Water For Fighting Brett Cyphers

In this episode, Brett closes out Season 3 with former Deputy Secretary of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, and current Executive Director of the South Florida Water Management District – Drew Bartlett.
While Drew was born and raised in Georgia, he has made a real name for himself in the water management and environmental restoration world here in the far superior state of Florida.  He was pivotal in the creation of Basin Management Action Plans (BMAPs), and a new path to success, in some of Florida’s most impaired waters. He’s also been a catalyst in the continuing effort to restore iconic places like the Florida Everglades, Biscayne Bay, and the Indian River Lagoon.
They discuss his pedigree for public service passed down from his parents; how his career brought him to Florida; his need to be challenged and overcome challenges; the challenges he’s tackling with his incredible staff, board, and wide array of communities and stakeholders; what South Florida looks like with a rising ocean and aging flood control system; and how he leans on science, experience, confidence, and boundless optimism to face the future.
Drew is one of the absolute best at what he does, and we’re happy that he agreed to share his experience and insights with us.
We hope you enjoy the conversation!
To learn more about what the South Florida Water Management District is doing to serve its communities and make the world a better place, go here:  https://www.sfwmd.gov
To learn more about Drew’s work at DEP, especially as it relaltes to Basin Management Action Plan, head here:https://floridadep.gov/dear/water-quality-restoration/content/basin-management-action-plans-bmaps
This episode of Water for Fighting is brought to you by my friends at Sea and Shoreline.  
Sea and Shoreline is the Southeast’s leading innovator in protecting coastal communities from devastating storms and restoring ecosystems that once faced ecological collapse. Visit their website at www.Seaandshoreline.com.  
This Episode is also thanks to my friends at Resource Environmental Solutions.
RES is the nation’s leader in ecological restoration, helping to restore Florida’s natural resources with water quality and stormwater solutions that offer communities guaranteed performance and outcomes. Check them out at www.res.us 
Please be sure to check out the Florida Specifier Podcast hosted by Ryan Matthews and myself as part of a new venture where we’re striving to become Florida’s first source for environmental news, educational tools, and unique perspectives on our state’s natural environment and the events that shape it.  To learn more about its flagship print publication and more, visit The Florida Specifier.
You can follow the show on LinkedIn and Instagram @flwaterpod, and you can reach me directly at FLwaterpod@gmail.com with your comments and suggestions for who and/or what you’d like to know more about.
Production of this podcast is by Lonely Fox Studios. Thanks to Karl Sorne for making the best of what he had to work with. And to David Barfield for the amazing graphics and technical assistance.
And finally, a very special thank you goes out to Bo Spring from the Bo Spring Band  for giving permission to use his music for this podcast.  The song is called Doing Work for Free, (Apple Music | Spotify) and you should check out the band live, or wherever great music is sold.

In this episode, Brett sits down with former four-term member of the Florida House of Representatives, Florida Keys champion, and current mayor of Monroe County – Holly Raschein.

Holly was born and raised in Alaska, but she has ultimately made her home over 5,000 miles away in the Florida Keys.  Holly got her start in the legislative process working for lobbying legend Bob Levy, working with now-Florida Senator, Ana Maria Rodriguez.  She would go on to work as an aide to two House members from Monroe County (Ken Sorensen and Ron Saunders) before staking her own claim on Florida’s Southernmost seat in the legislature for four terms.  In addition to being a county commissioner and the county’s mayor, she is also the Director of Government Affairs for AshBritt, a well-known operator in the world of disaster recovery.

They discuss her parents’ individual journeys to end up in Alaska; her childhood amongst the moose; the decision to head for the opposite side of the country for college at Florida State University; how she ended up in the “Fabulous Florida Keys”; the interesting and quirky similarities between the Keys and Alaska; how she decided to run for state office and the massive impact she made there; what the passage of the Florida Keys Stewardship Act means for the future of her community; what she brought back home to make her more effective as a county commissioner; and the challenges that lie ahead for The Keys.

Holly is as active as ever in her many philanthropic endeavors, and even with an incredibly busy life, she still makes her son her biggest priority.  If you want to find out what makes the Keys special and what it takes to make a difference there, this is a conversation you won’t want to miss.  Plus, you’ll get some advice on what to do if you get chased by a moose.

We hope you enjoy the conversation!

