Inspector General Committee

Rodney Romano is a Florida Licensed Attorney and Supreme Court Certified Circuit Civil Mediator. He founded Matrix Mediation in 2006 to bring a next level of excellence and consistency to the mediation profession. Mr. Romano has conducted more than 22,000 hours of circuit civil mediations and has been a member of the Florida Supreme Court appointed Mediator Qualifications and Disciplinary Review Board since 2009. Rodney is a former Board Certified Civil Trial Attorney and served 4 terms as Mayor of the City of Lake Worth, Florida.

Mr. Romano earned his law degree from Nova Southeastern University and his Bachelor of Arts degree from Emory University. Prior to admission to the Florida Bar, Rodney was a Florida Licensed Nursing Home Administrator and a Florida Certified General Contractor.

Rodney is a licensed (non-current) private pilot and Nitrox certified scuba diver, and a lifelong resident of Palm Beach County. He is married to Lynnette and has five children and three grandchildren.

For a more detailed resume, please see www.matrixmediation.com.

Alan Blass is the founder of AIB Forensics, specializing in forensic accounting and litigation support for attorneys and government agencies. With more than 40 years of experience as a Certified Public Accountant and Certified Fraud Examiner, he is widely recognized for his expertise in “following the money” to uncover complex fraud schemes, white-collar crime, construction disputes, business and governmental litigation, and matrimonial matters. He has served as an expert witness in numerous high-stakes proceedings and is known for delivering clear, persuasive analyses grounded in the highest ethical standards.

Mr. Blass’ background includes significant service in the public sector, notably as the Deputy Chief Auditor for the New York City Department of Investigation, where he conducted undercover operations and testified in cases involving organized crime and public corruption. In the private sector, he helped pioneer corporate forensic accounting at Kroll Associates and later performed essential oversight as a monitor for the deconstruction costs at the World Trade Center site following 9/11.

A recognized leader in the anti-fraud profession, Mr. Blass has served as President and Chairman of the New York City chapter of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) and as President of its South Florida chapter. He later founded the Palm Beach County chapter of the ACFE, where he also served as President and Chairman and now holds the title of President Emeritus. Mr. Blass remains a dedicated advocate for ethics and transparency and actively mentors the next generation of financial investigators.

Peter Cruise is Executive Director of the Public Ethics Academy and Affiliate Associate Professor at Florida Atlantic University. Both his academic and professional careers have been focused on improving the ethical climate in public sector programs and organizations.

Since graduating with his Ph.D. in Public Administration from FAU in 1995, Dr. Cruise taught ethics and organizational behavior in both undergraduate and graduate students in universities such as California State University-Chico, Golden Gate University, Louisiana State University and Mary Baldwin University. Before beginning his academic life, his professional career started in West Palm Beach in the early 1980s, working at St. Mary’s Hospital, and the Palm Beach Blood Bank, and later at Martin Memorial Hospital in Stuart.

In addition to many published articles, he is the co-editor of the Handbook of Organization Theory and Management: The Philosophical Approach (2nd Edition, 2006). In April 2015, Dr. Cruise was selected as a Distinguished Alumnus by the faculty of the College of Design and Social Inquiry at Florida Atlantic University.

Kristin Vara-Garcia has a wide range of experience from transactional to litigation. Ms. Vara-Garcia works for the School District of Palm Beach County in the Office of General Counsel as a senior attorney in the Business Operations group. Prior to joining the School District, Ms. Vara-Garcia was a real estate attorney in private practice and an Assistant State Attorney in Palm Beach County.

Ms. Vara-Garcia is dedicated to serving both the legal community and community at large. She currently serves as the Treasurer of Guild of Catholic Lawyers of the Dioceses of Palm Beach and is a volunteer for GTS Husky Rescue. Ms. Vara-Garcia also a Member of the Palm Beach County Bar Association and has served as the co-chair/moderator of the real estate/transactional section of the Palm Beach County Bench Bar for the last two years.

A native Floridian, Ms. Vara-Garcia graduated cum laude from the Florida State University with a Bachelor of Science in Criminology before earning her law degree from Nova Southeastern University, Shepard Broad College of Law, where she graduated cum laude. While at Nova, Ms. Vara-Garcia served as a Teaching Assistant for Professor Polli Camille Lamar in Legal Research and Writing, was a law clerk at a South Florida insurance defense firm, and a certified legal intern at the State Attorney’s Office in Broward County. She is also a published author whose article “Espionage: A Comparative Analysis” was nominated for multiple awards and published in the ILSA Journal of International and Comparative Law.

Daniel grew up in Wellington, Florida. He attended Suncoast High School in Riviera Beach where he received his International Baccalaureate Diploma upon graduation. Daniel went on to earn both his B.A. (2000) and J.D. (2003) from the University of Florida.

Daniel began his career in Carey Haughwout’s Palm Beach County Public Defender office in December 2003.

Over the last 20 years, Daniel has represented clients charged in misdemeanor, felony, and major crime cases — including capital cases in which the state was seeking the death penalty. He has experience supervising both misdemeanor and felony divisions. He oversees 100 lawyers, 100 support staff, with a total budget of approximately 18 million dollars.

Daniel is a member of the MacArthur Safety and Justice Challenge Core Team, which is focused on safely reducing jail population and racial disparity. He is the Co-Chair, Criminal Justice Subcommittee, on the West Palm Beach Task Force for Racial and Ethnic Equality.

Daniel is a member of the National and Florida Association(s) for Criminal Defense Lawyers, the Palm Beach Bar Association and a graduate of Leadership Palm Beach County.

Recently Daniel was elected to be the next Public Defender in Palm Beach County. His first term in office began in January.

Alexcia Cox proudly serves as the elected State Attorney for Florida’s 15th Judicial Circuit.

A Palm Beach County native, Ms. Cox’s esteemed legal career has spanned almost two decades, during which time she has successfully prosecuted hundreds of cases, including first-degree murders, domestic violence felonies, elder abuse, and other violent crimes.

After the workday ends, Ms. Cox selflessly lends her time in support of community groups, youth programs, and other organizations. She believes “mentors matter” and serves as a mentor for single mothers and a host of future leaders in our community.

Ms. Cox’s strong leadership and dedicated service to the community have been recognized by numerous organizations. In 2019, Ms. Cox received the distinguished Justice Barbara Pariente Award from the Palm Beach County Chapter of the Florida Association for Women Lawyers for her commitment to promoting women in the legal community. In 2024, she was honored by the Palm Beach County Black Chamber of Commerce as an Ascension Award recipient.

Ms. Cox is a past chair of the Florida Bar Professional Ethics Committee. Ms. Cox is a member of several organizations including Leadership Florida, the National District Attorneys Association, the National Black Prosecutors Association and Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated.

Ms. Cox graduated with honors from the University of Central Florida and Florida State University College of Law.

Ms. Cox began her career as a domestic violence prosecutor in the Palm Beach County State Attorney’s Office. She later earned a promotion to Chief of the Domestic Violence Unit. In 2019, she became the first Deputy Chief Assistant for former State Attorney Dave Aronberg.

Despite shattering a glass ceiling as the first woman and first black State Attorney in Palm Beach County, Ms. Cox proudly asserts that she did not run to be the first, but ran to become the best!