Inspector General Committee

Michael Kridel is a Certified Public Accountant and Shareholder in Michael S. Kridel, C.P.A., P.A., in Delray Beach. He holds the Certified in Financial Forensics, Certified Information Technology Professional and Certified Forensic Consultant designations as well as others. Mr. Kridel has practiced public accounting in South Florida since graduation from The George Washington University. Prior to reestablishing his named practice in 2018, he was a Partner in Daszkal Bolton for 17 years and then a Principal in Rehmann Robson for nearly 5 years. He previously practiced as a sole practitioner. Mr. Kridel has provided accounting, tax and litigation services in a broad range of matters including family law, stockholder actions, financial damages, fraud detection, criminal and civil tax matters, wrongful discharge and professional malpractice defense.

Mr. Kridel is a frequent speaker and author, garnering numerous awards, at national and local conferences for accountants and attorneys on topics such as litigation services, professional ethics, eDiscovery, practice management, information technology and human resources. He is a certified ethics instructor for CPAs in Florid , an online instructor in forensic accounting courses for the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and a guest instructor at Florida Atlantic University and other institutions. He is a longtime member of the Editorial Review Panels of the Journal of Accountancy and Florida CPA Today. Mr. Kridel has been a Rotarian since 1986 and is a board member of multiple not-for-profit organizations.

For more than 25 years, Mr. Kridel has facilitated an award-winning seminar, Ethical Decision Making in the Workplace and Society, for Broward County high schools, positively influencing in excess of 15,000 seniors. He is also the accounting profession’s representative member of the Education Advisory Committee of the Florida Board of Accountancy.

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.

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.

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!