Title: "Public Policy Needs Engineers: A Bureaucrat’s Perspective"

John Paul (JP) Fraites

John Paul (JP) Fraites is the Assistant Director for the Office of Agricultural Water Policy (OAWP) at the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS). JP’s role at OAWP focuses on policy and budget implementation through the office’s agricultural Best Management Practices (BMP) program and the corresponding cost share program and research initiatives to assist producers with implementing BMPs. Prior to joining FDACS this past September, JP lobbied for the Florida Association of Realtors, focusing on private property rights, land use, sustainable development, environmental resource protection, commercial real estate, and landlord/ tenant policy.

JP also worked at the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) in the Division of Air Resource Management, where he developed Florida’s Diesel Emissions Mitigation Program, which utilizes funding from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Volkswagen Clean Air Act Civil Settlement. In addition to his regulatory experience at FDEP, JP also served in Senator Scott’s second gubernatorial term as policy and budget liaison to FDACS, FDEP, the Florida Department of Citrus, the Florida Public Service Commission (PSC), and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWCC). JP is a two-time FSU graduate and is currently a doctoral student in Public Administration at FSU.