Some of the West Palm Beach coffee party group, from Flickr.com

But the meeting of about 40 people in West Palm Beach was predominantly white, and a perusal of Coffee Party USA photos from around the nation on Flickr.com shows mostly white faces.

“I’m a little surprised that there aren’t more young people and more people of color. I’m glad to see these people, though,” said Phil Stelly of North Palm Beach, who is 54 and black. He left early from Saturday’s meeting at a Panera Bread restaurant, but said he remains interested in the nascent group.

Two black women took part in the West Palm Beach meeting. Local organizer George Papison said he believes several participants were Latino.

“I would have liked to have seen more participants of color, but I don’t know whether we had any control over that….I would have liked to have seen more younger people, frankly,” said Papison, who is 59.

Some tea party critics — including two white participants at the Panera Bread summit — have accused the predominantly white tea partyers of being motivated by racial unease with or outright hostility toward America’s first black president.

Filmmaker and former Obama campaign volunteer Annabel Park, whose Facebook rants against the tea party launched the coffee party movement, seems to allude to these criticisms in a video in which she describes coffee partyers as in tune with America’s changing demographics.

Says Park: “We really have a collection of people who value diversity, are diverse, and we’re completely comfortable with the changing demographics of our country. I think that it’s human for people to be nervous about changes in their neighborhoods and in demographics of this country. But it’s not something that should be encouraged and it certainly should not be an opportunity for political gain. And I think really the politicians who are exploiting that fear and anxiety for political gain, they’re really the worst.”

Frankel

Frankel can’t seek a third term unless the city charter is changed, a process that would probably require a petition drive and referendum between now and November.

“I have no initiative under way,” Frankel said, and nothing planned. But, she added, “a lot of things could happen” in the next few months.

Read about it in this week’s Politics column.

A picture from the West Palm Beach event from the Coffee Party U.S.A. page on Flickr.com

“To me, government is the answer. I’m really sort of perplexed,” said one coffee partier.

The event was one of hundreds nationwide. Read more here.

• Rubio failed to disclose $34,000 in expenses — including $7,000 he paid himself — for one of the committees in 2003 and 2004, as required by state law.

• One committee paid relatives nearly $14,000 for what was incorrectly described to the IRS as “courier fees” and listed a nonexistent address for one of them. Another committee paid $5,700 to his wife, who was listed as the treasurer, much of it for “gas and meals.”

• He billed more than $51,000 in unidentified “travel expenses” to three different credit cards — nearly one-quarter of the committee’s entire haul. Charges are not required to be itemized, but other lawmakers detailed almost all of their committee expenses.

Sen. Bill Nelson listens to Greg Dunsford during a meeting with Acreage residents to discuss upcoming testimony before a congressional hearing aimed at finding ways to bolster the federal government's hand in investigating cancer clusters. Allen Eyestone/Staff Photographer

4:25 p.m. - The meeting ended after more than an hour of comments from Sen. Bill Nelson and other officials and questions from residents.

Several of the key residents in the cancer cluster debate, such as Greg Dunsford (one of the parents of a child diagnosed with a brain tumor), said they got more answers and the proceedings were much more civil than the last public cancer cluster meeting. The last meeting, held by the health department at Seminole Ridge High School last month, was characterized by hours of people screaming and yelling at each other and speakers from the state health department.

4:05 p.m. - U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson is telling the residents that the stories they’ve told him today about the cancer cluster will help him testify to the U.S. Senate next week. He said testing will continue to be conducted by the state Health Department. He said he will search for ways that cancer cluster investigations have been handled in other states around the nation.

4:03 p.m. - One resident is saying that many more houses need to be tested even if no cause is found, just to prove that there is nothing causing cancer to make the stigma of a cancer cluster go away. He said the stigma of a cancer scare won’t go away unless many more tests are done on many more homes.

3:51 p.m. - County Commissioner Burt Aaronson is telling the audience that if no cause can be found after extensive testing, then the county, state and federal government need to invest money in a public relations campaign to “build back confidence in The Acreage” so people don’t just move away and abandon the area. He also cautioned people that even if a cause is found by testing, that doesn’t solve the problem.

“Be prepared to know that it doesn’t go away tomorrow morning,” Aaronson said. “It will take years to correct depending on what it is.”

One resident said that if there was a clear plan of action to find and fix the problem residents would be more likely to stay.

3:46 p.m. - State Sen. Dave Aaronberg, who represents part of The Acreage, said the state is working on opening some sort of office in The Acreage to be a central point of disseminating information and quelling rumors on the cluster investigation. He asked for a central person with the state and the county be appointed to disseminate information correctly.

