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.

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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From right to left: Crist, Rothstein, Wayne Huizenga at the 2008 Governor's Bowl with Charlie Crist at Dolphin Stadium. (blacktie-southflorida.com)

Interview with Gov. Crist about Scott Rothstein. Note: Audio was edited to remove unrelated questions and some confusion during an elevator malfunction.

Graphic: Tainted Crist donors, fundraisers

Graphic: Rothstein: A lavish life in the fast lane

TALLAHASSEE — Republican Gov. Charlie Crist attempted Wednesday to distance himself from a Fort Lauderdale attorney accused of raiding and swindling his way to what could be a $500 million payday.

Crist also denied any problems for his U.S. Senate campaign after Scott Rothstein became his third major political fundraiser entangled in scandal in the past year.

“I don’t think it will affect it at all,” Crist said. “Because I’ve done nothing wrong.”

But three fund-raisers involved in corruption allegations will give Crist’s political opponents an easy target, said Lynn University political science professor Robert Watson.

“If it was a coincidence before, it looks like a pattern now,” said Watson, a Democratic U.S. House candidate in 2005.

Rest of the story here.

Background: Why we care about Scott Rothstein

Gov. Charlie Crist called for a statewide grand jury to investigate political corruption in South Florida and around the state. Crist said he has removed 30 public officials from office around the state since he’s been governor.

“A recent rash of crimes committed by public officials in South Florida has led to a crisis of confidence among those who have elected them to office,” Crist said. “Today, I have petitioned the Florida Supreme Court to impanel a Grand Jury to investigate these crimes, bring indictments and provide specific recommendations to address fundamental problems within the system that may be cultivating a culture of corruption.”

Read the petition here.

Crist’s request for a grand jury comes after in the wake of the indictments of several Broward County elected officials on federal charges including bribery, money laundering and wire fraud. And prominent GOP fundraiser Alan Mendelsohn, a lobbyist who served on Crist’s transition team, was indicted last week on charges that he diverted at least $350,000 from campaign contribution and clients’ fees to pay for his mistress’ love nest, a luxury car and his kids’ private school tuition.

Palm Beach County led the public corruption scandal sheet in 2006 that resulted in three county commissioners and two West Palm Beach officials going to prison.

The corruption isn’t limited to South Florida, Crist said. He’s asked the grand jury to begin work by focusing on Broward, Miami-Dade, Monroe, Palm Beach, Charlotte, Collier, Glades, Lee and Hendry counties.

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Alan Mendelsohn has contributed thousands of dollars to Republican Gov. Charlie Crist and appeared on his campaign literature in 2006, the Miami Herald reported. Crist appointed him to a health policy panel and wrote a recommendation for Mendelson’s son for the University of Florida medical school.

TalkingPointsMemo reminds readers that Crist’s U.S. Senate primary opponent, Marco Rubio, isn’t free and clear either. Mendelson hosted the “Marco Rubio U.S. Senate Kickoff” earlier this year. And we’ll add that Mendelsohn was responsible for nearly half of the money raised by a legislative committee Rubio controlled in 2003.

Mendelsohn, a Hollywood ophthalmologist, is accused of raising about $2 million for a series of political entities and tehn spending about $350,000 on personal items like a home, a car, credit card bill and college tuition. Mendelsohn says he’s not guilty.

Click here to read a breakdown of the new proposal by our Jennifer Sorentrue.

Federal investigations have led three Palm Beach County commissioners to resign and two West Palm Beach city commissioners to resign and go to jail since 2006. The feds have recently turned their attention to Broward County, where three politicians were arrested Wednesday on corruption charges.

Klein

Klein is planning a “telephone town hall” that he says will reach far more constituents than an in-the-flesh event.

West

“The unwillingness to stand in front of your constituents can only be called cowardice,” said West.

Klein dismissed West’s claim. He said the teleconference has been planned for weeks and was not a reaction to the recent transformation of town hall events from soporific C-SPAN affairs to shout-fests that go viral on the Internet.

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Diane Rice of Wellington

In the 1976 film Network, Howard Beale memorably ranted “I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take this anymore!”

Some Palm Beach County residents feel the same way about the “culture of corruption” that has sent five local elected officials to jail in the last three years. In fact, the citizens are too angry for the breezy informality of contractions. As county commissioners begin a discussion this afternoon on a grand jury’s recommendations to curb public corruption, about 30 people are in the commission chambers wearing red T-shirts that say “We Are Mad As Hell And We Are Not Going To Take It Any Longer.”

Loxahatchee Groves Councilman Dennis Lipp said he paid $180 for the shirts to drive home the message that the grand jury’s recommendations — including creation of an independent inspector general and an ethics commission — should be followed by commissioners.

Commissioners are expected to give direction but not take final votes this afternoon.

A coalition that drafted an ethics pledge for corruption-tarred Palm Beach County last year will push for ballot initiatives in 2010 to create an independent government watchdog agency and establish other reforms.

If county commissioners don’t agree to let voters decide on the proposed reforms in 2010, leaders of the coalition said this morning they will begin collecting signatures to force the measure onto the ballot.

“This is an issue of political will. If this is going to be changed, it’s going to be changed by us,” said Marty Rogol, a past president of Leadership Palm Beach County who has headed the ethics reform efforts.

Rogol spoke to an ethics forum attended by about 75 people, including several elected officials.

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Paige: “Don’t look back. Something might be gaining on you.”

WELLINGTON — Three corrupt Palm Beach County commissioners have gone to prison in the last three years, but the head of the public integrity unit in the Palm Beach County state attorney’s office said Wednesday night the public shouldn’t dwell too much on the past and should trust current commissioners to approve needed ethics reforms.

Assistant State Attorney Alan Johnson didn’t have an entirely sunny outlook. When asked by an audience member if he expected any future prosecutions of public officials, he gave a “general answer” of “I hope not, but I know yes.”

Johnson this morning said the answer referred to all public employees and his office is not currently investigating any commissioners.

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WEST PALM BEACH — A Palm Beach County grand jury, finding “a crisis of trust in public governance,” has recommended sweeping reforms to penalize corrupt politicians, open government to public view and create an Office of Inspector General as a watchdog to ensure that public funds aren’t squandered for officials’ private gain.

The grand jury report, released today by State Attorney Michael McAuliffe, called for dramatic revisions in how the county buys and sells land. It called for an end to noncompetitive, commissioner-controlled underwriter rotation as a way of selecting firms that underwrite bonds that fund county projects.

More here.