Gov. Rick “Let’s Get to Work” Scott, who pledged to bring 700,000 jobs to Florida in seven years, is not pleased with the state’s most recent unemployment figures showing Florida’s unemployment rate at a stagnant 12 percent.

“Today’s report of a 12 percent unemployment rate for Florida in December means that more than 1.1 million Floridians are jobless. This is not acceptable. The numbers reaffirm my commitment to getting Florida back to work, and prove that we must put job creation first by making Florida the best place to do business,” Scott said in a statement.

In contrast to the statewide average, the employment picture brightened in Palm Beach County and the Treasure Coast last month.

Gov. Rick Scott brought on fellow health care executive Jack Miles to head the Department of Management Services, an agency the governor has blasted for wasting taxpayer money.

Miles oversaw contract management and purchasing at CIGNA, one of the nation’s biggest health insurers. Scott founded and was formerly CEO of the Columbia/HCA hospital chain and owns Solantic, a chain of health care centers.

Miles slashed spending at CIGNA by $80 million in less than two years, according to a press release issued by the governor’s office announcing the appointment.

“State government has to learn to live within its means, and Jack Miles will make sure that our state spends taxpayer dollars more wisely as we tighten the belt across the entire government,” Scott said in a statement.

Scott will put Miles to work reviewing contracts to see where the state can “reduce costs and increase efficiency,” the release reads.

Scott’s office is now analyzing every state agency contract worth more than $1 million. He said earlier this week he’s looking at saving money on state purchases as a way to plug a $3.62 billion budget deficit.

In a split ruling, the Florida Supreme Court has ordered a review of the Jimmy Ryce Act that allows the state to keep pedophiles and other hard-core sex molesters locked up until a judge rules they are fit to return to society.

But some criminals remain in limbo for years waiting for a judge to first rule that they need the treatment that could eventually get them out, a problem the high court said needs review.

The court’s Chief Judge Charles Canady dissented from the 4-3 order in the case of Stephen Morel, who has been behind bars for eight years without receiving treatment while waiting for a judge to order his confinement.

The Department of Children and Families is responsible for providing treatment to the inmates held under the Jimmy Ryce Act, named for a nine-year-old boy who was raped, murdered and dismembered in 1995.

The Court ordered that DCF, Attorney General Pam Bondi, state prosecutors, Morel and his lawyers to hold an emergency hearing in Broward County and report back to them.

UPDATE: Scott spokesman Brian Hughes said the governor was unable to respond to Pretty Twister’s comment because of a computer glitch.
“At that moment the computer froze because we were having capacity problems,” Hughes said.
Don’t bother looking for the offensive remark. It was deleted by someone from Harris Media, the public relations firm that handled Scott’s campaign social media. Scott’s daughter Allison Guimard went to work for Harris, which set up shop in Tallahassee, shortly after her father was sworn in. Hughes said Scott spokesman Brian Burgess told Harris that deleting the comment was “inappropriate.”

Gov. Rick Scott’s gubernatorial Twitter debut ended on an unfriendly note when one of his followers called the Republican governor a “jackass.”

Scott fielded 19 questions and commented on the shooting of two Miami police officers during a half-hour social media session before the governor re-Tweeted a question that ended with the disparaging comment.

“So what, are you gunna fire everyone and hire Walmart employees? Yeah, thats great… you jackass,” Pretty Twister asked.

Scott, who prizes politeness and decorum, selected the questions himself.

A long pause ensued after Scott re-Tweeted Pretty Twister’s question, posted by Scott after the “Twitter town hall” meeting’s scheduled 7:30 deadline.

“thanks to everyone for tweeting, see you soon,” Scott signed off.

Read all the Twitter questions and Scott’s answers on his Twitter page.

Golf legend Jack Nicklaus met with Gov. Rick Scott to discuss how the Golden Bear can help the new governor turn the state’s economy around.

Nicklaus, the golfer-turned-businessman and philanthropist who lives in North Palm Beach, and Scott stepped outside the governor’s office to answer a few questions from The Palm Beach Post but remained tight-lipped about any potential economic development plan, other than it would involve…golf.

