Today, Governor Ron DeSantis announced new board members who will immediately take control of the 40-square mile Reedy Creek Improvement District – now functioning under a new name, the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District.

The move comes as DeSantis signs legislation passed in a recent special session that removes the Disney-selected board and imposes a state-controlled, term-limited board appointed by the governor.

MEET THE NEW BOARD

Bridget Ziegler, Board Member, Central Florida Tourism Oversight District

Bridget Ziegler, a mother of three, is a member of the Sarasota County School Board. Ziegler was appointed to the school board in 2014 by Governor Rick Scott to fill a vacancy and was subsequently reelected in 2018 and 2022. Ziegler is a strong conservative who believes in limited government, parental rights, transparency, and fiscal responsibility.

In 2015, Ziegler co-founded the Florida Coalition of School Board members which served as a rival to the Florida School Board Association. The board was instrumental in passing numerous pieces of legislation focused on school choice, parental empowerment, and curriculum transparency.

Ziegler helped draft the Parents Bill of Rights with Florida State Representative Erin Grall. The legislation played an instrumental role in Governor DeSantis’ Executive Order prohibiting school districts from imposing mask mandates. Ziegler, who worked closely with Moms For Liberty in its early stages of development says it’s critical that “the proper role of education is restored to protect our children and the future of our country.”

Brian Aungst, Jr., Board Member, Central Florida Tourism Oversight District

Brian Aungst, Jr., is an attorney and shareholder at the law firm of Macfarlane Ferguson & McMullen, P.A. in Clearwater. Aungst recently served as the chairman of the Pinellas County Commission Redistricting Committee and is a gubernatorial appointee and past chairman of the Juvenile Welfare Board of Pinellas County. Aungst currently serves on multiple boards, including Ruth Eckerd Hall, one of the largest performing arts centers in the Tampa Bay region, the YMCA of the Suncoast, and the St. Petersburg College Public Policy Advisory Committee.

Mike Sasso, Board Member, Central Florida Tourism Oversight District

Michael A. Sasso serves as a partner in his law firm and focuses his practice on high-stakes litigation in Florida’s state and federal courts. He has served as the president of the Seminole County Bar Association, president of the Seminole County Legal Aid Society, president of the Seminole County Inns of Court, and as an elected governor for three terms on The Florida Bar Board of Governors, Young Lawyers Division. Michael has also been appointed by the president of The Florida Bar to the Florida Bar Civil Rules Committee. Governor Ron DeSantis appointed Michael to the Judicial Nominating Commission for Florida’s Ninth Judicial Circuit and to Florida’s Public Employee Relations Commission. In 2021 Sasso was elected as chair of the commission.

Martin Garcia, Board Member, Central Florida Tourism Oversight District

Martin Garcia is an attorney and former partner of two law firms. He has owned and operated a private equity firm and served as chairman of his family’s charitable foundation. Garcia previously served as chairman of the Investment Advisory Council for the Florida Pension Fund System, chairman of the Trial Lawyer Section of the Florida Bar, chairman of the Florida Supreme Court Judicial Nomination Commission and on the Florida Judicial Qualifications Commission, Board of Governors of the Florida Bar Association and Board of Trustees of Wake Forest University.

Ron Peri, Board Member, Central Florida Tourism Oversight District

Ron Peri is chairman and CEO of The Gathering USA, a ministry that focuses on areas where faith and culture intersect. Peri was founder, chairman, and CEO of Orlando-based airline software company Radixx International from 1993 to 2017. He has founded and managed three companies while also working as a consultant to international corporations and government agencies.

Read the article as originally published at https://www.theflstandard.com/breaking-desantis-reveals-new-board-members-as-disney-loses-control-of-reedy-creek-district-2/

WFLA News Channel 8 covered the water safety programs that JWB funds as part of our work preventing needless child deaths in Pinellas County.

Watch the news segment below or at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpyUgN7FGAU

The Sleep Baby Safely campaign has been so successful, it’s going statewide and that’s What’s Good In Tampa Bay!

Ann Kelly is joined by April Putzulu, Senior Manager for Strategic Communications at the Juvenile Welfare Board of Pinellas County, to talk about the Sleep Baby Safely campaign, and how it has reduced infant sleep-related deaths by 50% in Pinellas County.

There is additional information on their web site at https://bit.ly/3XYTHhW and on the podcast.

Listen to the podcast in its entirety at https://bit.ly/3JJZt2L

On Monday, January 30, Fox 13 joined the parents gathered at JWB with their little Babies New Year, along with state and local officials raising awareness and announcing the statewide expansion of a locally born campaign to prevent needless child deaths: Sleep Baby Safely.

