TALLAHASSEE — Gov. Ron DeSantis named 12 appointees to four state boards, tapping the chief deputy of the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office for a college trustee seat and returning a former state lawmaker to a community college board he already serves on.
The appointments, announced the same day, span the Florida Gateway College District Board of Trustees, the College of Central Florida District Board of Trustees, the Eastern Florida State College District Board of Trustees and the Prison Rehabilitative Industries and Diversified Enterprises, Inc. Board of Directors. All 12 are subject to confirmation by the Florida Senate.
Michael DeMorat, the chief deputy of the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office, was appointed to the Eastern Florida State College board. DeMorat is a member of the FBI National Academy Associates and has served on the Space Coast Early Intervention Center Board of Directors and the Serene Harbor Domestic Violence Shelter Board of Directors. He earned his bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from the University of South Florida.
DeMorat joins two reappointees on the Eastern Florida board: Bruce Deardoff, chairman and CEO of Deardoff Automotive Group, and Dr. Edgar Figueroa, a physician and surgeon at Omni Health Care who previously served as a trauma surgeon at Health First Holmes Regional Medical Center. Dr. Figueroa is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons.
At the College of Central Florida, DeSantis reappointed all six sitting trustees, including Charlie Stone, president and owner of Stone Petroleum Products, Inc., who previously served as a member of the Florida House of Representatives and as a Marion County commissioner. The other five reappointees include Russell Branson, president of SouthState Bank and former treasurer of the United Way of Marion County; Joyce Brancato, an adjunct associate professor with the University of Maryland Global Campus and former CEO of Seven Rivers Regional Medical Center; Robert Durrance, a retired Levy County Public Schools administrator and teacher of 34 years and a U.S. Marine Corps veteran; William Edgar, a self-employed business consultant and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers veteran; and Fred Roberts Jr., a partner and attorney at Klein & Klein, PLLC.
Michelle Cannon, the elected Dixie County tax collector since 2009 and a Certified Florida Collector through the Florida Department of Revenue, was appointed to the Florida Gateway College District Board of Trustees. Cannon earned her bachelor’s degree from Saint Leo University.
For the PRIDE Enterprises board, which oversees prison rehabilitative industries, DeSantis appointed Ivette Arango O’Doski, president of Ivette O’Doski Consulting and former vice president of corporate, government, and community relations for The Miami-Dade Beacon Council. She earned her juris doctor from the University of Miami. Cory Godwin, a jail services coordinator for the Florida Sheriffs Association and former assistant warden for the Florida Department of Corrections, was reappointed. Godwin is a U.S. Army Reserve veteran.
The Florida Senate is expected to take up the 12 confirmations during its next session.