The links superstar is the head of an exclusive golf course design company that’s launched more than 350 courses throughout the U.S. and in nearly three dozen other countries.

Scott and Nicklaus, whose flight arrival was delayed more than an hour because of fog, met for about 30 minutes before stepping into the governor’s waiting room to answer a few questions from a reporter.

“I invited Mr. Nicklaus , the greatest golfer ever, to come and give me his ideas on economic development in the state. He’s lived here since 1962 and clearly cares about the state,” Scott told The Palm Beach Post.

Nicklaus said they had “basically a general conversation about how we can help and how golf can be involved.”

Scott said the talks were preliminary.

“We’re the number one golf state, the number one tourist destination in the world. So we started the conversation to see if there’s any ideas,” he said.

“It’s obvious golf can help the economic growth of the state,” Nicklaus added. He said he and Scott discussed how “somebody with my age and experience…with all the years of playing golf, how that can apply to what’s going on here.”

Scott’s staffers, clearly impressed by Nicklaus, took turns posing for photos with “The Golden Bear” inside the governor’s office before Nicklaus and his entourage left the Capitol.

Scott said he plays golf but “not well,” prompting Nicklaus to downplay his current prowess on the greens.

“Everybody’s wanted to play golf like I did. Now they can,” he joked, pausing before helping out a reporter clearly baffled by his meaning. “I’m 71 years old. I don’t play like I did when I was 45.”

(more…)

Now that the Twitter town hall is over, tell us what you thought of the experience in the comments below. We’re especially interested to hear if your tweet was responded to, and if you were satisfied with the response.

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Gov. Rick Scott, criticized by the Florida press for being reporter-shy, will show off his social media stuff with a Twitter town hall meeting this evening.

Participants can tweet questions to @FLGovScott followed by the hashtag #Flgov from 7 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. tonight.

The governor will respond in Twitter’s maximum 140 characters or less to as many questions as he can handle within the half-hour time frame, according to a press release issued by his office Wednesday evening.

Follow the governor’s Twitter town hall on the right rail of any page on the postonpolitics blog.

Cowboy boot-scootin’ Gov. Rick Scott fielded questions from the media today at the annual AP legislative planning session, deflecting questions about how he plans to hand out tax breaks to property owners and businesses while at the same time cutting $3.6 billion in spending.

Scott also shrugged off criticism from the media that his administration has thwarted the state’s broad open government laws by ousting reporters from public meetings, ignoring public records requests and cherry-picking reporters whose coverage he and his aides deem favorable.

“I do press conferences. I do gaggles. Everybody can come to those…I feel very comfortable that we’re very open,” said Scott, whose Q-and-A with reporters today was his second press conference since he took office two weeks ago. He left without answering questions from the media.

Scott said he and his staff are scrubbing the current “bloated” budget – crafted by Republican lawmakers – and reiterated his campaign position that the state spends too much.

“It’s too big. We don’t need to be spending this much money. We don’t do a good enough job with how we buy things,” the former health care CEO said. “All that really requires is that you pick and choose…I look at it like a business. You can’t do everything. You have to pick and choose.”

Scott stuck by his campaign pledge to cut 5 percent of state workers and require state employees to contribute to their pension plans but did not provide details.

Scott, who works out at a local gym with his wife Ann while the governor’s mansion workout room is being revamped, acknowledged that his budget may not win him accolades from critics, especially in a town filled with state employees.

“All the things I said in the campaign, I’m going to work every day to get those things done but there’s going to be plenty of people who don’t like those things,” he said. “By the time the budget comes out I probably won’t be able to work out because everybody will be protesting me.”

The all-new Florida Cabinet held a very brief meeting this morning, the first since the all-GOP panel took office early this month.

Gov. Rick Scott, Attorney General Pam Bondi, Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater and Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam ran through the skimpy agenda in less than half an hour. The highlight: the Cabinet’s confirmation of Scott’s pick for Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Herschel Vinyard.