“That’s one thing we are working against is that rumors are getting out there,” he said. “We don’t want to ruin a community.”

3:39 p.m. - Another resident is asking for better communication from the health department about what is being tested for and what the results mean. She says that a lot of the anger amongst residents who claim news of the cancer cluster is ruining the community don’t understand what is happening. She suggested a central person residents can communicate with to ask questions and get answers about testing and the investigation to alleviate misinformation and quell some of the anger among residents.

3:35 p.m. - County Commissioner Burt Aaronson compared the impact of the cancer cluster on The Acreage to a “quiet hurricane.” Residents have been using the same language at the meeting, calling the region a “disaster area” and saying the impact is like a hurricane.

3:27 p.m. - A resident is saying that the county and the health department have not been getting things done fast enough, claiming that water tests have only been conducted at 72 of the estimated 10,000 homes in The Acreage thus far. The resident is asking for Gov. Charlie Crist to appoint somebody from his office to directly lead the investigation efforts and be in charge of the whole investigation.

3:21 p.m. - County Commissioner Burt Aaronson is saying that what the county and the residents need the most from the federal government is quite simply money. They need more money for testing to find the problem and more money to help residents fix the problem once it is found.

“I want as much help from the federal government as I can get, no matter how many dollars it costs,” Aaronson said.

He said that if the well water is found to be the problem, the federal government should help cover some of the cost of running county water lines to Acreage homes. County estimates to run water lines to The Acreage are about $17,000 per home.

“These people need county water, yet the cost of county water is so much they cannot afford it,” Aaronson said. “If we find out what’s wrong they need the help of the federal government to get them back on their feet.

County Commissioner Jess Santamaria said residents have also been asking him for government help paying for getting county drinking water lines to their homes.

“I believe this is one area where stimulus dollars can be used to great benefit of the Acreage community,” Santamaria said.

3:13 p.m. - Greg Dunsford, one of the parents of a child diagnosed with a brain tumor, is telling the audience that the federal government needs to put some money into testing the depth of wells in The Acreage and whether well depth has any connection to tumors. He said his neighbor was told his well was 80-feet deep but when it as tested it was just 25-feet deep.

“You’ve got to check the depth of the wells to see if there is something there,” Dunsford said.

Dunsford called on residents who have criticized him for claiming there is a cancer cluster in The Acreage to let the federal government do its job and keep testing.
‘Let’s get this done. This problem isn’t going to go away,” Dunsford said.

3:07 p.m. - Nelson is telling the residents that he plans to testify on Wednesday before the U.S. Senate’s Environmental Committee about the Acreage cancer cluster issue. After that, Nelson and U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., will file legislation calling for the federal government to be more involved with state departments of health on future cancer cluster issues. This would include more involvement by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the National Cancer Institute.

2:54 p.m. - Nelson just entered the room. The meeting is about to start.

2:44 p.m. - Aside from the Acreage residents waiting for answers about their homes, there is also a Royal Palm Beach man in the gallery who claims he is shooting a documentary on the cancer cluster issue. There is also a woman who claims she is hoping to use the meeting as an opportunity to pick up Acreage clients for a West Palm beach-based water purification company.

2:30 p.m. - Selected Acreage residents are starting to take their seats in the Flagler Gallery at West Palm Beach’s City Center. They are seated around a horse-shoe shaped row of tables with a table for U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson to sit at the front.

There are expected to be at least two dozen Acreage residents and officials attending the meeting today. Residents have said they are hoping Nelson can answer questions for them today like when the government is going to finish testing, if they should sell their homes and what their homes are still worth.

The New York Times story hinted the change was meant to benefit U.S. Sugar and its law firm, where Crist’s ally, U.S. Sen. George LeMieux, was a partner.

Alan Farago of the group Friends of the Everglades says Crist abandoned the Bush plan because of science.

“Gov. Bush is quite critical of the U.S. Sugar deal, but in fact, the plan that he advocated and committed a billion dollars to was also based on very, very uncertain technologies and investments,” Farago said. “For instance, the largest man-made reservoir in the world, which is now sitting off U.S. 27 in a state of half-completeness.”

Environmentalists are upset that the story targeted Crist’s ties to U.S. Sugar, but failed to highlight the connections involving Crist’s opponent, former House Speaker Marco Rubio.

The WFSU story quotes our blog item pointing out Rubio received more than $14,000 from Florida Crystals, one of the main opponents to the Everglades deal. We updated that number to $24,200 in a blog post yesterday.

