Background

 

Leslie is a native Floridian who was born in Orlando and moved to Lake County with her parents Patricia and Keith Shamrock and brothers, Steve and Greg Shamrock, in 1971. A graduate of Eustis High School, she received her Bachelor of Arts degree with academic honors from Furman University in Greenville, S.C.

 

In 1989, she graduated with Honors from the University of Florida College of Law where she was a Member of the Moot Court Team and on the Dean's List, earning the highest mark in her class while taking Florida Constitutional Law. Thereafter, she worked as an associate attorney in the law firm of Kutak, Rock & Campbell in Atlanta, Georgia, where her area of focus was municipal finance and public policy.

 

Leslie started her own law practice in Mount Dora in 1993 representing clients in matters involving land use, environmental, and real property law. She also served as the City Attorney for the Town of Lady Lake, the Town of Montverde, and the City of Umatilla.

 

Service:

 

Leslie has served the community in many capacities, including Junior Achievement teacher, YMCA Coach, Sunday School teacher, church youth leader, Little League team mom, AAU baseball travel team coordination, Eustis Service League, Leadership Lake County Class of 2009, and founding member of Lake 100, an organization comprised of business and community leaders throughout Lake County.

 

In 2010, Campione was elected to the Lake County Board of County Commissioners, and has served as the Chairman of the Lake County Commission in 2012 and 2013, Vice-Chair in 2018, and Chairman in 2019 and 2020.

 

Campione serves on the Wekiva River Basin Commission, the Metropolitan Planning Organization (a regional transportation planning entity comprised of the Lake and Sumter Counties and municipalities), and is the Chair of the Lake County Transportation for Disadvantaged Coordinated Board (which assists residents with disabilities with transportation to medical appointments, dialysis, grocery shopping, work and school). She is the liaison to the Mt. Plymouth-Sorrento Community Redevelopment Agency, Lake County Affordable Housing Advisory Committee (which is assists residents with downpayment assistance, rehabilitation of existing homes, and transitional housing for those who have become homeless), is a member of the Wekiva River System Advisory Management Committee, and is the County Commission liaison to the Lake County Arts and Cultural Alliance and the Orlando Economic Partnership - a regional agency that promotes high wage job attraction in Central Florida and Lake County.

 

Leslie spearheaded the creation of the "Keep Lake Beautiful" program, which is a volunteer-based endeavor to promote the reduction of litter and the overall beautification of the county through tree planting, targeted neighborhood cleanups, and lake and river cleanups.

 

Campione has been a strong advocate of reforms at the Lake County Animal Shelter including the transformation of our county animal shelter to a "no-kill" shelter, and she has promoted key animal welfare policies such as anti-tethering regulation, and trap, neuter, release and "chip" (TNR) as a way to lower the population of free-roaming cats. Leslie also helped champion the utilization of bear-proof trash cans in areas with bear rich environments, and continues to advocate for State funding from the Fish and Wildlife Commission so that more residents have access to bear-proof trash cans.

 

Leslie has advocated strenuously for water quality and environmental protection and has sought greater collaboration between the State and local agencies tasked with water quality and environmental protection. She has supported County policies to promote greater awareness and voluntary compliance with fertilizer regulations; fought to stop illegal sand mining in East Lake County, and continues for fight for the restoration of degraded water bodies in Lake County or those experiencing a decline in water quality.

 

As a land use attorney and local government lawyer before being elected to the County Commission, Leslie has used her experience to advocate for better land use policies in the unincorporated areas and municipal areas to assure that new growth does not overburden our roads, environment, services or degrade our quality of life. She believes that our biggest challenge as we seek to promote high wage job creation and a vibrant economy is to embrace land use standards that assure our quality of life and environment is not irreparably damaged by "template" or "cookie cutter" residential development undertaken in the wrong locations.

 

Family Life:

 

Leslie is married to Dr. Jack Cassell, who is a board certified urologist and owner of Urology of Mount Dora located in downtown Mount Dora. Leslie and Jack have five children and one grandchild. Their children live in various places across of Florida including Central Florida and Jacksonville, FL, and outside of Florida in Boston MA and Denver CO. Leslie and Jack have three dogs and three cats, and a 150 lb. Sulcata Tortoise named "Frank." When she's not working, Leslie enjoys hiking, skiing, landscaping & gardening, and spending quality time with her family.

 

* Lake County Commission seats are "at large" elections open to voters throughout the entire county. Primary elections are open to voters according to their party affiliation. There are five districts and commissioners must live in their district.