Mayor John Marks

John Marks, Mayor of the City of Tallahassee, practices law with his son at Marks and Marks, LLC.  The firm focuses its practice on utility regulation, telecommunications and Internet law.   Appointed by Governor Bob Graham in 1979, he served eight (8) years on the Florida Public Service Commission (FPSC); the last two as its Chairman.  Before serving on the FPSC, he was employed as a Hearing Officer with the Commission.  He has been an adjunct professor at the Florida State University College of Law teaching utility regulatory law and a faculty member of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners’ utility rate school.   

He is admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court and the Florida Supreme Court and is a member of the American, National, Florida and Tallahassee Bar and the Tallahassee Barristers Associations. He is also a member of the American Law Institute, the ABA's Public Utilities Law Section and the Florida Bar's Local Government and Administrative Law Sections.  He is past chairman of the Florida Bar's Public Utilities Law and the Equal Opportunities in the Profession Committees.  He was named Florida Super Lawyer (Utility Regulatory Law) by Florida Super Lawyers magazine for the years 2006 and 2007.  Mayor Marks was inducted into the FAMU College of Education Gallery of Distinction and named one of Florida State University’s 100 Distinguished Graduates.

Mr. Marks was elected in 2003 to a four year term as Mayor of the City of Tallahassee and re-elected in 2006 and 2010.  His board affiliations include Fringe Benefits Management Company, a privately held financial services company, the Florida League of Cities Municipal Investment Trust, the Tallahassee Economic Development Council, the Tallahassee/Leon County Civic Center Authority, the Sunshine State Governmental Financing Commission and the Economic Club of Florida. He serves on the Board of Advisors for the U.S. Conference of Mayors and is Vice Chairman for Communications of the U.S.C.M. Transportation and Communications Committee. In addition, Mayor Marks served as the President of the Florida League of Mayors 2005-2007 and served as President of the Florida League of Cities for the 2009-2010 term.

A graduate of Class XX of Leadership Florida, he has a life membership in the NAACP, and the National Bar Association, and was formerly a political analyst/co-host on the local television show “The Usual Suspects”.  Mr. Marks received his B.S. degree in 1969 from the Florida State University School of Business and his Juris Doctor degree in 1972 from the FSU College of Law.  Mr. Marks served four years in the U.S. Air Force as a Judge Advocate.  He is married to Jane Awkard Marks, a psychotherapist, and has one son, John, IV, a graduate of Harvard University and the Columbia University Law School and a daughter in law Cristina, a graduate of Wellesley and Columbia University Law School.

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