To check out Holly’s Wikipedia page, go here:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holly_Merrill_Raschein

To see what’s in the Florida Keys Stewardship Act, head here: https://www.monroecounty-fl.gov/721/Florida-Keys-Stewardship-Act

If you’d like to know more about Holly’s important work at AshBritt, go here: https://www.ashbritt.com

While you’re here, why not check out a few fun facts about Alaskan Moose here: https://www.alaskatourjobs.com/blog/useful-tips/five-fun-facts-about-alaskan-moose/

This episode of Water for Fighting is brought to you by my friends at Sea and Shoreline.  

Sea and Shoreline is the Southeast’s leading innovator in protecting coastal communities from devastating storms and restoring ecosystems that once faced ecological collapse. Visit their website at www.Seaandshoreline.com.  

This Episode is also thanks to my friends at Resource Environmental Solutions.

RES is the nation’s leader in ecological restoration, helping to restore Florida’s natural resources with water quality and stormwater solutions that offer communities guaranteed performance and outcomes. Check them out at www.res.us 

Please be sure to check out the Florida Specifier Podcast hosted by Ryan Matthews and myself as part of a new venture where we’re striving to become Florida’s first source for environmental news, educational tools, and unique perspectives on our state’s natural environment and the events that shape it.  To learn more about its flagship print publication and more, visit The Florida Specifier.

You can follow the show on LinkedIn and Instagram @flwaterpod, and you can reach me directly at FLwaterpod@gmail.com with your comments and suggestions for who and/or what you’d like to know more about.

Production of this podcast is by Lonely Fox Studios. Thanks to Karl Sorne for making the best of what he had to work with. And to David Barfield for the amazing graphics and technical assistance.

And finally, a very special thank you goes out to Bo Spring from the Bo Spring Band  for giving permissi

This week, Brett sits down with professor, researcher, and award-winning author, David Sedlak to talk about his latest book, Water for All – Global Solutions for a Changing Climate.  David started his career as a researcher looking to solve our world’s water quality challenges but eventually shifted his focus to working on how to cope with, or even prevent, water scarcity in the United States and throughout the world.  

They discuss the “Six Water Crises”; the “Great Acceleration”; the difference in the scope of challenges between rich and poor countries, as well as rich and poor within a country; the role of dams in a post-Acceleration nation and world; salinization of farmland soils out West and what we need to do about it; and his artful distinction between optimism and hopefulness as it relates to the future of water.   

To buy Water for All, try here before you go to Amazon or the other big guys: https://www.midtownreader.com/book/9780300256932

You can get his first book, Water 4.0, there as well. Here’s the link for it: https://www.midtownreader.com/book/9780300212679

Why not check out David’s TED Talk.  It’s really good, and it’ll give you a sense of what he’s about while you’re waiting for your copy of his books to arrive.  Find it here: https://www.ted.com/talks/david_sedlak_4_ways_we_can_avoid_a_catastrophic_drought?language=en

David talked about what got him interested in working on water issues, and one of the motivators was an environmental disaster that was discovered in the late 70s, known as Love Canal.  If you’re not familiar it, here’s a decent place to start: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Love_Canal

To keep up with the other good work David is doing, including as director of the Berkeley Water Center at the University of California, Berkeley, check out his page here: https://ce.berkeley.edu/people/faculty/sedlak

This episode of Water for Fighting is brought to you by my friends at RES.

RES is the nation’s leader in ecological restoration, helping to restore Florida’s natural resources with water quality and stormwater solutions that offer communities guaranteed performance and outcomes. Check them out at www.res.us 

This Episode is also thanks to my friends at Collins Land Services.

When it comes to your disaster recovery and land management needs, you’re looking for the perfect combination of competence, reliability, and affordability.  And that means you’re looking for Collins Land Services.  Check them out at www.collinsland.com

Please be sure to check out the Florida Specifier Podcast hosted by Ryan Matthews and myself as part of a new venture where we’re striving to become Florida’s first source for environmental news, educational tools, and unique perspectives on our state’s natural environment and the events that shape it.  To learn more about its flagship print publication and more, visit The Florida Specifier.

You can follow the show on LinkedIn and Instagram @flwaterpod, and you can reach me directly at FLwaterpod@gmail.com with your comments and suggestions for who and/or what you’d like to know more about.

Production of this podcast is by Lonely Fox Studios. Thanks to Karl Sorne for making the best of what he had to work with. And to David Barfield for the amazing graphics and technical assistance.

