In the latest swipe by public officials at the state higher education system, a Senate panel Monday narrowly approved a measure to bar legislators from working for Florida colleges or universities while in office — and for as much as two years after they leave office.

The legislation (SB 1560) was approved in a 7-5 vote by the Ethics and Elections subcommittee. The bill’s sponsor, Sen. John Thrasher, R-St. Augustine, has joined Gov. Rick Scott, incoming Senate President Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, and other lawmakers who have been turning up the heat on Florida schools for how they spend their money.

Thrasher said having lawmakers on the payroll of colleges and universities has the “perception” of a conflict-of-interest, especially when they vote on legislation or budget matters that effect a school that employs them.

“It’s been the subject of a lot of concern,” Thrasher said. “It’s something that needs to have this conversation.”

Several House and Senate members work for colleges and universities — the most prominent being Senate President Mike Haridopolos, R-Merritt Island, an instructor at the University of Florida. But Sen. Nancy Detert, R-Venice, was among several lawmakers who questioned how far Thrasher wanted to go in restricting legislators’ outside employment.

“I have a real problem with this bill,” Detert said.

Sen. Eleanor Sobel, D-Hollywood, said, “I believe this is discrimination against a whole class of people. What’s next?”

Colleges and universities have been under the microscope since last summer, when Scott first started questioning whether schools were putting enough focus on science, technology, engineering and mathematics programs, saying such STEM disciplines were the key to building a future workforce. Scott also posted online the salaries of State University System employees.

Lawmakers currently employed by colleges or universities would be allowed to retain their jobs, under the bill. But it would clearly affect those who might be angling for work once they leave office.

Defending his call for the measure, Thrasher cited a 2010 statewide grand jury report which questioned the scope of the state’s current ethics’ laws, and suggested ways to toughen them.

 

A day after Rick Scott agreed to sell his family’s shares of Solantic, the chain of urgent care clinics that engulfed the governor in a swirl of ethics questions, Florida Democrats say they want to know more about the multi-millionaire’s assets.

Florida Democratic Party Chairman Rod Smith wrote the Republican governor Thursday, saying he should disclose more about other assets that he and his family control.

“ To show Floridians that you aren’t further profiting from your actions as Governor, it is incumbent upon you to fully disclose all of the assets which are controlled by your immediate family, including those assets held in trust accounts,” Smith wrote.

“While I understand that Florida’s very weak and loophole-ridden ethics laws do not explicitly require this, given the many ethical questions that have arisen since you have been in office, it is your responsibility to do the right thing,” the Democratic chief concluded.

Scott reported a net worth of $218 million last year as a candidate for governor.

Included was his $62 million share of Solantic,  a stake in equipment manufacturer Drives Acquisition LLC, worth $20 million; an entity called RLSI-CSP LLC, worth $19 million; and money market funds at Merrill Lynch totaling $19 million.

Republican Rick Scott has agreed to sell his family’s ownership of Solantic, the chain of urgent care health clinics miring him in conflict of interest questions, a spokeswoman for the governor said Wednesday.

Amy Graham said Scott expects to complete the sale by April 29 to Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe, a New York City-based private equity investment firm that is a minority shareholder in the company. Graham said Scott is selling his family’s 70 percent share for less than $60 million.

During his campaign for governor, Scott valued his share of the company at $62 million.

But in the deal, Scott apparently has had to walk away from his earlier pledge to bar Solantic from soliciting state contracts.

Brian Burgess, Scott’s communications director, said Wednesday that while the governor sought the prohibition, he has learned state law disallows such standards.

“Legal counsel has told us you can’t prevent people from bidding on contracts, Florida law takes precedent over any business agreement,” Burgess said.

But Burgess added, “The governor recognizes that he has to remain beyond reproach on this stuff.”

Scott’s interest in Solantic has clouded the governor during his first three months as chief executive, with concerns spiking after he called for drug-testing of state employees, a service the company provides.  Legislative proposals to overhaul Medicaid, which Scott also supports, could have caused the governor’s public role to collide with his private interests.

Scott said he has tried to be “transparent” on matters involving Solantic. Before he took office, Scott representatives met with Florida Commission on Ethics in December, a meeting at which no public records were created.

 Shortly after that meeting, the governor-elect’s Solantic shares were quietly moved into the Frances Annette Scott Revocable Trust, his wife’s account.

The statewide grand jury looking into public corruption issued its preliminary report today and called on the legislature to beef up Florida’s ethics laws.

