Jeff Scala

from INFLUENCE Magazine - Spring 2023

MADISON’S INDEX

By Andrew Meacham

Formost people, staying on top of policy opportunities for each of the state’s 67 counties would feel about as comfortable as a hand on a stove burner. Jeff Scala, who does that and much more for the Florida Association of Counties (FAC), has seized upon that kind of work like a kid with an Xbox.

Scala, FAC’s senior associate director of public policy, recently worked behind the scenes to design and pull off the first statewide broadband conference of this size and scale. Access 67 Broadband Summit, held in January in Ponte Vedra, drew around 250 conventioneers representing state and federal agencies, with a goal of connecting counties with the tools to apply for millions in federal grants.

“We put everybody in one room, under one roof at the same time, with nothing competing with it,” said Ginger Delegal, FAC’s Executive Director. “Jeff ended up really heading the programming, putting together the workshops and getting the moderators, which for someone of his age and experience was a tall task. And he delivered with flying colors.”

Since joining the association as a policy analyst, he has delved into water and the environment, taxes, economic development, rural affairs — and, most recently, cyber security and other tech issues. “Maybe because I’m the millennial on the team,” Scala, 31, said.

Scala also serves as president of the Florida Association of Intergovernmental Relations, an association of city and county governmental relations professionals.

It almost didn’t happen that way. Scala grew up in Tarpon Springs, where his parents had moved from the Philadelphia area. For as long as he can remember, he always followed political news.

“I just always had this fascination,” he said. He chose Florida State University in part because it was in the capital city, majoring in political science. He learned the value of public service from his father, Howard Scala, who died when Jeff was 18. The elder Scala was also a poli-sci major who had once dreamed of being a political staffer.

“He switched to business,” Jeff Scala said. “I think that probably stuck with me a little bit during those years.”

With graduation looming, Scala gave his long-standing plans to go to law school another look. He decided on FSU’s MAPP program instead.

After graduating with a master’s in policy and politics, he spent the next several years working for legislators, either on campaigns or at the Capitol. His first post-degree job offer came in 2015.

Rewards came in dense, information-laden increments through five Legislative Sessions with then-Sen. Eleanor Sobel, then-Rep. Kristin Jacobs and Sen. Lauren Book. His first bill with Jacobs, for example, was about protecting a coral reef stretching from St. Lucie Inlet to Biscayne National Park, a 105mile stretch now named after Jacobs, who died of cancer in 2020.

FAC required him to add more layers of expertise. Through disparities revealed by the pandemic, broadband has become foundational for digital literacy and access to school, telehealth and readiness for future development. The Access 67 audience heard from keynoters Gary Bolton, president and chief executive officer of the Fiber Broadband Association, and Evan Feinman, who directs broadband equity, access and deployment for the National Telecommunications and Information Administration.

Delegal, the executive director, praised his work ethic and acumen. “He comes in with a strategic mind and an appreciation for politics, and then how policies can work their way through and come to life. So he has a great combination of policy and strategy. And that’s rare. Usually you either find one or the other.”

“It’s about home rule,” Scala added. “Local government is the government closest to the people — and we here in Tallahassee represent those values in the halls of the Capitol.”