Snapshot: FSDB Board of Governors

Members of the Board of Governors of the Florida School for the Deaf and Blind convened in emergency session Friday; four of the seven-member Board, none of whom resides in St Augustine, attended the meeting in person.

The purpose of the meeting was not to discuss pending legislation that could circumvent mediation with the City of St Augustine on building and zoning issues, or the position unanimously adopted in a resolution of the commission Monday night objecting to the school being given the right to eminent domain in that legislation.

The meeting was called to “discuss matters pertaining to the security of the unnamed alley alongside the President’s House, located at 27 Milton Street, and the Collins House, located on Nelmar Street.”

The next regular business meeting of the Board is scheduled for February 10, 2012, and will likely take up those remaining issues.

Those board members attending (in person):

Christopher Wagner
Title: Chairman
District: Bradenton (Manatee County)

Wagner is the Senior Vice President of Business Operations for CSDVRS, LLC, a video relay service provider. Deaf since birth, he attended Tucker-Maxon Oral School for the Deaf in Portland, Oregon, St. Mary’s School for the Deaf in Buffalo, New York. He graduated from Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, New York. The Governor appointed him to the Board for a term ending November 19, 2012.

Dr. Thomas M. Zavelson
District: Gainesville (Alachua County)

Dr. Zavelson is a June, 1969 graduate of the Duke University School of Medicine. He is a retired pediatrician and an adjunct professor of pediatrics at the University of Florida – College of Medicine. Zavelson is a member of the American Board of Pediatrics.

Edgar M. Turner
District: Pensacola (Escambia County)

Deaf since the age of six due to spinal meningitis, Turner has been on the Board of Trustees since 1981. He retired from Barnett Bank as a Vice President in 1999, after thirty-six years with that bank. Turner was mainstreamed into the regular public school system.

Gerald W. Weedon
District: Jacksonville (Duval County)

Weedon is a civil trial lawyer and partner with the law firm of Marks Gray, P.A. in Jacksonville. He is a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates and was named “2002 Lawyer of the Year”. His professional affiliations include membership in the Jacksonville Bar Association, Florida Bar, American Bar Association (Fellow), and the Catholic Lawyers Guild.