Gov. Charlie Crist on Fox News this morning said he’s being thumped in the polls right now by fellow Republican Marco Rubio because “nobody has talked about his record.”

What part of his record is no one talking about?

“The fact that he voted for increases in property taxes while he was a West Miami city commissioner. He never talks about that,” Crist said. “In fact, he says he didn’t ever vote for a tax increase. It’s just not true. I never voted for a tax increase. That is true.”

Rubio says on his Web site that he never voted for a tax increase, which is misleading at best.

As a state lawmaker, he voted for several state budgets that increased property taxes to pay for schools. But he told us that he voted for those budgets because they paid for Meals on Wheels.

Rubio campaign says he doesn’t consider these tax increases, because tax rates decreased. But that’s the same argument Rubio often ridiculed city and county officials for making: During the real estate boom last decade government officials regularly lowered tax rates, just not enough to offset increasing property values. That resulted in a net increase on property tax bills.

As for his days as a West Miami city commissioner, back in 2007 we wrote about his proposal as speaker to cap local property taxes at the rate of inflation - a standard neither he nor his fellow Republican leaders lived up to as city and county officials.

We should point out that while Crist technically didn’t vote for the budget last year, his signature made it law. That budget included $2 billion in new fees and cigarette tax increases.

Rubio’s camp also pointed us to articles from the Tampa Tribune and St. Pete Times that indicate Crist voted for tax increases as a state senator.

Rudy Giuliani and Bill McCollum work the room at Howley's this morning. Photo by Lannis Waters.

“This is a very difficult time to govern, whether it’s Florida or Texas or California,” Giuliani told about 70 McCollum supporters who crowded the diner for a $40-a-head meet-and-greet event.

McCollum, who is Florida’s attorney general, was state chairman for Giuliani’s 2008 presidential campaign. In addition to this morning’s breakfast, Giuliani will appear with McCollum at a fund-raiser at a private home in Stuart later today and at a restaurant in Miami’s Little Havana late this afternoon.

“You don’t want to become like California,” Giuliani said of the state that faces a $20 billion deficit. Giuliani said McCollum, who’s currently the Florida attorney general, would keep Florida’s spending under control.

“If you don’t get control of it and you have these unrealistic, childish, immature liberal policies where you can spend anything and give away to the trial lawyers or give away to the unions or give away to this pressure group, you’ll be in the same shape as California,” Giuliani said.

“You need a governor who can say no to overspending and say yes to the things you need and can afford. I can’t think of anyone better than Bill McCollum.”

This morning’s crowd included House Majority Leader Adam Hasner, R-Boca Raton, state Rep. Carl Domino, R-Jupiter, Palm Beach County Commissioner Steven Abrams and Palm Beach Town Councilman Bill Diamond. Diamond served in Giuliani’s administration in New York and had his 1996 wedding officiated by Giuliani.

Giuliani was mentioned as a potential candidate for governor or U.S. Senator in New York this year, but opted not to run.

“The way I can help is helping other candidates,” Giuliani said. He was involved in Republican Chris Christie’s surprise win in last year’s New Jersey governor’s race and is helping Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s reelection bid this year.

Asked about any future candidacies of his own, Giuliani said, “We’ll see after the end of this year.”

It would be more difficult to sell carburetor pipes, chillums and chillers in Florida under a bill approved today by a panel of state lawmakers.

Don’t know what those items are? Most members of the House Finance and Tax Council didn’t either. Not that that stopped them from approving the bill 16-0.

Story here.

England, now 65, is accused of buying then-five-year-old Jackie Zudis from her mother in Vietnam in the early 1970s. He claimed her as his adopted daughter and kept her as a sex slave for more than a decade, authorities say.

England sexually assaulted three of her young friends, skipped out of sentencing in California and lived for years in Florida — including Palm Beach County — using the fake name of a dead baby.

England never was charged because Zudis because never reported him until she was an adult, long after California’s statute of limitations had expired.

Like California, Florida has a statute of limitations on child molestation charges. But lawmakers are considering doing away with that restriction. Palm Beach County lawyer Michael Dolce, who is spearheading the effort, appealed to lawmakers this week to pass a measure that would allow adults like him to press charges against their rapists long after the crimes were committed.

Sen. Dave Aronberg, a Greenacres Democrat, is sponsoring a bill again (SB 870) this year that would do away with Florida’s current law giving victims of certain sex offenses, including “non-forcible rape” of children age 12 and older, until they are 21 to press charges. Lawsuits must be filed before the victim reaches age 26. A committee gave Aronberg’s measure an initial thumbs-up this week.