“Congratulations. You’ve got a lot of work to do,” Scott told Vinyard, a Jacksonville businessman and lawyer, after the vote. Scott’s transition team was highly critical of the agency and recommended merging it with two other departments to help streamline permitting and regulation.

Scott has revamped the Cabinet procedures and eliminated the until-now routine Q-and-A with reporters before and after the bimonthly meeting, at least for today.

Before the 9 a.m. meeting, Scott’s spokesman advised reporters not to rush the governor on the dais after the meeting ended and that Scott would not answer questions until noon when he is scheduled to address the Associated Press annual editors meeting on the 22nd floor of the Capitol.

Scott’s Cabinet colleagues weren’t so media-shy, however.

Bondi, Atwater and Putnam – all University of Florida alumni – posed for photos and shook hands outside the Cabinet room for about 30 minutes before the meeting started and remained for nearly as long answering questions from reporters after its conclusion.

Scott answered a single question after the meeting.

“Fine. Fine,” he responded when asked how his first Cabinet meeting went. He was then whisked away.

Gov. Rick Scott appointed retired Accenture executive David Wilkins as secretary of the Department of Children and Families.

Wilkins, who also served on Scott’s transition team, recently retired as Accenture’s Health and Public Service’s global managing director of sales according to a press release issued by Scott’s office announcing Wilkins’ appointment.

Wilkins is currently finance chairman of the Florida Baptist Children’s Home. The agency provides a variety of services, including adoption assistance and foster care, to families throughout the state.

“David’s passion for child care issues and the human services business, along with his decades of management experience in business and charities, will serve this agency well as it protects Florida’s families,” Scott said in a press release announcing the appointment.

Wilkins replaces George Sheldon, a former lawmaker and a Democrat who also served under the previous secretary, Bob Butterworth.

Six more states have joined Florida’s legal challenge to the federal health care law now awaiting a Pensacola federal judge’s preliminary ruling.

Iowa, Ohio, Kansas, Wyoming, Wisconsin and Maine are now among the 26 states, including Florida, challenging the constitutionality of the federal health care law. Virginia has filed a separate lawsuit and Oklahoma is considering its own as well.

Attorney General Pam Bondi filed the papers in Pensacola to add the six states to the lawsuit initiated by her predecessor Bill McCollum.

Meanwhile, the Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives are debating a bill that would repeal the law. That measure is expected to go nowhere in the U.S. Senate, where Democrats still have the upper hand.

Rep. William Snyder filed his qualification papers to run for Martin County Sheriff this morning.

Snyder, a Stuart Republican, could have run for another two years in the state House before term limits kicked in but the former police officer says he wants to go back to the job he loves.

Snyder is drawing heat for sponsoring an Arizona-style immigration law and last week held a crowded town hall meeting in Palm City on the contentious issue.

Martin County Sheriff Bob Crowder apparently is not seeking reelection, Snyder said.

Snyder started his career at age 20 as a Metro-Dade police officer, where he worked for two decades before going to work at the Martin County Sheriff’s department. He spent another 13 years there, Snyder said.

“My whole background in adult life has been in law enforcement,” Snyder said shortly after filing his papers this morning. “Law enforcement’s my first love. I love it. I think for me to be the sheriff in my community would give me more ability to have a real impact on people in my community.”

Snyder said he wants to cut costs at the sheriff’s office by using civilians to handle preliminary reports on non-violent crimes and complaints. He also wants to continue Crowder’s modernization efforts.

Lanny Wiles – Gov. Rick Scott’s right-hand-man on the campaign trail – is joining The Advocacy Group at Cardenas Partners lobbying firm headed by former Republican Party of Florida chairman Al Cardenas.

Wiles, who is married to Scott’s campaign manager Susie Wiles, will be “senior counsel” at the lobbying firm, which has offices in Tallahassee, Miami and Washington.

Wiles was a constant presence on Scott’s campaign and in the transition, often whispering into an earpiece to coordinate with Scott’s advance team.

