Former Judge Paul Hawkes is well-known as a passionate public servant; a person willing to sacrifice both his time and his personal ambition to serve the needs of his fellow Florida citizens. As a professional with lengthy experience in all three branches of Florida State Government, former Judge Paul Hawkes has continually demonstrated the will, and the capability, to place the needs of Florida citizens ahead of his own, and to do what he felt was right and just for the operation of a better, more efficient State government.
Former Judge Paul Hawkes’ in-depth experience with and knowledge of the Florida legal system allowed him to perform admirably and successfully as an Assistant State Attorney prior to his legislative career. It also provided him with a firsthand look at both the politics and the bureaucracy of the Florida State government, and helped him to mount what ended up being a successful campaign for state representative seat in the Florida House of Representatives. Elected in 1990, former Judge Paul Hawkes served two terms in the legislature until 1994, and had multiple opportunities to work with and advise legislative leaders after his representative tenure.
His career and record for devoted public service earned him a spot in the Governor’s Office of Policy and Budget. Appointed to the Deputy Director of the Office in the year 2000, former Judge Paul Hawkes soon became one of Governor Bush’s advisors, eventually serving as what Governor Bush called an ‘Efficiency Czar’ that same year. His role as Efficiency Czar tasked him with identifying inefficiencies within the state Bureaucracy, as well as the identification of opportunities to save money by outsourcing particular publicly-funded services. During his tenure in the office, Former Judge Paul Hawkes participated in identifying and proposing the opportunity to outsource government payroll functions for the State’s then 115,000 employees, as well as outsourcing of the Department of Corrections prison food service. By looking into and making recommendations on ways to harness in state spending and save the state money, former Judge Paul Hawkes provided the Governor and the State of Florida with ways to improve governmental function and efficiency.
He also was assigned the responsibility to act as the Governor’s on-site employee when the Florida Department of Labor was ended, and the creation of a far more efficient and much smaller Agency for Workforce Innovation as its replacement. As Efficiency Czar, and dedicated public servant, former Judge Paul Hawkes was always looking for ways to better serve the citizens of Florida.