Read Eliot Kleinberg’s story about England and his Palm Beach County connection here.

California prosecutors said the FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s office were filing an arrest warrant Thursday in Palm Beach County for crimes England allegedly committed against Jackie Zudis in Florida.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Miami declined to comment Thursday, but said it might have information Friday. An FBI spokeswoman did not return calls.

Sound familiar?

As this Washington Post article notes, “GOP leaders cited as precedent the committee’s 2006 decision to investigate claims that Mark Foley, a Florida Republican, sent sexually explicit messages to former male pages. The committee’s decision came after Foley stepped down from Congress. That inquiry also examined how some House leaders ignored claims about Foley’s conduct while others tried to shield his behavior from public disclosure.”

The House voted 402-1 today to keep the Massa investigation open.

Story here.

A 2009 rant by MSNBC’s Rick Santelli helped launch the conservative tea party movement.

Now an Obama supporter’s Facebook rantings have launched an alternative “coffee party” that will try to gain traction Saturday with gatherings across the U.S., including one in West Palm Beach.

A local organizer said the group doesn’t have specific policy aims other than to promote civil dialogue, which he said is in contrast to the “obstructionism” of the tea party movement.

“We don’t have an agenda. Our agenda is cooperation,” said George Papison, a telecommunications consultant from West Palm Beach.

The coffee party movement was started by filmmaker Annabel Park, who volunteered for Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign and is a contributor to the United For Obama channel on YouTube.

“I kind of lost it and started ranting on my Facebook page about frustration I felt listening to news coverage that made it seem like the tea party was representative of America. I completely disagree with this,” Park says in a video on the Coffee Party USA Web site.

Park says the federal government is the “expression of our collective will” and should play a role in solving problems. “If you don’t believe that the government has any role, then, yeah, you should join the tea party.”

Park’s partner, filmmaker Eric Byler, co-directed the viral “Si Se Puede Cambiar” video in support of Obama in 2008. Park and Byler both volunteered on Democrat James Webb’s 2006 U.S. Senate campaign in Virginia.

West Palm Beach organizer Papison, 59, said he supported Obama in 2008 but also supported John McCain’s failed 2000 bid for the Republican presidential nomination. Elections records show Papison switched his voter registration from Republican to the Independent Party in September 2008. Papison said he has also been registered as a Democrat in the past.

Papison said he read about Park’s efforts last month and decided to get involved.

“Philosophically what I want to see is open communications,” said Papison, who criticized the “very right-wing” tea party and its boisterous opposition to health care at town hall meetings last summer.

“We don’t believe in going to events and shouting people down and obstructing conversation. Their objective is to close the lines of communication,” Papison said.

“That’s not what our objective is,” said South Florida Tea Party Chairman Everett Wilkinson.

“I’m for dialogue, too. It’s unfortunate our government’s not listening to us,” Wilkinson said.

The West Palm Beach coffee party event is scheduled for 1 p.m. on Saturday at Panera Bread at 771 Village Boulevard. Information is available at 561-865-6864 or coffeepartypbc@gmail.com

In the poll of 492 Florida Republican voters by North Carolina-based Public Policy Polling, Romney gets 52 percent to 21 percent for former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and 18 percent for former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.

Romney, Huckabee and Palin were the only choices given in the poll, which has a 4.4 percent margin of error.

Romney also leads the Republican pack in a PPP poll of Colorado.

Marco Rubio is attempting to do just that with this web video released today, just hours before the South Florida Water Management District takes another critical vote on the Charlie Crist-backed plan to buy up U.S. Sugar land in the name of Everglades restoration. Crist has called the deal one of the biggest accomplishments of his term in the governor’s office.

The video compares the Sugar deal to the stimulus package and the cash-for-clunkers program and also cites a Palm Beach Post article pointing out that Crist has received $103,987 from U.S. Sugar executives plus their families, attorneys and lobbyists.

When that same standard is applied to Rubio, however, his campaign received $24,200 from Florida Crystals Corp., Sugar’s rival and one of the loudest critics of the deal. Put another way, 1.15 percent of Crist’s campaign collections so far are from Sugar-related interests, while 0.71 percent of Rubio’s campaign can be traced back to Crystals.

“In Washington, President Obama and his administration and some of the friends we have over there like Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid are more worried about growing government than they are about growing jobs,” McCollum said. Sink, he added, “believes that the public should hold Tallahassee accountable for creating jobs. Jobs shouldn’t created by government, whether it’s the state or federal. Jobs are created by small businesses.”

