With Palm Beach “Corruption” County in mind, lawmakers are moving toward stiffening local ordinances combating ethics violations.

Sen. Dave Aronberg, D-Greenacres, is backing a bill that allow counties to increase the current penalties for violations of county ordinances imposing ethical standards and financial disclosure requirements from 60 days in jail to one year in jail and double the fine from $500 to $1,000 per occurance.

The Senate Community Affairs Committee signed off on Aronberg’s proposal (SB 1980) this afternoon with a 9-1 vote.

Aronberg sponsored the bill at the behest of the scandal-plagued Palm Beach County Commission, which recently established an ethics panel in the wake of a federal corruption probe that landed three former county commissioners in prison. Palm Beach County Rep. Kevin Rader, D-Boynton Beach, is the House bill (HB 1301) sponsor.

Aronberg said the measure, which would apply to all counties if it becomes law, puts teeth into local ordinances.

“Living in Palm Beach County, I’m well aware this has become a priority for the voters in my district,” Aronberg, who is running in a statewide Democratic primary for attorney general against Senate colleague Dan Gelber. “Hopefully, this will help remove our reputation as ‘Corruption County.’”

Recognizing Palm Beach County day today, PBC home-boy Sen. Dave Aronberg recited some facts about the state’s largest county before giving a shout-out to some county officials watching the Senate session from the East Gallery.

Aronberg, D-Greenacres, introduced PBC Commissioner Burt Aaronson as “The Godfather of Palm Beach County.”

Aaronson was first elected to the commission in 1992.

Aronberg’s intro may be considered a dubious distinction, considering that three of Aaronson’s former county commission colleagues are in prison for corruption charges.

Tea party activists march in West Palm Beach's July 4th parade. Allen Eyestone/The Palm Beach Post

Florida Republican leaders bristled at the suggestion Wednesday from Palm Beach County schools Superintendent Art Johnson that the conservative, anti-spending tea party movement could force the district to cut 1,600 jobs in 2011-12.

“If the common-sense approach of reducing government spending and cutting taxes makes me part of the tea party movement, then pass me some sugar,” House Republican Leader Adam Hasner of Boca Raton said.

Senate budget chief J.D. Alexander said his spending decisions will be driven by the state’s 11.8 percent unemployment rate, not by a particular political message.

But in a page from the “All Politics is Local” chapter of Florida government, the Republican leader has a tea party activist living next door to his Lake Wales home. Alexander said he’s attended two of his neighbor’s meetings.

“He walks my dog from time to time and I have to go over and say hello to everybody,” Alexander said. “They’re very reasonable people. They are concerned about the course of the country. I welcome everybody’s involvement in the discussion of how we move the state forward.”

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Palm Beach County schools Superintendent Arthur Johnson said he is considering a cut of 1,600 non-instructional jobs to deal with an expected “dramatic reduction in stimulus funding at the end of next year.”

In his latest “economic update,” Johnson cites the anti-spending political winds, embodied by the so-called “tea party” movement.”

“There are a growing number of American citizens, via the Tea Party movement, who are committed to cutting government spending and taxes,” wrote in his update.

A discussion of Johnson’s memo is underway here.

Palm Beach County Commissioner Jeff Koons asked utility regulators to approve Florida Power & Light Co.’s $1.2 billion rate hike, saying the utility is the county’s largest employer and needed the extra money to help the state go green.

The Public Service Commission yesterday instead slashed FPL’s rate hike to just $75 million and limited the amount of profit the Juno Beach-based utility can earn to 10 percent, far less than the 12.5 percent return on equity it sought.

“While no one - especially in the current economy - looks forward to higher electric bills, FPL’s proposed rate increase is necessary in order to make a greater investment in green technology, energy sources that will ultimately protect the consumer from uncertainties and bill fluctuations in the future,” Koons wrote in a letter to commissioners on Jan. 5 expressing his personal opinion on the rate case.

FPL President Armando Olivera said the company will immediately halt modernization projects at its Riviera Beach and Cape Canaveral power plants and cease moving forward with most of its efforts to build two new nuclear reactors at its Turkey Point facility.

He said the projects could have brought 20,000 new jobs to Florida over the next five years.