Dressed in the campaign’s Sleep Me This Side Up onesies, these babies represented the more than 7,000 born in Pinellas County each year. Sleep Baby Safely’s goal is to ensure all babies can celebrate their first birthdays.

As JWB’s CEO Beth Houghton was thrilled to announce to all gathered and the media, thanks to the leadership and support of the Governor and Florida Legislature, the Florida Department of Health secured funding in this year’s budget to expand this proven prevention model to eight additional counties across the state.

Watch the noon and 5 PM Fox 13 news segment covering this celebration and press event below.

In years past, a heathy baby died every month due to unsafe sleep in Pinellas County. That’s changing, thanks to a life-saving campaign called Sleep Baby Safely that has cut infant sleep-related deaths in half since it launched in 2018. The Juvenile Welfare Board (JWB) and its partners created Sleep Baby Safely when data revealed that our county lost more than 100 babies from sleep-related suffocation over a 10-year period, representing six empty kindergarten classrooms.

With the recent ringing in of the New Year, it’s a chance for everyone to resolve to sleep their babies safely, and to expand this proven prevention model to other counties across the state. Thanks to the leadership and support of Governor DeSantis and the Florida Legislature, the Florida Department of Health secured funding in this year’s budget to do just that.

On Monday, January 30, parents gathered with their little Babies New Year, joining state and local officials to raise awareness and announce the statewide expansion of locally born Sleep Baby Safely. Dressed in the campaign’s Sleep Me This Side Up onesies, these babies represented the more than 7,000 born in Pinellas County each year. The goal is to ensure all babies can celebrate their first birthdays.

“Suffocation from unsafe sleep is the #1 cause of preventable child death, not just in Pinellas County but across the state of Florida,” stated Dr. Ulyee Choe, director of the Florida Department of Health in Pinellas County. His organization has been part of the campaign since the start. “It’s time to lift up Sleep Baby Safely as a promising practice so that more young lives will be saved.”

The Sleep Baby Safely campaign features consistent messaging, data-based facts and tips, and coordinated materials used by birthing hospitals, doctors’ offices, parent educators, and first responders. For example, 7,000 Welcome Baby Bags, packed with practical safe sleep items, are given to parents of newborns at Pinellas County birthing hospitals. Learn more at www.sleepbabysafely.com.

ABOUT SLEEP BABY SAFELY:
It only takes one time for a baby to sleep in an unsafe place or position to be deadly. Babies need to be protected from suffocation every time they are laid down to sleep. The Juvenile Welfare Board (JWB) and a group of concerned partners launched Sleep Baby Safely, a campaign featuring data-driven facts, consistent messages, and easy-to-remember tips for parents, caregivers, and everyone caring for babies. Learn more at www.sleepbabysafely.com. Learn and share the three tips to sleep babies safely every night and every nap:

• Follow Safe Sleep ABCs: Alone, Back, Crib. Always put babies to sleep alone on their back in an empty crib, bassinet, or Pack n’ Play. Remove all items from crib, such as blankets, pillows, stuffed animals, and bumper pads. Use only a firm mattress and tight-fitting sheet. Use a one-piece sleeper or sleep sack to keep baby warm.

• Share a Room, Not a Bed. Bring crib into parent’s room for baby’s first year room sharing keeps baby close without the risks. Never put baby to sleep on soft surfaces like adult beds, couches, futons, recliners, or air mattresses.

• Stay Alert While Feeding. Set an alarm and always return baby to crib after feeding. Breastfeed if possible it’s best for baby’s protection. Do not smoke or allow others to smoke around baby and avoid misuse of alcohol or drugs.

See the article as originally published at https://www.tampabaynewswire.com/2023/01/31/ring-in-the-new-year-resolve-to-sleep-babies-safely-florida-department-of-health-and-juvenile-welfare-board-announce-expansion-of-a-locally-born-life-saving-campaign-115915

According to the Department of Health, on average, a healthy baby in Pinellas County suffocated and died from sleeping unsafely every month until 2018; a local campaign has since reduced those deaths by 50%.

In 2018, the Pinellas Juvenile Welfare Board (JWB) launched Sleep Baby Safely, a data-driven campaign that offers consistent messaging, coordinated materials and educational training. The goal was to prevent and eliminate the leading cause of death in children under six, and its success has led to a statewide model.

Beth Houghton, CEO of JWB, told attendees at a press conference in Clearwater Monday that contrary to popular belief, the deaths were not the result of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). Research showed that the county’s medical examiner had not listed SIDS as a cause of death in over 20 years.

Houghton said that in the decade before the Sleep Baby Safely initiative, the county lost over 100 babies to asphyxiation. She added that 66% of those occurred in an adult bed while parents co-slept with their children.

