President – Michael Roth
Having passed the CPA exam before leaving New York, he took a position as an accounting manager in a mid-sized local CPA firm, which led to a partnership a few years later, a position that he maintained for over twenty years. He specialized in small business accounting and taxation, and over the years developed an expertise and became credentialed in business valuation, where he served as an expert witness in many divorce and stockholder dispute matters.
While in South Florida, he became involved in the Fort Lauderdale Children’s Theater, where he served on the Board of Directors for many years, including stints as Treasurer and President. He also became a barbershop singing aficionado and performer, serving as Treasurer and President for the local chapter of the Barbershop Harmony Society.
After marrying Cindy Noel in 2003, they decided to go into business together, and licensed and opened a diet ice cream store/diet grocery, D’Lites, in Gainesville, Florida, trying to get away from the overgrown South Florida scene. While in Gainesville, Michael also served as Treasurer, Secretary and President with the local Barbershop chapter there. In 2009, they found and purchased a property on the Santa Fe River near Branford, which served as a weekend and vacation home until shortly after they sold D’Lites in May, 2016, and moved to the Santa Fe River location permanently.
Vice President – Terry Phelan
Terry has an A. A. degree with honors from Valencia Community College and a Bachelor of Fine Arts from University of Central Florida, graduating Summa Cum Laude. This training enables Terry to bring to Our Santa Fe River her many skills in graphic design and photography, in which she majored in college.
Besides Madness & Mayhem, Terry has had experience working with the non-profit Lions Club in High Springs, and in 2013 she received the Lion of the Year Award. She has been very active in OSFR as a volunteer and has given many hours to our events and activities. Board member since 2016.
Treasurer – Cynthia Noel
She is currently the treasurer and administrator for Grow Gainesville, a local food production network, a Master Gardener Volunteer with Alachua County Extension Office, Membership Chair for Our Santa Fe River, Inc., and active in the Stop Sabal Trail Movement, through accounting, fundraising and steering efforts.
Cynthia is a local riparian land owner on the Santa Fe River and is passionate about the issues that are affecting our waterways. An avid gardener, she practices permaculture techniques to use natural resources for soil building, uses no pesticides and practices water conservation with rain collection devices.
She is known to work efficiently and effectively with others, in group settings and individuals, with a strong work ethic and high moral character.
Secretary – Bill Basta
Married In 1979, and disgusted with the hustle & bustle, the NYC commuting, Bill & bride moved to St. Augustine Beach. Not wanting to be a well-educated waiter all his life, he enrolled and graduated from the St. Augustine VoTech in Solar and Alternative Energy Technology. He helped write the first Florida Model Energy Efficiency Code, fought for the licensure of solar contractors, and became very interested in energy efficient building design for the southern climate. Bill became one of the first State of Florida Certified Solar Contractors in 1981.
In 1982, Bill was hired by the NAHB to teach solar energy installation in southern Georgia. His children were born on St. Simon’s Island, and they were immediately immersed in the life of water. The election of 1986 brought about a near collapse of the solar industry, so in 1989, the family sadly moved back to Fl (Safety Harbor) where Bill entered the world of environmental consulting in Tampa. He became involved in asbestos, lead based paint, indoor air quality, and industrial hygiene projects. In 1993, he graduated from USF with an MPH in Environmental & Occupational Health.
In 1994, tired of the bustle of Tampa, Bill accepted a transfer to the Air Division of the Gainesville office to work on environmental contracts with the Navy. The family moved to High Springs and he has been in this area ever since. The transition to a fresh water environment was a struggle until his introduction to the springs along the Santa Fe and Suwannee. A quick dip at Rum Island or Poe Springs became part of the family routine. The family would often take weekend trips to the Rainbow, Silver River as well as many of the springs throughout the state. Bill did satisfy his salt water roots by getting a little fishing shack by Keaton Beach where the family and friends enjoyed shallow water fishing, and, of course, scalloping.
On behalf of the Navy, he has travelled extensively throughout the southern half of the US, and made occasional trips to Europe and the Caribbean.
Bill recently retired after 30 years in the environmental field. He looks forward to advocating for the entire ecosystem of the rivers, springs, and the Florida Aquifer.
