Steve MacNamara pulls double duty: Harid. staff chief -- and general counsel

Incoming Senate President isn't just firing people these days. He has hired Steve MacNamara to be his chief of staff and the Senate's top lawyer. Letter here:

Allow me to take this opportunity to let you know that I’ve asked Professor Stephen R. MacNamara to serve as both Chief of Staff and General Counsel during my term as Senate President.  Most have you have worked with Steve in the past and I know all of us that know him look forward to working with him these next two years.

By way of background, Steve has worked with members of the U.S. House of Representatives and served as a Special Assistant to a U.S. Senator.  He was also a Special Assistant to the Florida Senate President in 1982, primarily involved in reapportionment and served for a short period in 1992 as the Federal Government’s Florida expert in that area.  Steve was appointed Secretary of the Department of Business Regulation under Governor Bob Martinez and succeeded Governor Lawton Chiles as the Director of the Collins Center for Public Policy.  He served for three years as the Associate Dean of the Florida State University College of Law.

Steve was the General Counsel and Media Consultant to No Casinos, Inc., founding President of the Coalition for Family Safety and founding and past president of the Florida Association of Health Plans.  For eight years, Steve also assisted the Miami Herald in its annual ranking of the Florida Legislature.

During the 1999 Legislative Session, Steve was asked to serve as the first “Professor in Residence” for the Florida House of Representatives and during the 2000 Session served in the position of Chief of Staff for the Florida House under Speaker John Thrasher.  Governor Jeb Bush appointed him to the position of Chairman of the Governor's Ex-Offenders Task Force to investigate ways for former prisoners to successfully reenter society.

Steve is formerly the Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs at Florida State University, past Executive Director of both the Claude Pepper Center and the Claude Pepper Foundation and most recently was an Associate Professor of Communication where he specialized in mass media law issues and political communications and strategies. In July of last year, Steve was named one of the four finalists for the position of Chancellor of the State University System.  He was recently named one of Florida’s “2010 Legal Elite” by Florida Trend Magazine.
 
Hope all is well with all of you!
 

By way of background, Steve has worked with members of the U.S. House of Representatives and served as a Special Assistant to a U.S. Senator.  He was also a Special Assistant to the Florida Senate President in 1982, primarily involved in reapportionment and served for a short period in 1992 as the Federal Government’s Florida expert in that area.  Steve was appointed Secretary of the Department of Business Regulation under Governor Bob Martinez and succeeded Governor Lawton Chiles as the Director of the Collins Center for Public Policy.  He served for three years as the Associate Dean of the Florida State University College of Law.

Steve was the General Counsel and Media Consultant to No Casinos, Inc., founding President of the Coalition for Family Safety and founding and past president of the Florida Association of Health Plans.  For eight years, Steve also assisted the Miami Herald in its annual ranking of the Florida Legislature.

During the 1999 Legislative Session, Steve was asked to serve as the first “Professor in Residence” for the Florida House of Representatives and during the 2000 Session served in the position of Chief of Staff for the Florida House under Speaker John Thrasher.  Governor Jeb Bush appointed him to the position of Chairman of the Governor's Ex-Offenders Task Force to investigate ways for former prisoners to successfully reenter society.

Steve is formerly the Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs at Florida State University, past Executive Director of both the Claude Pepper Center and the Claude Pepper Foundation and most recently was an Associate Professor of Communication where he specialized in mass media law issues and political communications and strategies. In July of last year, Steve was named one of the four finalists for the position of Chancellor of the State University System.  He was recently named one of Florida’s “2010 Legal Elite” by Florida Trend Magazine.
 
Hope all is well with all of you!