“That’s six empty kindergarten classrooms,” said Houghton.

However, she relayed that the local JWB affiliate and its community partners used that harrowing data to create a lasting change.

Today, over 50 partner agencies work collaboratively on the Sleep Baby Safely campaign. They provide education and distribute materials through several related touchpoints – birthing hospitals, obstetric and pediatric offices, social service providers, childcare centers and first responders.

Houghton said the county’s four birthing hospitals play a critical role in the program’s efficacy. Nurses from Bayfront Baby Place, Mease Countryside, Morton Plant and St. Petersburg General Hospitals provide 7,000 parents with face-to-face sleep education annually.

“A powerful voice in teaching parents how to do what they ought to do from the very beginning,” said Houghton. “Plus, parents receive a free Welcome Baby Bag.”

Those include practical items to promote safe sleeping, like a “SLEEP ME THIS SIDE UP” onesie and an “ALONE-BACK-CRIB” sleep sack. The initiative reduced infant sleep-related deaths by half, and other areas of the state began taking notice.

According to an accompanying informational sheet, the problem was even worse in Duval County, where an average of two babies died monthly. After realizing the Pinellas program’s success, Duval officials implemented a pilot campaign in 2020.

Infant suffocation deaths plummeted by 75% during that initiative’s first year.

The Pinellas County model is now a statewide best practice, and the Florida Legislature earmarked $2.35 million for Sleep Baby Safely replication and expansion in this year’s budget. Dr. Joseph Ladapo, Florida Surgeon General, made the formal announcement at the press conference.

The funding is available to eight counties with infant sleep-related death rates above the state average. In addition to Pinellas and Duval, those include Hillsborough, Miami-Dade, Orange, Palm Beach and Polk Counties.

Ladapo said reducing infant deaths is a bipartisan issue, “so you get a lot of support for doing great things with babies.”

Lealman Fire Chief Jim Millican, a JWB board member, expressed his pride in the program. He said the deaths “are 100% preventable” and compared the newfound model to car seat usage.

“Car seats weren’t always the norm,” said Millican. “Today, we wouldn’t even think about traveling without a car seat in our car for our kids. So, we know more than we used to know and can apply the same logic to co-sleeping and other unsafe sleep practices.”

JWB and Pinellas Department of Health officials state that suffocation due to unsafe sleep is still the leading cause of childhood death in the county, state and nation. Here are their safe sleep tips:

• Follow safe sleep ABCs – Alone, Back and Crib: Babies should sleep alone on their back in an empty crib, bassinet or Pack n’ Play. Remove all items from the area and only use a firm mattress and tight-fitting sheet. Use a one-piece sleeper or sleep sack to keep the baby warm instead of loose blankets.
• Share a room, not a bed: Bring the crib into the parents’ room during the baby’s first year, as room sharing keeps the baby close without the risks. Never put a baby to sleep on soft surfaces.
• Stay alert while feeding the Baby: Parents should set an alarm and always return their baby to its crib after feeding. Breastfeed if possible, do not smoke around the baby and avoid alcohol or drugs.

For more information on Sleep Baby Safely, visit the website here.

Read the article as originally published at https://stpetecatalyst.com/local-program-saves-infant-lives-expands-throughout-florida/

Five years ago, members of the Juvenile Welfare Board of Pinellas County set out to reduce the largest cause of preventable baby deaths in Florida: suffocation due to unsafe sleep.

Using data from the medical examiner’s office, the board found that more than 100 babies died from sleep-related suffocation over a decade in Pinellas — enough children to fill six kindergarten classrooms.

“These were all healthy babies and death was otherwise preventable,” said April Putzulu, a senior manager with the board. “If we could get our arms around this one cause of death, we could keep children healthy and alive.”

That was the thinking behind the board’s 2018 launch of the Sleep Baby Safely campaign, which works to educate parents on safe sleeping practices for their babies.

Since its inception, Putzulu said that the number of sleep-related suffocation deaths in the county has been cut in half.

With newly secured funding from the state, the program is now set to expand to eight other counties around Florida, including Hillsborough County. It’s the first time state money has been designated in the health department’s budget to prevent child deaths. Broward, Duval, Miami-Dade, Orange, Palm Beach, and Polk are the other areas where it’s expanding.

Deaths that were the result of unsafe sleep affected families across a wide range of income, races and ethnicities, Putzulu said.

The Sleep Baby Safely campaign provides frequent reminders about safe sleeping practices, beginning at the hospital and continuing through parent outreach programs.

The program is data driven and materials are made available to parents in both English and Spanish, Putzulu said.

