey Mathews is also located in Tallahassee with ties to the Capital. This keeps FLASLA always informed and ready to act should any legislation possibly have negative impacts on our profession. As the legislative session is about to convene on March 4^th, the GAC, as well as our Tallahassee lobbyists, will continue to review legislation and work with our elected officials to the benefit of the profession.

The more exposure we can get with our elected officials the better. And this is where the membership can get involved. Everyone knows an elected State Representative, a city council member, or a zoning director. It is our collective job to keep all these people aware of the profession. If we don’t let them know about who we are there will be another group that does. We stay relevant by keeping up our strong relationships with government officials. And while it is a benefit to membership, through the volunteer time of the GAC along with our consultants, we need the membership reaching out and maintaining those friendships with those that can affect the profession.

If you have any state or local issues you wish to bring forward to the members of the GAC, please contact Diana Ferguson at dferguson@rutledge-ecenia.comor Jonathan Haigh at memberatlargeal@flasla.org.

Here’s to a successful session in Tallahassee!

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