Santamaria skips Tally trip, says Crist wouldn’t give him enough time to discuss Acreage cancer
by George Bennett | March 3rd, 2010TALLAHASSEE — Palm Beach County Commissioner Jess Santamaria won’t be here this afternoon to talk with Gov. Charlie Crist’s staff about elevated childhood cancer rates in his commission district.
Santamaria said he wanted an extended sit-down with the governor himself to discuss the cancer cluster in The Acreage. Instead Santamaria was told he’d be one of several people talking to Crist aides with the possibility the governor might briefly drop by.
“There’s going to be eight or nine people in the room with the assistants of Gov. Crist and sometime in the 20 or 30 minutes, he’s going to drop in. That’s not the type of meeting I hoped to have,” Santamaria said this morning.
Instead, Santamaria said he’s been working with Sen. Bill Nelson’s office to try to assure more testing in The Acreage.
Meeting today at 2 p.m. with the governor’s staff will be County Commissioner Burt Aaronson, County Administrator Bob Weisman, state Sen. Dave Aronberg, D-Greenacres, state Rep. Joseph Abruzzo, D-Wellington, and others.
Members of the Indian Trail Improvement District board, who deliver water and other services to The Acreage, are scheduled to meet later in the afternoon with Florida Surgeon General Ana Viamonte Ross and state Health Department officials to discuss the cancer issue.
Four county commissioners, several top-drawer county administrators and a variety of local elected officials are fanning the Capitol today for the annual Palm Beach County Day lobbying and face-time bonanza.
About 35 members of the county delegation met this morning with Senate President Jeff Atwater, R-North Palm Beach. Much of the same group met later in the morning with House Speaker Larry Cretul, R-Ocala, to press county interests.
They pushed for expedited state approval of an “inland port” shipping, receiving and distribution center in the Glades, a crackdown on pain management clinics that critics call “pill mills,” and expanded gambling at the Palm Beach Kennel Club dog track.
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March 3rd, 2010 at 1:19 pm
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March 8th, 2010 at 8:25 am
[...] attended last week’s Tallahassee meeting on cancer concerns in The Acreage — a meeting Santamaria skipped because it didn’t include face time with Gov. Charlie [...]