“We know more today than we used to,” said Putzulu. “When you know a cause of death, you can do things to prevent it. We’re grateful this work is expanding.”

Three tips for keeping your baby safe while sleeping:

1) Follow the Safe Sleep ABCs – which stand for Alone, Back, Crib – by putting your baby to sleep alone, on their back and in an empty crib, bassinet or Pack n’ Play.

2) Share a room, not a bed. Soft surfaces like adult beds, couches and air mattresses pose greater suffocation risk. Two-thirds of infant suffocation deaths occur when parents share a bed with their baby.

3) Stay alert when feeding your baby by setting alarms and making sure the baby is returned to the crib.

For more information, visit https://www.sleepbabysafely.com/

View the article as originally published, with additional images, at https://www.tampabay.com/news/health/2023/01/31/florida-babies-sleeping-safely-sudden-infant-death-suffocation

On Monday, January 30, parents gathered at JWB with their little Babies New Year, joining state and local officials to raise awareness and announce the statewide expansion of locally born Sleep Baby Safely.

Dressed in the campaign’s Sleep Me This Side Up onesies, these babies represented the more than 7,000 born in Pinellas County each year. The goal is to ensure all babies can celebrate their first birthdays.

Thanks to the leadership and support of the Governor and Florida Legislature, the Florida Department of Health secured funding in this year’s budget to expand this proven prevention model to other counties across the state.

Watch the news segment covering this celebration and press event at https://www.wtsp.com/video/news/health/babies-should-sleep-flat-on-their-backs-in-a-crib-or-bassinet-local-group-advocates/67-56efc741-6217-426a-a7a7-aef6c0cfb8f8

Kirk Ray Smith, former president and CEO of Clearwater-based Hope Villages of America (HVA), resigned earlier this week. His departure follows an emergency board meeting to discuss allegations that he “ranted” at a volunteer committee after they raised $70,000 for an HVA women’s shelter. Melinda Perry, the nonprofit’s chief operating officer, will serve as interim president. The Juvenile Welfare Board stopped funding an HVA family homeless shelter in December 2020 due to management and financial concerns.

Read the article as originally published at https://stpetecatalyst.com/zaps/embattled-nonprofit-ceo-resigns/

The CEO and president of Hope Villages of America resigned this week, ending an often tumultuous seven-year tenure at the Clearwater nonprofit.

Kirk Ray Smith’s resignation came after board members held an emergency meeting Nov. 28. They met to discuss why all six members of a volunteer committee had resigned after raising $72,000 for The Haven, a women’s shelter run by Hope Villages. Committee members told the Tampa Bay Times in November that Smith “ranted” at them for 20 minutes during a video call, telling them that he should be respected and that he should be treated like the “president of a billion dollar company, or the sheriff.”

A statement released late Thursday from the nonprofit’s governing board said Smith had resigned to pursue other opportunities.

“On behalf of the board of directors, we thank Kirk for his service and wish him the very best in his future endeavors,” the statement read.

Smith could not be reached for comment late Thursday.

Melinda Perry, the group’s chief operating officer, will serve as its interim leader. A former executive at the St. Petersburg Housing Authority, she joined Hope Villages in 2017.

“HVA remains fully committed to those facing hunger, serving homeless families, supporting those in need of affordable housing, and addressing abuse,” the statement said. “We are excited to work with Melinda in a new capacity.”

After the resignation of the fundraising committee, the board appeared ready to continue to back Smith. A statement posted on the group’s website and attributed to the board stated, “We stand behind our CEO and executive management team.”

It included a statement from Smith that the comments made by the volunteers were not accurate and they had gone to the media to “tarnish his character.”

Smith was hired by the nonprofit, then known as Religious Community Services of Pinellas, in 2016. In addition to the women’s shelter, it also runs a food bank. It reported raising $11.1 million in contributions and grants in 2018, according to the most recent tax return available. Smith’s salary that year was roughly $117,000.

Under his leadership, the nonprofit was forced to close the county’s largest homeless shelter for families this year after it lost $400,000 in annual funding from the Juvenile Welfare Board, which awards property tax revenues to social service programs. The group voted unanimously in December 2020 to end the contract over concerns about finance and management, including high staff turnover, a lack of sound financial practices and two deaths of occupants from suspected overdoses.

This year, Smith and the group agreed to a confidential settlement after three former female employees claimed in a 2019 lawsuit that he frequently made sexually inappropriate comments. The lawsuit claimed that Smith told female employees they should wear lipstick and appeal to his ego by telling him how nice he looks.

Read the article as originally published at https://www.tampabay.com/news/pinellas/2022/12/08/hope-villages-of-america-ceo-resigns-controversial-tenure-clearwater-nonprofit/