JUPITER — Gov. Charlie Crist briefly addressed a crowd of about 200 people at Temple Beth Am tonight, calling the relationship between Israel and the United States “special.”
Crist, a Methodist, told the crowd at Friday night’s Shabbat services about his 2007 trip to Israel to encourage trade with Florida.
During the trip, Crist said former Democratic Rep. Robert Wexler encouraged him to insert a note with a prayer at the Western Wall, a holy site in Jerusalem where prayers are traditionally placed. The note asked, “Dear God, please protect our Florida from storms and other difficulties.”
There was no hurricane that year.
“I thought, ‘this is good,’” Crist told the crowd.
In the two years since his trip, Crist has asked friends traveling to Israel to place similar notes at the wall.
And still no hurricanes.
“God is good,” Crist said to the crowd.
Crist also paused to remember the four people, including a 6-year-old girl, killed by gunman in Jupiter on Thanksgiving Day.
“We pray for those who have left us,” he said.
Crist’s address was part of the temple’s “community leaders forum,” a monthly series.
Next month, Congressman Alcee Hastings is scheduled to address the congregation about Israel and the Jewish community.

Lawmakers are preparing to start a 10-day session on rail issues that in part could keep Tri-Rail on track.

The 49-page bill legislators will consider includes an extra $13 million to $15 million a year for Tri-Rail that’s been operating at a deficit since its inception two decades ago.

That’s “probably as good as we could get right now,” said Palm Beach County Commissioner Jeff Koons, who is also chairman of the South Florida Regional Transportation Authority that oversees Tri-Rail.

That’s a big deal for leaders in Palm Beach, Miami-Dade and Broward counties where Tri-Rail runs. Federal officials have threatened to ask the counties to give back more than $200 million if Tri-Rail service is cut back as officials there have threatened.

Tri-Rail is paid for by the state, rider fares and the three counties in which it runs - Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade.

But the commuter line used by 15,000 riders daily has operated in the red by about $15 million every year.

Leaders in the three counties say they don’t have the money to make up the deficit and state lawmakers have refused to grant them the $2 rental car surcharge (also known as a tax) they’ve sought to cover their losses.

Now, state lawmakers are willing to fork over $13 million to $15 million a year to keep Tri-Rail on track to prove to federal lawmakers that Florida is serious about commuter rail. That way, the state will have a better chance at getting some of the $8 billion in stimulus money for high-speed rail projects.

The money will come from gas taxes and other fuel fees and should qualify as a “dedicated funding source” federal officials are seeking, Palm Beach County Commissioner Jeff Koons said.

“I think we ended up in the middle in the sense that we didn’t get our funding source but then a reallocation of those dollars is probably as good as we could get right now,” Koons said.

Fresh off vacation, Palm Beach County Commission Chairman Burt Aaronson said a casino might be just the boost the embattled Glades region needs.

“It is something to think about,” he said.

Aaronson, a cruise maven and tourism booster, also said the county should do more to help bring slots to the Palm Beach Kennel Club. The club, he said, has been at a “disadvantage” since state lawmakers allowed Broward’s parimutuel facilities to have slots. (more…)

The Florida Supreme Court rejected Gov. Charlie Crist’s request for a statewide grand jury to look into corruption.

Crist’s request did not meet the “minimal requirements” necessary to determine that a grand jury is needed, the high court ruled today, by failing to specify what crimes or wrongs occurred and where they took place.

Crist last month petitioned the court to empanel a statewide grand jury to focus on public corruption in Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties and the judicial circuit that includes Charlotte, Collier, Glades, Hendry and Lee counties.

The assignment - that the panel investigate public corruption from bribery to other seemingly unrelated crimes such as child pornography and drug offenses - sets forth a “monumental task” so broad as to possibly be untenable, former Florida Supreme Court Chief Justice Gerald Kogan, a veteran of anti-corruption efforts in Miami-Dade County, said when Crist filed the petition.
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State Attorney Michael McAuliffe and Palm Beach County commissioners today urged the school board and local governments to put themselves under the scrutiny of a proposed corruption-fighting inspector general.

School board Chairman Bill Graham said the school board is “conceptually on board” but wants to examine details.

The discussion came as county commissioners, school board members, state lawmakers and municipal officials held a joint meeting.