Wiles has a long history of working closely with Republican politicians, beginning with President Reagan’s 1976 presidential bid.
a full range of governmental advocacy services and has built a strong foundation of core budgeting and legislative processing skills that allows successful navigation of issues of interest to their clients.

Wiles will join the firm’s other Tallahassee lobbyists, Slater Bayliss and Stephen Shiver. Bayliss, one of Gov. Jeb Bush’s aides, served as a special advisor on Scott’s inaugural committee. Shiver is a long-time GOP operative with close ties to the Florida legislature.

U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio and a handful of other Senators are winding up a four-day in Afghanistan and Pakistan where they met with military officials from both countries and dined with Afghan President Hamid Karzai last night.

From Kabul this morning, the freshman from Florida told reporters he was encouraged by what he saw but cautioned that “2011 is going to be a very crucial year for our efforts here.”

Rubio joined Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Richard Burr of North Carolina, Marco Rubio of Florida, Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin and Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire, on the trip where they met with Gen. David Petraeus and also watched Afghan National Army training exercises.

Rubio said the Afghan people and government need assurances from the U.S. that “we are in it for the long haul” and discouraged setting numbers for U.S. troop withdrawal from the region.

“People want to make sure that we are in this to win this. We are in this for the long haul,” Rubio said. “Everyone on the ground is really enthusiastic about the progress that’s being made…There’s a long ways to go. There’s no way to overestimate how serious the challenge is but we are headed in the right direction.”

Benchmarks for U.S. withdrawal from the region should not focus on the number of troops returning but the number of areas that successfully transition to a functioning government, Rubio said.

“From everything I’ve seen here we are making physical progress,” he said, adding, “You can’t overestimate what a difficult challenge it is.”

Afghanis need assurances that the U.S. will remain because they are afraid that “the bad guys” will resume control of the region, Rubio emphasized.

“They’re afraid to vote. Theyr’e afraid to take jobs and work for the government or volunteer for the military…because …these bad guys are going to come back in and take over again,” he said. “You are really creating a diff situation because people think the bad guys, the Taliban and Al-Qaeda, all they have to do is wait.”

Florida Supreme Court Chief Justice Charles Canady ordered that all future district court building construction must be scrutinized by the state courts administrator in response to a lavish Tallahassee appeals court dubbed the “Taj Mahal.”

Canady issued the order this morning after state Sen. Mike Fasano pilloried First District Court of Appeals judges Paul Hawkes and Brad Thomas for pushing a new courthouse, accusing them of “the epitome of arrogance.

Thomas and Hawkes apologized to Fasano, chairman of the Senate Criminal Justice Appropriations Committee, for their roles in the construction of the $48.8 million courthouse in Tallahassee that is estimated to ultimately cost taxpayers $70 million because of bond payments. Florida has been in a budget crisis for the past three years and lawmakers are now grappling with an anticipated $3.62 billion spending gap.

In November, Hawkes was forced to resign as chief judge but he remains on the court.

The courthouse features such opulent amenities as private soundproof bathrooms and kitchens for each of the 15 judges, miles of African mahogany trim, granite counter and desk tops, etched glass windows, a glass dome and massive columns inside and out.

“To the extent that any expenditures were made on this building and any construction done that exceeds the legislative intent and has offended you and this committee then I sincerely apologize,” Thomas told Fasano at a committee hearing last week.

“Don’t apologize just to us, judge,” Fasano, R-New Port Richey, snapped. “Apologize to every taxpayer in the state.”

Canady today ordered that the state courts administrator must approve any appellate court projects in the future.

“Courthouses should be dignified, durable and functional,” Canady wrote in a statement. “They should not be grandiose, monumental and luxurious.”

After November’s Republican tsunami, Sen. Bill Nelson is the only Democrat to hold statewide office in Florida.

Nelson, up for reelection in 2012, says he expects an improved economy and higher “faves” for President Obama to lift Democratic fortunes when he’s on the ballot.

Read about it in this week’s Politics column.

