Becker & Poliakoff COO George Burgess Named to Florida P3 Task Force

Becker & Poliakoff is proud to announce that George Burgess, COO of the firm and co-vice chairman of its Public Private Partnership (P3) Practice Team, has been appointed to serve on the task force created by the state’s new P3 legislation.

Appointed by Governor Scott, the Partnership for Public Facilities and Infrastructure Act Guidelines Task Force will recommend guidelines for creating a uniform process for establishing public-private partnerships as directed by Florida’s new P3 law which took effect in July.

Chaired by Craig J. Nichols, the Secretary of Florida’s Department of Management Services, the seven member task force will serve a term beginning this month and ending December 31, 2014. Members also include:

• Frank C. Attkisson, County Commissioner in Osceola County
• Sonya C. Little, Chief Financial Officer for the City of Tampa.
• Andy Tuck, a school board member for Highlands County.
• Michael H. Olenick, vice president of corporate affairs and chief compliance officer of The Morganti Group.
• John “Jay” Smith, vice president at Ajax Building Corporation.

Mr. Burgess said, “Florida’s new P3 law expands the realm of possibilities for businesses to work together with counties, municipalities and special districts on projects that serve a public purpose, including airport or seaport structures, pipelines, mass transit infrastructure, nursing homes, educational buildings, and cultural centers or sports stadiums.”

Mr. Burgess joined Becker & Poliakoff in 2011 after a 28-year career in Miami-Dade County government. As County Manager for eight years, he held the highest executive position in one of the largest and most complex metropolitan regional governments in the United States.

P3 and other major infrastructure projects with which Mr. Burgess had direct involvement include the Port of Miami tunnel, Miami Marlins stadium, Miami International Airport terminal expansion project, Metrorail and automated people mover connections from downtown Miami to Miami International Airport, and numerous capital projects developed through the voter-approved $2.9 billion Building Better Communities Bond Program.

Becker & Poliakoff’s P3 practice team provides legal and consulting services to public entities and private businesses that are pursuing public purpose projects with private funding in order to handle the pent up demand for improvements to roads, sewers, schools and other public assets as a result of shrinking government funding.