March 19, 2024

Key Advisers

Scott's Inner Circle

Florida's new governor is drafting heavily from the private sector -- and from outside the state -- as he makes key appointments.

Amy Keller | 3/1/2011

Bryan Koon

Bryan Koon
Position: Director, Florida Division of Emergency Management

Replaces: David Halstead

Previous Job: Director of Emergency Management at Walmart, Fayetteville, Ark., overseeing the emergency management operations of more than 8,500 facilities worldwide.?

Other experience: Koon worked at the White House Military Office for nearly seven years. As an active-duty Navy officer, he served as a watch officer in the president's Emergency Operations Center and as a training officer for Presidential Contingency Programs. He also worked for U.S. homeland security firm SRA International.

Education: Has a bachelor's in natural resources from Cornell University and an

MBA and a graduate certificate in emergency and crisis management from George Washington University.?

What others are saying: Eric Holdeman, an emergency management expert, recently noted that Koon had "hands down" the smallest business card he'd ever seen — about a third the size of a normal business card: "I remember asking him about it and the answer was that it is part of Walmart's effort to reduce the consumption of paper."

David Wilkins

David Wilkins
Position: Secretary, Department of Children and Families

Replaces: George Sheldon

Previous Job: Retired global managing director of sales for Accenture Health & Public Service group, a management consulting and technology services company

Other experience: Finance chairman of Florida Baptist Children's Home, a non-profit that provides residential care, emergency shelters, adoption shelter and foster care to children in the state's custody; served on Scott's "good government" transition team

Education: 1982 graduate of Lambuth University, Jackson, Tenn.

What others are saying: Wilkins' ties to Florida Baptist Children's Home — a group with strong Christian fundamentalist roots that allows only "professing Christians" to adopt children in its care —?have triggered concern among some gay rights advocates who worry that the fight over whether gay couples should be allowed to adopt in Florida will be revived. Florida stopped enforcing its ban on gay adoption after a 2010 appeals court ruling deemed the state law unconstitutional. While Scott has said he personally opposes adoption by homosexuals, Scott spokesman Brian Burgess says the governor has no plans at this time to revive the ban.

Tags: Politics & Law, Government/Politics & Law

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