DeSantis reappoints Sarasota entrepreneur Joel Schleicher to water management board

Anne Snabes, Sarasota Herald-Tribune
·2 min read
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Joel Schleicher, who represents Sarasota and Charlotte counties on the governing board of the Southwest Florida Water Management District.
Joel Schleicher, who represents Sarasota and Charlotte counties on the governing board of the Southwest Florida Water Management District.

Gov. Ron DeSantis has re-appointed Sarasota businessman Joel Schleicher and two other individuals to the governing board of the Southwest Florida Water Management District. He also appointed one new board member.

The district sets water management policies for a 10,000-square-mile area that stretches from Charlotte County in the south to Levy County in the north. DeSantis’ office announced the appointments to the district’s board in a news release late last week.

Schleicher is an entrepreneur and the former founder and executive chair of Focal Point Data Risk, LLC, a cybersecurity services firm. For more than 30 years he has run and founded technology companies selling enterprise solutions, according to his SWFWMD profile.

Schleicher represents Sarasota and Charlotte counties on the Governing Board. (Only part of Charlotte County is in the district.) He has served on the board since 2017.

Schleicher has served on the Florida Talent Development Council and was a member of the Business Executives for National Security, according to the governor’s news release. He earned his bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of Minnesota.

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DeSantis also re-appointed Ashley Bell Barnett, a Winter Haven resident, and Kelly Rice, a Webster resident, to the board. Barnett, who represents Polk County on the board, is a community advocate who serves on the Polk State College District Board of Trustees. Rice, who represents Citrus, Lake, Levy and Sumter counties, has several businesses and formerly served as state director of the Florida Farm Bureau Federation.

DeSantis also appointed one new board member: Nancy Watkins. A Tampa resident, Watkins is an accountant and serves on the Hillsborough Community College District Board of Trustees.

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: DeSantis makes picks for west coast water management board. See who.