Don Slesnick
MANAGING PARTNER, LAW OFFICES OF SLESNICK & CASEY LLP
“I miss being mayor because I miss serving the people. But I don’t miss the politics..."
Don Slesnick
Don Slesnick was Coral Gables’ mayor, from 2001 to 2011. Since then he has remained active in public service, most recently as president of the Orange Bowl Committee (through January of this year) and as Chair of the Labor and Employment section of the American Bar Association (through August of this year). He continues to serve on the Ethics Advisory Committee of the Miami-Dade County School Board, on the FSU Collins Institute Board, and as the honorary consul for Australia.
LATEST ACHIEVEMENT
At the Florida Bar annual convention in June, Slesnick was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Labor and Employment Law section. Almost simultaneously, he received the 2018 Distinguished Member Award from Leadership Florida, the prestigious statewide non-profit that trains and promotes community leaders.
WHAT HE SAYS
“Since leaving office as mayor the thing that I have been thankful for is that my life has been full, and not just in terms of children and grandchildren, which are of course fundamental,” he says. “Instead of sitting around pouting that I wasn’t mayor any longer, I put myself on track with the Orange Bowl and with the American Bar Association.” Slesnick says he was so surprised by his two awards this year that he couldn’t make travel arrangements in time, and was late for the one from Leadership Florida.
“I got there by three in the afternoon and they had already given it to me during the luncheon. So, everyone was laughing. They said they called my name three times, so that was embarrassing.” As for his role as the city’s chief executive, “I miss being mayor because I miss serving the people. But I don’t miss the politics. It’s not a gentleman’s game anymore.”