McCollum also got a standing ovation when he repeated his pledge to use his position as AG to sue the federal government if Congress approves a health care overhaul that includes a requirement for individuals to purchase insurance.

Her husband Nathan Lee sent an e-mail to the sponsor of Cretul’s bill, House Government Accountability Policy Council Chairman Rob Schenk, pleading with the committee to shoot down the measure that would make 911 call recordings secret except for transcripts that could be available after 60 days. Lee also asked that his message be read at Schenk’s committee hearing the bill (PCB GAP 10-03) before it was voted on this morning.

Schenk made no reference to Lee’s message and did not read it before the measure passed by an 8-5 vote. And Cretul, who used a procedural maneuver to ensure the bill passed, never read it at all. He said he received it last night. Public records show that Cretul, his spokeswoman Jill Chamberlin and Schenk received it around 3:30 p.m. yesterday.

“I haven’t read the e-mail. I’m sure that he makes some excellent points,” Cretul, R-Ocala, said shortly before the House began session at 1 p.m.

Nathan Lee and his parents are pushing a separate 911 bill that would require uniform training standards for 911 dispatchers throughout the state. His wife was killed despite five 911 calls made in two counties, including one from a witness whose call was ignored.

Lee’s e-mail uses the botched handling of the eyewitness’ emergency call made on the day his wife was killed in 2008 to demonstrate why the calls should be available to the public.

“She provided the exact location of this event and even though there were, by all accounts, 4 police cars within a mile of this call, it was never dispatched. This call was, obviously, grossly mishandled and would have resulted in the saving of Denise’s life. Two days after this call, she was found in a grave, naked and with a single gunshot wound to the head. This call was hidden from the public and myself. And even hidden from the police department who was actively investigating the case and searching for my wife for two days. The subsequent internal affairs investigation shows the communication center and agency who took this crucial call were immediately aware that the call was about Denise. The call was suppressed. Had the eyewitness not contacted the North Port Police Department we may never have known about her call. And the prosecution would have lost the last eyewitness to see my wife alive,” Lee wrote.

Cretul said he supports the training and certification bill.

“But my whole interest in this issue has been watching what it also does to families and what it does to people that call in. They become suddenly out there for all the world to see,” Cretul said in an interview. “This is a very tough, very difficult issue. Very sensitive in all respects.”

Read the entire text of Nathan Lee’s message after the jump.

“Dear Representative Schenck,

I am writing to you about PCB GAP 10-03 that has been suggested by your
committee. Unfortunately, I am unable to attend your meeting this morning.
But I would appreciate you reading this email to the committee. Thank you.
As you may or may not know, our foundation was formed out of the tragic
abduction, rape, and murder of my wife, Denise Lee.

Five 9-1-1 calls were made the day she was taken kidnapped from our home
by a complete stranger. One call was made by Denise herself when she
dialed 9-1-1 with her killer’s cell phone without his knowledge. During
the recent murder trial, we had to listen to over 6 minutes of this painful
call where she begged for her life desperately pleading to come home to me
and our 2 boys. I understand the pain and suffering of having to listen to
tragic 9-1-1 calls.

Another 9 minute 9-1-1 call was made that day from a bystander witnessing
the abduction. She provided the exact location of this event and even
though there were, by all accounts, 4 police cars within a mile of this
call, it was never dispatched. This call was, obviously, grossly
mishandled and would have resulted in the saving of Denise’s life. Two
days after this call, she was found in a grave, naked and with a single
gunshot wound to the head. This call was hidden from the public and
myself. And even hidden from the police department who was actively
investigating the case and searching for my wife for two days. The
subsequent internal affairs investigation shows the communication center
and agency who took this crucial call were immediately aware that the call
was about Denise. The call was suppressed. Had the eyewitness not contacted
the North Port Police Department we may never have known about her call.
And the prosecution would have lost the last eyewitness to see my wife
alive.

We believe 9-1-1 issues need more transparency and not less if we are ever
to learn from past mistakes.

In the aftermath of our tragedy, we have been invited around the country
to speak at state and national 9-1-1 conferences on the need for a
mandatory, uniform training standard that all 9-1-1 telecommunicators
should be required to take. There is no reason for the general public to
support or demand additional fees be approved for 9-1-1 if these types of
calls are suppressed from the public discussion. The public needs to know
the challenges of the system in order to vote for additional funding to
improve it. This bill would be totally counter-productive to that end. It
only serves to shelter the agencies from scrutiny. We are victims that
this bill purports to represent but we feel saving another family from the
pain and suffering that we have endured is far more important than saving
us from hearing Denise’s last words. Forward thinking legislators with
integrity and vision would see these calls are valuable training moments
and powerful emotional tools to change public policy to improve the system.
Please do not pass this bill.