With five elected officials jailed on federal charges since 2006, County Commissioner Burt Aaronson said local politicians will feel the wrath of voters if they don’t approve reforms.

“If anybody says ‘No, we don’t want to do it,’ your constituents are going to tell you you’d better do it because there’s another election coming up. And anybody that doesn’t want to join in possibly won’t be an elected official the next time around.”

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State Sen. Dan Gelber, D-Miami Beach, questioned the need for Gov. Charlie Crist’s grand jury, which would probably recommend a host of laws to smother public corruption.

Gelber

Gelber, a state attorney general candidate, said has been searching for a House Republican to help sponsor his proposal to let state attoneys prosecute under the theft of honest services, which was one of the recommendations from Palm Beach County’s grand jury. Gelber introduced a similar bill last year but it did not receive a hearing.

Gelber also pointed to a constitutional amendment he plans to run this year that would tighten the open records laws for the state’s budgeting process. “If you want to clean up government, let the sun shine on it,” he said.

McAuliffe

McAuliffe, who convened a grand jury that recommended an inspector general to combat public corruption after five local elected officials went to federal prison for ethical misdeeds, spoke to the nonpartisan Voters Coalition this afternoon.

McAuliffe did not take a position on competing views of who should hire and fire the inspector general. The Voters Coalition is part of a consortium of business and civic groups that says the watchdog should answer to an independent ethics commission. County administrators have proposed having the inspector chosen by an independent selection committee but subject to final approval by the county commission.

The grand jury recommended modeling the office on the inspector general in Miami-Dade, where a selection committee chooses the inspector but commissioners have a final vote. Miami-Dade also imposes a 0.25 percent charge on government contracts to help finance the inspector’s office.

McAuliffe said he’s optimistic the consortium and commissioners will reach an agreement on inspector-general language to put before voters in November 2010.

Former U.S. Representative Mark Foley works the crowd Thursday before a health care town hall meeting. (Brandon Kruse/The Palm Beach Post)

Former U.S. Rep. Mark Foley was scheduled to tape the first broadcast of a new radio show he’s launching from Palm Beach County. “Inside the Mind of Mark Foley” was billed by the station as a program that “will expose the inner workings of Washington D.C.” It will air for the first time on Sept. 22 at 6 p.m. on WSVU 960 AM.

“During these incredibly changing times, it’s important that we hear the voice of a true Washington D.C. insider,” WSVU GM Chet Tart said in a press release.

WSVU, owned by North Palm Beach Broadcasting, can be heard from Boca Raton to Port St. Lucie. It includes several CBS programs, including “Imus in the Morning.” It also broadcasts Boston Red Sox and Dallas Cowboys games.

The press release from the station mentions that Foley is a former member of the House Ways & Means Committee, but fails to mention his embarrassing exit from the House which was sparked by inappropriate e-mails sent to underage congressional pages.

Foley was recently spotted at U.S. Rep. Alcee Hastings’ town hall meeting and has maintained a Facebook page filled with political observations, according to Page2live.com.

Florida counties are suggesting something that sounds like a scarlet letter to warn innocents away from households with scary serpents.

It’s the latest twist in the tale of the python-induced paranoia that’s wound up with bounty hunters seeking the critters in throughout Palm Beach County on lands abutting the Everglades.

The July 1 death of a two-year-old girl who was strangled by a pet python in Central Florida set off demands for an open-season on the snakes, which have overrun the national park. Gov. Charlie Crist gladly complied and ordered the bounty hunt for the pests last week. (U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, a Democrat, has had the Burmese python infestation in his sights for some time).

Now, the Florida Association of Counties wants state wildlife officials to give them more control over dangerous animals. The association sent a letter to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission last week asking them to let counties notify neighbors where perilous pythons and other classified creatures reside.

Perhaps the counties have something like the sex offender registry on the Internet where neighbors can see where perpetrators live.

Will the pythons be forced to take up residence under bridges like sex offenders banned from living near schools, parks or other places where children congregate?

Taylor

Gov. Charlie Crist set the special primary date and a general special election for Sept. 22 to replace the West Palm beach Democrat, whom he appointed to replace Palm Beach County Commissioner Addie Greene.

Democrats Mack Bernard and Hank Harper, a former state representative, have already filed to fill Taylor’s seat next year, when term limits would have forced Taylor out of office.

