A long-time fixture in Northeast Florida politics is getting reappointed to a panel that oversees the state’s prepaid college process.
Gov. Ron DeSantis announced he’s approved yet another term for John Rood to serve on the Florida Prepaid College Board. DeSantis made the reappointment this month.
The Prepaid College Board oversees the program in Florida that allows families to make contributions to their child’s college tuition as the child is growing up. The contributions to the college tuition savings maintains a guaranteed fixed rate as families contribute to the educational tuition account. It was established by the Florida Legislature in 1988 and it’s the largest prepaid program in the United States.
Rood has been anchored in Florida politics for years. He was the U.S. Ambassador to the Commonwealth of the Bahamas from 2004 to 2007 under former President George W. Bush. He’s still active in Republican Party politics and was appointed Florida Finance Chairman for the GOP by former Gov. Charlie Crist in 2009.
He’s also been a major supporter of Republican candidates and is a regular contributor to GOP campaigns. He’s supported DeSantis in his bids for public office.
Rood has the means for such contributions as he’s the Founder and Chairman of The Vestcor Companies. Vestcor is a major development firm headquartered on the First Coast. It’s largely focused on development projects in the Jacksonville area and surrounding locales.
Rood began the company in 1983 and it has grown into a firm that has developed into a substantial developer of multi-family communities. It’s estimated Vestcor has accounted for developing 18,000 living units.
His reach in government services goes back decades and he was a member of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission after being appointed to the organization in 1999 by former Gov. Jeb Bush.
Rood was also a member of the Advisory Council on Renewal Communities for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
He also has a history with educational aspects of Florida as Crist also appointed Rood to the Board of Governors to the State University System and served on that panel until 2013.
The reappointment by DeSantis still has to get final approval from the Florida Senate.
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