And finally, a very special thank you goes out to Bo Spring from the Bo Spring Band  for giving permission to use his music for this podcast.  The song is called Doing Work for Free, (Apple Music | Spotify) and you should check out the band live, or wherever great music is sold. 4

This week, Brett had the privilege of sharing some time with Tampa and Florida legend – Governor Bob Martinez.  He was Tampa’s 54th mayor and Florida’s 40th governor; both positions held as the first of Spanish descent.  He also has deep roots in Tampa, his grandparents having immigrated from Spain at the turn of the 20th Century during a great boom in the cigar industry there.  His father worked in the restaurant business, including as a long-time employee at the famed Columbia Restaurant in Ybor City, and then later at the family-owned Café Sevilla in West Tampa.

Martinez was a star athlete at Jefferson High School, a graduate of the University of Tampa, and got his professional start as a classroom teacher before becoming the Executive Director of the Hillsborough County Classroom Teachers Association.  He was called upon by Governor Ruben Askew to serve on the Governing Board of the Southwest Florida Water Management District and chair three Basin Boards there: The Hillsborough River, Northwest Hillsborough, and Alafia River.  

They discuss his childhood in Old Tampa where he enjoyed school, excelled at sports, and spent his free moments fishing with his father and his friends; how Café Sevilla became the birthplace of a mayor’s race and the campaign to be Governor of Florida; how his service as head of the teachers union gave him his first taste of real politics; his time at Swiftmud gave him a taste for the water and environmental needs of a region; and a mayorship that gave him the opportunity to restore, innovate, and move his home city forward.

His term as governor would be marked by enacting some of the most consequential environmental policy in Florida history including the enactment of the Preservation 2000 conservation land acquisition program, the Growth Management Act, and the Surface Water Improvement and Management Act.  He also implemented the Florida Lottery, created Florida’s Turnpike Authority, and created Space Port Florida.  

There are a few other achievements in particular that hold a more personal value to Brett including Martinez’s restoration of the Lowry Park Zoo from the ground up as mayor; the creation of Florida Prepaid College; the rebirth of Nature’s Classroom in Hillsborough County; an amazing nearly 70-year (and counting) partnership with his beloved wife Mary Jane; and of course, his analysis of why the Tampa Cuban sandwich is superior to the one from Miami (it's the bread).

He's still as active as ever, serving on many boards and clubs, is a Senior Policy Advisor with the Holland & Knight Law Firm, and at 89 years-old, you can still find him on his daily walks or on the tennis court.

We hope you enjoy the conversation!

To visit Governor Martinez’s page at the Holland & Knight law firm, go here:  https://www.hklaw.com/en/professionals/m/martinez-bob

To see his useful, but woefully incomplete Wikipedia page, head here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Martinez

To see a decent history of Florida’s land conservation programs, including Governor Martinez’s efforts which led to Preservation 2000, go here: https://ufdcimages.uflib.ufl.edu/IR/00/00/19/42/00001/FE33100.pdf

To see an image of the menu from the Governor’s family restaurant, check it out here: http://ciadigitalcollections.culinary.edu/digital/collection/p16940coll1/id/14253

The Governor was a star athlete at the University of Tampa, and the sports facility there is even named in his honor.  To get a look at that, head to their site here: https://www.tampaspartans.com/information/athletic_info/facilities/Martinez/index

This episode of Water for Fighting is brought to you by my friends at Sea and Shoreline.  

Sea and Shoreline is the Southeast’s leading innovator in protecting coastal communities from devastating storms and restoring ecosystems that once faced ecological collapse. Visit their website at www.Seaandshoreline.com.  

This week, Brett got to share some time with a true gentleman, friend, and public servant - Hugh Thomas.  Hugh has been the Executive Director of the Suwannee River Water Management District for over seven years, and he has brought a wealth of experience to that role which was earned in the private sector as well as his various roles at the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.  

He’s a big believer in the innovative work of the Suwannee River Partnership, and he shares some insights on how the “Fifth Largest Water Management District in Florida”, is tackling the water quantity and quality challenges of today and tomorrow.

They talk about his family’s roots in Gilchrist County; the shocking news that Hugh was born in Tampa; how his professional path has crossed a few times with mutual friend and guest of the podcast, Ann Shortelle; his philosophy for partnership with the agricultural community; his appreciation for governing boards, and his in particular; his questionable advice on whether to build a house with your spouse as a young couple; and of course, his likeness to the mythical lumberjack - Paul Bunyan.  

