It is probably best to begin with what the Tallahassee Institute for Politics is not. We are not a newspaper; we are not a blog; nor are we a media platform. Hopefully, we might be useful to those mediums.
Our aim is to take issues that may or may not have been reported on or discussed in the capital city that deserve a deeper dive. Because of space or time constraints, an issue may be reported on that could benefit from more time, resources and space to be developed. Additionally, we may present work that will lead to fresh reporting by the media. We hope that our research and reporting backgrounds will allow us to shine a light – or perhaps shine a brighter light – on stories or issues that may be of benefit to the community.
We are not looking to step on any toes, replace anything that is already being done, or to reinvent the wheel. Operations like the one we are trying to build are often found on the state and national level, but not so much on the local city/county level.
There is a passion for issues, policy and politics in the capital region, and we hope there will be an appetite for what we are trying to do.
Our Team
Bob Lotane
Publisher
Bob Lotane worked as a political and communications consultant for a variety of clients and was formally vice president with Hill+Knowlton Strategies.
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His public service career includes two stints as communications director at the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation, and as press secretary to Florida’s Chief Financial Officer, at the Capitol.
He has had his work carried in and/or been quoted in the Wall Street Journal, the London Financial Times, Le Monde, Bloomberg, CBS, Los Angeles Times, the Detroit Free Press, all Florida newspapers of record in addition to other outlets.
He has been a frequent contributor in the Tallahassee Democrat.
Lotane worked as a political and general assignment reporter for a variety of radio and TV outlets in Massachusetts and has had his reporting carried by the Associated Press and NBC Radio.
He is a Magnum cum laude graduate, in public administration, from Barry University and has a Master’s degree, in political science, from Florida State University.
Before moving to Florida, Lotane built, owned and operated a wholesale/retail logistics company which imported and distributed floral products across Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine.
Lotane resides in Tallahassee with his wife Alissa.
Wes Singletary, Ph.D.
Director, Editor-in-chief
Wes Singletary currently teaches AP United States History in Leon County. He also serves as an adjunct history professor at Tallahassee State College where he has taught since 1993.
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Dr. Singletary earned a Ph.D. in United States History from Florida State University in 1996. His dissertation Al Lopez: The Life of Baseball’s El Senor was published by McFarland in 1999.
He later authored The Right Time: John Henry “Pop” Lloyd and Black Baseball, and Florida’s First Big League Baseball Players: A Narrative History, and was a contributing author on The Pride of Smoketown: The 1935 Pittsburgh Crawfords.
Wes is married to the former Toni Zarate and they have two adult children, Patricia and Nelson. A United States Air Force veteran, and a proud native of Tampa, Wes and his family live in Tallahassee, Florida.
Che Freckleton
Assistant
Che overseas office matters and technology. She has worked with Mr. Lotane since 2014.