Thank you for your time and thank you for reading this for me.

Nathan Lee
Chairman/Co-Founder
Denise Amber Lee Foundation
www.deniseamberlee.org”

Cretul is pushing the measure on behalf of Florida Farm Bureau President John Hoblick, whose 16-year-old son died from a lethal combination of alcohol and illegal prescription drugs. Hoblick, out of town when his son Jake died, heard his older son John’s 911 call on the news.

House staff and the bill sponsor Rep. Rob Schenk, R-Spring Hill, kept the Speaker’s blessing of the bill hush-hush until this week when Cretul told a St. Petersburg Times reporter that Hoblick asked him to do something about the 911 calls.

Cretul used a seldom-used procedural maneuver today to guarantee that the measure (PCB GAP 10-03) passed. He temporarily assigned one of his lieutenants, House Speaker Pro Tem Ron Reagan, R-Bradenton, to the committee. Cretul didn’t need the insurance, however; the Government Policy Accountability Council approved it with an 8-5 vote.

Despite the Speaker’s clout in the House, the bill lacks a Senate sponsor.

Sen. Garrett Richter had originally agreed to run a companion for Schenk. But an open government shell bill he had sponsored that could have been used for Schenk’s bill was designated to be heard in the Banking and Insurance Committee, which has nothing to do with the 911 calls, he said. Richter backed off the bill even before controversy surrounding it - some victims and First Amendment lawyers staunchly oppose it - began this week. The Naples Republican said he won’t sponsor the measure.

The latest survey of 849 Florida voters by North Carolina-based Public Policy Polling, which works primarily for Democratic candidates, shows former Florida House Speaker Rubio with a 44-to-39 percent lead over Miami U.S. Rep. Meek. Crist would beat Meek 46-to-33 percent, according to the poll.

If Crist were to run as an independent, the poll says, he’d finish second with 27 percent to Rubio’s 34 percent. Meek gets 25 percent in that scenario.

Republican U.S. Senate candidate Marco Rubio launched the first television ad of his increasingly hostile primary race with Gov. Charlie Crist.

Rubio uses the 60-second spot, running on Fox News, to cast himself in the role as a thoughtful alternative to President Obama, framing his anti-tax message as the best option for the future of America’s children.

The message seems to be an attempt to get out in front of what Rubio’s pollster expects will be a “relentlessly brutal negative campaign” from Crist.

The Crist campaign reaction:

“As the truth begins to surface about Speaker Rubio’s double billing of taxpayers, lavish spending of Republican money, and, just today, excessive pork spending, no ad will be able to stop voters from seeing he is not who he claims to be. A Miami lobbyist, Speaker Rubio has proved he is just another typical politician who uses his public office for personal gain and only comes clean once caught. Floridians deserve a true steward of their hard earned taxpayer dollars and public servant who does the right thing, even when no one is looking.”
–Andrea Saul, Communications Director, Charlie Crist for U.S. Senate.

The measure (PCB GAP 10-3) is the brainchild of House Speaker Larry Cretul and appears on the fast-track in his chamber although Senate support appears limited.

The purpose of the bill is to spare victims of tragedies from reliving their traumas when frantic 911 calls are repeatedly broadcast on television or blogs, argued bill sponsor Rep. Rob Schenk, chairman of the Govermental Affairs Policy Committee that passed the bill with an 8-5 vote this morning.

The tapes would only be available to those who make the calls but others would have to go to court to get them. Transcripts of the tapes would be available after 60 days.

But Rep. Rick Kriseman, a St. Petersburg Democrat, objected that the transcripts are not available to the victims of the 911 calls unless they made the calls themselves.

Kriseman, a lawyer, also said automobile manufacturer Toyota may not have responded to quickly to runaway cars without the 911 tapes.

“Had it not been for the recording, the pressure that’s now being put on Toyota would not have happened. Because it was through that recording that we learned about the problem with the gas pedals and all the other associated problems. That’s a protection that we’re losing by putting this in place,” Kriseman said.

But Schenk argued that the bill is necessary to protect victims.

