The buzz is that Anastasios “Stasi” Kamoutsas recruited, screened and coached the new appointees to the University of West Florida Board of Trustees. As of March 2025, he serves as Deputy Chief of Staff in the Executive Office of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
Before joining the Governor’s Office, Kamoutsas (36) served as Chief of Staff at the Florida Department of Education, where he was also the agency’s top lawyer.
He earned his law degree from Regent University School of Law, the same school where UWF Trustee Paul Bailey earned his Juris Doctor. The pair graduated from Regent in 2013 and were admitted to the Florida Bar in 2014.
Yenor Mystery
All eight new appointees voted to elect Boise State professor Scott Yenor at the first board meeting in January. Bailey, Chris Young and Gates Garcia testified that they had been told about Yenor’s qualifications. Bailey and Young said they would have voted differently if they knew what Save UWF and others easily found out in a simple Google search.
- Who told them to vote for Yenor? My sources say it was Kamoutsas. UWF Trustee, and now chair, Rebecca Matthews, has repeatedly dodged answering the question when cornered by lawmakers and locals.
Kamoutsas is rumored to be the next Education Commissioner when Manny Diaz is named the next UWF president. However, I have heard Okaloosa County Superintendent of Schools Marcus Chambers is also a possible successor.
May 8 Ambush
While several hoped that Matthews would be a fair, open-minded chair of the UWF Board of Trustees, it was Matthews who added a Special Meeting to the scheduled committee meetings on May 8. Matthews had only two items on the agenda—Strategic Plan Discussion and General Discussion.
- Because she provided no details, the public had no opportunity to challenge and counter the attacks by trustees Bailey, Adam Kissel, Zach Smith, Chris Young, and Rachel Moya.
Did Kamoutsas coordinate the ambush of UWF President Dr. Saunders?
Next Bid Date
Matthews has called a special meeting for 8 a.m. on Tuesday, May 27. The agenda for the Zoom meeting has not been published yet.
- It’s assumed the topics will be naming an interim president and how to conduct a presidential search, or they may skip the charade and name Diaz. Stay tuned.