Hugh was generous with his time and insights, and we hope you enjoy the conversation.  

To find out more about the Suwannee River Partnership, head here: https://suwanneeriverpartnership.com

To learn about the Suwannee River Water Management District, go here: https://www.mysuwanneeriver.com

To see the cost-share opportunities available through the District’s portal, go here: https://www.mysuwanneeriver.com/366/Agricultural-Cost-Share-Program and here: https://www.mysuwanneeriver.com/374/RIVER-Cost-Share-Program

And because you probably don’t know where Bell, Florida is (or that the town was named after the winner of a beauty contest, Bell Fletcher), check out the town’s website here: https://www.townofbellflorida.com

This episode of Water for Fighting is brought to you by my friends at Sea and Shoreline.  

Sea and Shoreline is the Southeast’s leading innovator in protecting coastal communities from devastating storms and restoring ecosystems that once faced ecological collapse. Visit their website at www.Seaandshoreline.com.  

This Episode is also thanks to my friends at Resource Environmental Solutions.

RES is the nation’s leader in ecological restoration, helping to restore Florida’s natural resources with water quality and stormwater solutions that offer communities guaranteed performance and outcomes. Check them out at www.res.us 

Please be sure to check out the Florida Specifier Podcast hosted by Ryan Matthews and myself as part of a new venture where we’re striving to become Florida’s first source for environmental news, educational tools, and unique perspectives on our state’s natural environment and the events that shape it.  To learn more about its flagship print publication and more, visit The Florida Specifier.

You can follow the show on LinkedIn and Instagram @flwaterpod, and you can reach me directly at FLwaterpod@gmail.com with your comments and suggestions for who and/or what you’d like to know more about.

Production of this podcast is by Lonely Fox Studios. Thanks to Karl Sorne for making the best of what he had to work with. And to David Barfield for the amazing graphics and technical assistance.  

And finally, a very special thank you goes out to Bo Spring from the Bo Spring Band  for giving permission to use his music for this podcast.  The song is called Doing Work for Free, (Apple Music | Spotify) and you should check out the band live, or wherever great music is sold. 

This week, Brett goes on a deep dive with a friend who exemplifies what this podcast is all about – Ansley Tilley.  Ansley is one of the most talented engineers in Florida who has a wide array of experience from her time with the United States Air Force, the City of Palm Beach Gardens, and the South Florida Water Management District.  But her real talent and passion is for service and problem-solving, so they discuss how her experiences have culminated in her current role as the Director of Alternative Delivery Solutions with our friends, Resource Environmental Solutions (RES).  
They delve into the “milk story”, and how her parents sacrificed to provide her with the tools to succeed in later life; her dream of being an astronaut and the early disappointments surrounding that dream; a change in heart while attaining massive success in ROTC at the University of Miami; her brief but poignant experience serving her country in Ukraine; the love of family and the heartbreaking losses that have brought her back home over the years; her philosophy for work and service that have carried her since childhood; and how a brain built for problem-solving approaches the challenges of an ever-changing environmental landscape. 
This conversation was very emotional at times and dealt with some sensitive subjects, but the lessons that can be drawn from it on a personal and professional level are priceless.  We hope you find it as meaningful as we did. 
To learn more about Ansley’s work and how she can help solve your environmental problems too, go here:  www.res.us or email her at: atilley@res.us
This Episode is brought to you by our friends at Collins Land Services.
When it comes to your disaster recovery and land management needs, you’re looking for the perfect combination of competence, reliability, and affordability.  And that means you’re looking for Collins Land Services.  Check them out at www.collinsland.com
Please be sure to check out the Florida Specifier Podcast hosted by Ryan Matthews and Brett as part of a new venture where they’re striving to become Florida’s first source for environmental news, educational tools, and unique perspectives on our state’s natural environment and the events that shape it.  To learn more about its flagship print publication and more, visit The Florida Specifier.
You can follow the show on LinkedIn and Instagram @flwaterpod, and you can reach me directly at FLwaterpod@gmail.com with your comments and suggestions for who and/or what you’d like to know more about.
Production of this podcast is by Lonely Fox Studios. Thanks to Karl Sorne for making the best of what he had to work with. And to David Barfield for the amazing graphics and technical assistance.  
And finally, a very special thank you goes out to Bo Spring from the Bo Spring Band  for giving permission to use his music for this podcast.  The song is called Doing Work for Free, (Apple Music | Spotify) and you should check out the band live, or wherever great music is sold.