“It’s not about Tiger Woods and what did or did not happen on Thanksgiving with him. It’s not about any other celebrity. It is simply about when someone makes a 911 call they are generally in one of the most vulnerable states they will ever be in in their life. There is a tragedy. There is an emergency. There is something traumatic happening at that very moment. I’ll tell you just from personal experience I’ve had to make a 911 call. The events that happened during that time I will never forget. Quite frankly, I would not want to relieve that over and over again watching on TV or reading about it in the media,” Schenk said.

“That’s what this bill is about. It’s not about any celebrity. It’s not about any sensational news story you read about. It is purely about taking into consideration victims who make a 911 call, guarding them from the fact that reliving that event over and over again that was already traumatic to them.”

Schenk later refused to elaborate on the nature of his 911 call.

Dolce’s tried but failed for years to get the legislature to do away with the statute of limitations in cases where a child under the age of 16 was sexually molested. The former legislative aide has a personal interest in seeing the law passed, one that he shared with a spellbound Senate Criminal Justice Committee this afternoon struggling to hear the soft-spoken Dolce’s testimony.

Dolce, an attorney, prayed silently before telling the committee that he was repeatedly raped as a 7-year-old child by a neighbor in his home state of Maryland. When he was finally able to talk about the vicious crime, the statute of limitations had passed and he was unable to press charges against his molestor.

Sen. Dave Aronberg, a Greenacres Democrat, is sponsoring a bill again (SB 870) this year that would do away with Florida’s current law giving victims of certain sex offenses, including “non-forcible rape” of children age 12 and older, until they are 21 to press charges. Lawsuits must be filed before the victim reaches age 26.

But up to 70 percent of child sexual-abuse cases aren’t reported until after the deadline, Dolce told The Palm Beach Post last year.

Dolce told the committee he still suffers after spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on medical and psychological treatment while his molestor walks free.

“Today, he I am 40 years old. The pain does not go away,” he said.

The committee unanimously approved the measure which has two more stops before a full vote in the Senate. Its House companion has one committee vote left after three committees previously unanimously passed it.

Lawmakers have the power to repeal the statute of limitations by legislative grace, Dolce testified.

“I urge you to do it. I have faced Satan. He does not deserve legislative grace,” Dolce said.

Dolce launched a ballot initiative to amend the state constitution to lift the statute of limitations on sex crimes in the event that the legislature again fails to act. He failed to gather the 700,000 signatures by February necessary to get the measure on this year’s ballot but is shooting for 2012.

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.’”

Mack Bernard, D-West Palm Beach

From the Florida House Democratic office this afternoon:

State Representatives Ronald Brisé (D-North Miami) and Mack Bernard (D-West Palm Beach) are pleased to announce that they will join Haiti’s President René Préval during his visit to The White House on Wednesday, March 10, 2010. Both legislators are Haitian-Americans who have traveled to Haiti since the earthquake. They have worked extensively with colleagues to facilitate Florida’s relief efforts in earthquake-torn Haiti.

President Préval is scheduled to meet with President Obama to discuss reconstruction plans for Haiti. President Préval will also meet with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Attorney General Eric Holder, and representatives from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

“We look forward to welcoming President Préval in a collegial environment that will lead to constructive dialogue,” said Representative Brisé.

“There are many challenges ahead for Haiti’s recovery,” said Representative Bernard. “I am pleased that President Obama and senior officials in his administration recognize the critical needs facing Haiti. We appreciate the opportunity to participate in this important conversation at The White House.”

Left - House Republican Majority Leader Adam Hasner of Boca Raton displays proper attire for the chamber floor. Right - the latest thing out of L.A.

Florida House members are banned from snapping cell phone pics while they’re in the chamber under a decorum edict from House Speaker Larry Cretul.

Lawmakers were reminded this morning that they can get pictures from the staff of taxpayer-funded photographers who document each days work.

Rules Chairman Bill Galvano, who highlighted some of the finer points in the memo for lawmakers today, reminded his colleagues to wear “proper attire” and “not the latest thing out of L.A.”

They were reminded not to use cell phones in the chamber, not to vote for other members in a quorum call, to get floor props approved first and to use state laptops for state business.

“That’s about it by way of highlight on the memorandum,” Galvano said.

Gov. Charlie Crist says he tossed out the possibility that Marco Rubio used his Florida Republican Party credit card for a back waxing after reading it in the St. Petersburg Times on Sunday. The column, from political editor Adam Smith, speculated on what the $135 charge could have been for after Rubio told Fox News that it wasn’t for a hair cut.

Crist, who is badly trailing Rubio according to a new poll today, said repeating the comment would not risk distracting voters from the fiscal issues he and Rubio are debating.