Former House Speaker and GOP U.S. Senate wannabe Marco Rubio will address reporters and editors in Palm Beach on Friday. Also invited but not yet confirmed is Gov. Charlie Crist, who’s the leading Republican candidate to replace retiring U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez.

U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek, the Democratic contender for the high-profile post who’s stumped through the Florida Panhandle all weekend, is also a maybe at the annual Florida Press Association/Florida Society of Newspaper Editors convention.

Meek’s got to be in D.C. to vote in Congress but might get there at the tail-end of the 2:30-4 p.m. Friday powwow, his campaign spokesman Adam Sharon said.

The date hasn’t yet been announced but former state Rep. Joe Negron’s already got the thumbs up from GOP heavyweight Jeb Bush in the special election to fill retiring Sen. Ken Pruitt’s seat.

Negron’s campaign sent out an announcement today in which the former governor touts Negron’s conservative qualifications.

Negron “has the experience and temperament needed to help solve the problems that are facing our great state. Joe is a true conservative and has my complete support,” the release said.

Negron was planning to run next year to replace Pruitt, the former Senate president who on Friday said he was stepping down a year before he would have been forced out of office by term limits.

It’ll be the second special election show-down for Negron, who’s facing former foe Art Argenio in the GOP race for District 28.

Argenio, who also served in the state House, beat Negron in a bitter 1999 special election runoff to win a state House seat. Negron ousted Argenio in another rough-and-tumble primary the following year.

The state budget was in a $6 billion hole this year, and legislators for the first time in years are turning to a new source of income: you. On Friday, they passed the budget and wrapped up another session. Here are some of the ways what they did will affect your bottom line:

$1-a-pack increase in cigarette taxes, up to $1.34 a pack.

Bright Futures cut: The scholarship will no longer offer a free ride. Students will pay for tuition increases starting in the fall, which will be at least 8 percent, some schools as high as 15 percent.

School boards allowed to raise property tax rates by 25 cents for every $1,000 of assessed value to help pay for operations. The owner of a $300,000 house would pay $75 more. After two school years, voters must approve the increase.

Court fees:

Max Osceola is biding his time down the street from the Capitol after gambling negotiations between the House and Senate blew up earlier this morning.

The Seminole Tribal Councilman is in the same limbo as a crush of lobbyists on the other side of a gambling stalemate.

Osceola sat beside Gov. Charlie Crist this morning as talks took a nosedive after the Senate offer broadened gambling opportunities for the Indians. House gambling negotiator Bill Galvano shut down the talks and now it remains up in the air when he and Senate counterpart J.D. Alexander will meet again, if at all.
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A few hours after the House’s chief negotiator accused the Senate of “moving backwards” on a gambling deal and threatened to call off talks, Senate President Jeff Atwater said he thinks the two chambers are “close” to reaching an agreement before the session ends on Friday.

“I’m frankly just so impressed that we’re down to just a couple of items left that I think if I were looking at odds at the moment my odds would be, now that we’re this close, I think we can come up with something that can work,” Atwater, R-North Palm Beach, said this afternoon.

Rep. Bill Galvano abruptly walked out this morning after Sen. J.D. Alexander presented his latest offer on a compact with the Seminoles that would allow them to hold blackjack, baccarat and chemin de fer at all of their seven casinos. The Senate’s previous offer had limited all of the card games and only permitted blackjack at all of the casinos.

Atwater, accompanied by Senate budget chief J.D. Alexander who is also handling the gambling deal, said he wasn’t surprised by Rep. Bill Galvano’s reaction, saying that it was the “first pushback” after two days of negotiations.

“I don’t think it’s a surprise that in something this significant that we hit a bump. But hopefully they’ll call us shortly and be ready to sit back down soon,” Atwater said.

Atwater met with the Seminoles early this morning and said he believes the two chambers are “finding some common ground” on their disparate plans. The House wants to limit blackjack to the tribe’s three Broward County resorts, which the Seminoles have rejected.

When asked if it was time for Atwater and House Speaker Larry Cretul to take over gambling talks, Atwater said “I don’t think so” before Alexander interrupted.

“Please. Please. Please. Fire me,” Alexander, R-Lake Wales, pleaded in jest.