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Another Rick Scott staff shift, another org chart…

in Statewide/Top Headlines by

Frank Collins‘ departure from the embrace of the Executive Office of the Governor means yet another rejiggered organizational chart of Gov. Rick Scott‘s team.

The latest chart shows that Collins, a former deputy chief of staff, hasn’t been replaced. Rather, his portfolio has been spread among remaining deputy chiefs and other high-level officials. For example:

— CareerSource Florida to Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rasmussen.

— Department of Economic Opportunity, Enterprise Florida to Legislative Affairs Director Kevin Reilly.

— Statewide Guardian ad Litem to Deputy Chief of Staff Kristin Olson.

— Department of Juvenile Justice, VISIT FLORIDA to Director of Policy Jeff Woodburn.

— Space Florida to Budget Director Cynthia Kelly.

— Department of State to General Counsel William Spicola.

After new Chief of Staff Kim McDougal took over from predecessor Melissa Sellers, Collins left the EOG to become “senior policy advisor” to Department of Transportation Secretary Jim Boxold.

Why does all this matter? Here’s longtime capital reporter Gary Fineout’s explanation:

…Because it shows the names of the people inside the governor’s office who have direct responsibility over various functions in state government. These are the people who work day to day with agency heads and serve as the liaison between them and the governor. And they are the ones that lobbyists generally turn to when they have a problem or issue with a particular agency head(emphasis added).

For a walk down memory lane, previous charts can be viewed here, here, here and here.

Before joining Florida Politics, journalist and attorney James Rosica was state government reporter for The Tampa Tribune. He attended journalism school in Washington, D.C., working at dailies and weekly papers in Philadelphia after graduation. Rosica joined the Tallahassee Democrat in 1997, later moving to the courts beat, where he reported on the 2000 presidential recount. In 2005, Rosica left journalism to attend law school in Philadelphia, afterwards working part time for a public-interest law firm. Returning to writing, he covered three legislative sessions in Tallahassee for The Associated Press, before joining the Tribune’s re-opened Tallahassee bureau in 2013. He can be reached at [email protected]

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