“It puts a fine point on the issue,” Crist told reporters after the Cabinet meeting this morning. “And the issue is whether or not people can trust the speaker to spend their money wisely. I mean, clearly they can’t.”

Crist also sidestepped a question about whether, in hindsight, he would push as hard for former state GOP chairman Jim Greer. “Remember, Chairman Greer wasn’t chairman when Speaker Rubio had his credit card.”

More nuggets from Crist this morning:

1.) Crist said on Fox News last night that Rubio didn’t pay for the personal expenses on his GOP-issued American Express card until he got caught. Rubio said he would pay the party back for about $3,000 in airfare that he billed both state taxpayers and the state party for, but has insisted he never asked the party to reimburse him for about $16,000 in personal charges he put on the card.

2.) Crist deflected a question about whether he had evidence Rubio’s claim was untrue. “I don’t think we have much idea of what he paid for, what the party paid for and what the taxpayers have paid for,” Crist said. “The whole thing is a mess.”

3.) Associated Press: “So then you’re not suggesting he’s a crook?” Crist: “I didn’t say that. I’ll leave that to others.”

First Amendment advocates and some victims vigorously oppose the legislation, the brainchild of House Speaker Larry Cretul and other unidentified House GOP “leaders,” according to Cretul’s spokeswoman Jill Chamberlain.

Cretul believes the calls should be made secret to spare victims from reliving traumatic events when tapes of the emergency calls are broadcast.

But some victims, including the family of one of the most notorious 911-calls-gone wrong kidnap and murder victim Denise Amber Lee, want the calls to remain public to keep dispatchers and law enforcement officials accountable when they err.

Crist, whose first act after becoming governor in 2007 was to create the “Office of Open Government,” said he prefers greater openness and transparency.

“What we can learn after the fact many times with these 911 recordings can be beneficial to make sure that it’s done better in the future because you can discover mistakes or maybe better management practices that can be utilized in the application of 911,” Crist said this morning.

“It’s been a great thing for the people, a great thing for safety and it has saved a lot of lives. But if we keep those secret going forward, we might not be able to continue to learn from those experiences as to what might help people in the future,” he said.

The House Government Policy Accountability Council is slated to take up the measure (PCB GAP 10-3, PCB GAP 10-3A) tomorrow morning.

Rubio’s lead is bolstered by a “staggering” 71-to-17 percent lead among conservatives, the poll says. Click here for PPP’s analysis.

Crist’s campaign was quick to label the poll “agenda-driven” and “designed to help Speaker Rubio, as they understand how easy it would be to defeat a lobbyist-politician in November.”

As the April 13 special election approaches to replace former Democratic Rep. Robert Wexler in Palm Beach-Broward congressional District 19, Democrat Ted Deutch’s campaign has sent a mailer to voters in the heavily Democratic district warning that “Republicans & The Tea Party Want To Capture YOUR Congressional Seat!”

The four-page glossy brochure features unflattering pictures of former Vice President Dick Cheney, 2008 Republican veep nominee Sarah Palin and a tea bag with a large red X through them. Inside, the mailer features a statement from Wexler lamenting the Dems’ “heartbreaking” loss to Brown in Massachusetts and says “We cannot let the Republicans take our district as well.”

The South Florida Tea Party has said it plans to make a national statement in the special election. But the group recently decided not to endorse any candidate in the race between Deutch, Republican Ed Lynch and no-party candidate Jim McCormick.

“We want to remain nonpartisan and unaffiliated so we can educate voters on the issues,” said the group’s chairman, Everett Wilkinson. “We thought if we were to start endorsing candidates it might lead toward us being not as independent as we’d like to be.”

Wilkinson said tea partiers might still distribute some type of “voter scorecard” outlining where the candidates stand on issues.

Now, the bad news: The state’s still facing about a $2.2 billion budget shortfall in its general revenue collections.

In December, the economists estimated about $22.5 billion in sales and other tax collections for 2010-2011.

Now, the legislature’s Bureau of Economic and Demographic Research is predicting that tax collections and other fees will bring in about $2.2 million less than the December projection, close to the Department of Revenue’s estimates that the collections will come in about $65.9 million short.

But Gov. Charlie Crist’s office is revising its estimate in the other direction, a reflection of the governor’s perennial optimism.

Crist’s budget gurus think the state will bring in $257.3 million more than they previously anticipated.

The revenue estimating conference will meet throughout the day and provide their final prognostications this afternoon.

But Gov. Charlie Crist’s office is showing about the about meeting with Gov. Charlie Crist’s budget gurus and the Department of Revenue’s economists