LAKE BUENA VISTA — Dave Bitner, a former state House member and Tallahassee lobbyist, was elected Republican Party of Florida chairman this morning.

Bitner defeated four other rivals, including Palm Beach County GOP Chairman Sid Dinerstein.

Bitner, 62, got 109 of 228 votes in the first round of balloting. Because he didn’t get a majority, he went to a runoff against Hillsborough County Republican Chairwoman Deborah Cox-Roush, who received 58 votes in the first round.

Bitner then won the runoff. The vote totals weren’t immediately announced. He and Cox-Roush hugged on the dais and Bitner invited the other candidates to join him.

“We are taking our country back…There’s unity here,” Bitner said.

Dinerstein got 16 votes in the first round, finishing behind Sarasota GOP Chairman Joe Gruters (37 votes) and ahead of Pinellas County Republican Committeeman Tony DiMatteo (7 votes).

LAKE BUENA VISTA — Palm Beach County Republican Chairman Sid Dinerstein’s bid to become state GOP chairman is over. He finished fourth of five candidates in the first round of balloting.

Former state Rep. Dave Bitner was the top vote-getter with 109 of 228 votes. Because he didn’t get a majority, he and Hillsborough County GOP Chairwoman Deborah Cox-Roush will go to a runoff. Cox-Roush got 58 votes.

Sarasota County GOP Chairman Joe Gruters was third with 37 votes. Dinerstein got 16 and Pinellas County GOP Committeeman Tony DiMatteo got 7 votes.

LAKE BUENA VISTA — For Republicans, it’s arguably the most important state chairman’s job in the nation.

The Republican Party of Florida will elect a chairman this morning. The winner will head the GOP in America’s largest competitive state during the 2012 presidential election, once-in-a-decade redistricting and the GOP national convention in Tampa.

Palm Beach County Republican Chairman Sid Dinerstein is one of five announced candidates. The others are Jefferson County Republican Committeeman Dave Bitner, Hillsborough County GOP Chairwoman Deborah Cox-Roush, Pinellas County GOP Committeeman Tony DiMatteo and Sarasota County Republican Chairman Joe Gruters.

After a polite candidates forum Friday night, about 250 party activists are eligible to vote this morning. Balloting begins at 9 a.m. If no candidate gets a majority on the first ballot, the top two will face each other in a runoff.

Follow PostOnPolitcs.com for results

Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam issued a statement in honor of Martin Luther King asking Floridians to “embrace his vision of partnership and unity” in light of the recent shootings in Arizona.

“As we celebrate the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, I encourage my fellow Floridians to join me in commemorating his legacy. If the tragic events of the past week have taught us anything, it is that moral persuasion, not violence, changes hearts, minds and the world. Dr King’s life was cut short, but his example lives on. May we embrace his vision of partnership and unity, without division by race, religion, class or gender, as we work together to create a better and brighter future for all those who call Florida home,” Putnam, a Republican and former Congressman, said in a statement released this afternoon.

Florida Department of Health chief of staff Rob Siedlecki, Jr., is headed to Kansas to head that state’s Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services.

Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback, a Republican elected as governor in November, appointed Siedlecki to head the agency, the Kansas equivalent of Florida’s Department of Children and Families, subject to the state Senate’s confirmation.

“As SRS Secretary, Rob Siedlecki brings a unique combination of working with the same federal programs that SRS implements in our state and supervising a large staff and budget,” Brownback said in a press release. “He understands the severe budget challenges Kansas faces. He will work to improve the delivery of our health services programs to our state’s most vulnerable in a cost effective way.”

Meanwhile, Florida Gov. Rick Scott has yet to name his chiefs of either the Department of Health or DCF. Surgeon General Ana Viamonte Ros, head of the state Department of Health, quit last month – two weeks before Scott was sworn in – after a scathing attack on her department by Scott’s transition team.

DCF Secretary George Sheldon, appointed by Gov. Charlie Crist, remains on the job as one of dozens of Crist holdovers Scott asked to remain in place until as late as March while he gets his administration together.