Director – Merrillee Malwitz-Jipson
Director – Patty Street
The Columbia Seed Lending Library was founded by Patty and has been a huge success. Running totally on donations from large seed companies, vegetable and flower seeds are checked out (distributed free) to library card holders. She has been manager of the Columbia County Fort White Branch Library for the past 25 years and is a member of Columbia County Friends of the Library.
Patty moved to Gainesville in 1968, attended UF and has lived near Fort White and the Santa Fe River since 1980. She has a strong conviction to protect the river and our springs and believes that is its own reward. She is married with two sons, and in her spare time enjoys reading, gardening and relaxing on the river. Board member since 2015.
Director – Kristin Rubin
From 1972 to 1984, Kristin was a flight attendant with National Airlines and Pan Am Airways. Later, from 1990 to 1996, she volunteered at Coconut Grove Elementary in Miami, FL., and two of those years she was PTA President. They generated approximately $30k-$40k a year parking cars in their sports field from the festivals held in Coconut Grove, monies that went to aftercare programs and tutoring.
Kristin worked for her husband as his office manager and other flex jobs in order to be able to be home with their children when needed. When they went away to university, she returned to work at the Clerk of Courts in Miami-Dade from 2006-2010, and also worked for the Alachua Clerk of Courts after moving to Alachua County.
As an Alachua County resident, Kristin volunteered for Women’s International Habitat for Humanity for two years, spending 6 months a year raising monies to build the house and the next six months building. During that period, they built two houses. From 2014 to 2017 she also joined the Master Gardener’s program.
Kristin states, “As a member of the community and a resident on the Santa Fe River, I now want to help protect something that, once gone, might never be again.”
Director – Jim Tatum
During his high school and college days, he played trumpet and sax in a dance orchestra. Past hobbies include Indian artifact collecting, classic car restoration, gunsmithing, bird watching, taxidermy, flying (single engine, land), fossil preparation and woodworking. He has been diving Florida’s rivers for fossils since 1977 and currently does fossil preparation and woodworking. He writes the posts for the OSFR newsletter. He is an avid reader.
Jim has taught university courses in the National University of Mexico and in Honduras, and has published two books and many articles. As a youth he spent summers working for the Forest Service in Idaho and the Fish & Wildlife Service on Kodiak Island. He has traveled extensively, including Europe, South America, Alaska and remote areas such as the Northwest Territories, Siberia, China and Mongolia.. He is married with two sons, three stepdaughters and nine grandchildren and currently resides in rural Florida on the banks of the Santa Fe River near High Springs. Board member from 2012-2013 and since 2016.
Director – Erik Wise
In 2015 Erik decided to leave Volusia County to take on a more prestigious title of Public Works Director in Bronson. According to Erik, “It has been a culture shock, but I feel I have made a great impact already.” In March 2016, Jeanette Ciesla and he moved into their home on the Santa Fe River in High Springs. They enjoy outdoor activities and support many organizations that help defend nature and our environment. They are also very interested in finding alternative ways of removing water hyacinth and becoming more involved in combatting the potential phosphate mine.
Erik is presently employed as Public Works Director for Bronson, Florida
Director – Travis Smith
Travis has been engaged as an artist/tattoo artist. He has two sons – Ethan Manning Smith who is 10 years old and lives with his mother who was Travis’s first wife. He then remarried to “my beautiful wife Jessica” in 2015 the same year that they had his second son Siris Manning Smith.
Travis says “I’ve always enjoyed being outdoors and the river was always one of my favorite places to spend time from a young age until now. I’ve always been a clean person and kept up after myself. After a trip to Raven Cliff North Carolina in 2019 my younger brother Maverick and I were on a camping trip where we noticed an abundance of trash on the trail. Upon returning home we noticed that we didn’t have to travel too far. In December 2019 we decided to start a YouTube channel called Trail Trash Outdoors where we educate others on how to pack out your trash and help clean the environment. YouTube gave us a platform to share our experiences and show others that this is a problem bigger than us and it’s going to take all of us to change it. Since the start of our Channel we have organized a mass clean-up and spoke at BOCC meetings to bring more awareness to our Rivers problem.”
“Any opportunity to spread the word or educate more people is what I’m looking for… Education is very important not only for others but myself as well. The more I know, the more I can teach. As far as the future goes, I’m not sure what it will hold but I’m sure it will be great!”