The 127-page preliminary report suggests that lawmakers take a page from Palm Beach County’s anti-corruption measures enacted after three county commissioners wound up behind bars for misusing their office.

The statewide grand jury, at work for nearly a year and set to expire in February, report recommended requiring employees at private businesses that have government contracts to be subject to the same ethics laws as public employees.

Other recommendations include:
- Tougher sentences for officials who use their public office to commit crimes;
- Creating an independent Inspector General to oversee agency inspectors general;
- Expanding bid-tampering laws to include bid-rigging schemes;
- Giving the Ethics Commission the power to initiate investigations.

The Senate gave final approval to a measure pushed by the Palm Beach County Commission that would allow counties and cities to go beyond current state law in fines and jail time for county officials and staff who violate local ethics ordinances or financial disclosure requirements.

The measure now heads to Gov. Charlie Crist.

Sen. Dave Aronberg, a Greenacres Democrat running for attorney general, said he sponsored the bill (SB 1980) on behalf of county officials after “three of the seven county commissioners ended up in jail” on public corruption charges.

Under the measure, counties like Palm Beach could double the current fine from $500 to $1,000 and extend jail time from 60 days to one year for corrupt officials.

The House refused to pass a harsher public corruption measure (SB 902) pushed by Palm Beach County’s State Attorney Michael McAuliffe.

His anti-corruption proposals, sponsored by former federal prosecutor and Aronberg primary opponent Sen. Dan Gelber, would have made it a crime for any public official to knowingly withhold information about a financial interest in something on they vote or cause to take place. It would would also have required disclosure of financial interests that could benefit a family member.

Another would enhance penalties for crimes, such as official misconduct, that public officials commit in their official capacity.

UPDATE: The Senate Ethics and Elections Committee unanimously approved (SB 902) a tougher measure than the House’s version.

The Florida House approved a measure that would allow counties and cities to go beyond current state law in fines and jail time for county officials and staff who violate local ethics ordinances or financial disclosure requirements.

Under the measure, counties like Palm Beach could double the current fine from $500 to $1,000 and extend jail time from 60 days to one year for corrupt officials.

The House approved the bill (HB 1301) – one of Palm Beach County’s top priorities this session – by a 111-1 vote today, but the Senate is taking a different approach.

The Senate Ethics and Elections Committee is about to combine the ethics proposal with two measures that would impose much harsher penalties on corrupt officials pushed by Palm Beach State Attorney Michael McAuliffe.

Both anti-corruption proposals are being blended with a measure (SB 902) that would increase the legislature’s oversight over state agencies’ contracting, a priority for powerful Senate budget chief J.D. Alexander, chairman of the committee.

One of the harsher measures would make it a crime for any public official to knowingly withhold information about a financial interest in something on they vote or cause to take place. It would would also require disclosure of financial interests that could benefit a family member.

Another would enhance penalties for crimes, such as official misconduct, that public officials commit in their official capacity.

The two stricter measures are sponsored by Sen. Dan Gelber, D-Miami Beach, a former federal prosecutor who specialized in corruption cases. The PBC-backed proposal is sponsored by Sen. Dave Aronberg, D-Greenacres. The two colleagues are running against each other in a Democratic primary for attorney general.

McAuliffe said the changes in the law would make it possible for the state rather than federal officials to prosecute officials like the three former Palm Beach County commissioners and two city commissioners who went to prison on federal corruption charges.

Palm Beach County officials said those bills aren’t a priority and aren’t working to make sure those bills (SB 1076, 734) pass.

A “Corruption County”-inspired bill that would beef up penalties for county officials who violate ethics ordinances moved forward in a House committee this afternoon.

The changes that would allow counties to go beyond current state law in fines and jail time for county officials and staff who violate local ethics ordinances or financial disclosure requirements.

Under the measure, counties like Palm Beach could double the current fine from $500 to $1,000 and extend jail time from 60 days to one year for corrupt officials.

The House Public Safety and Domestic Security Policy Committee unanimously approved Rep. Kevin Rader’s bill (HB 1301) today.

Rader, D-Delray Beach, and fellow Palm Beacher Sen. Dave Aronberg, D-Greenacres, sponsored the proposals at the request of Palm Beach County officials.

A $1,000 fine may not seem like much of a price to pay for politicos who’ve been convicted of taken thousands of dollars in bribes, steering hundreds of thousands of dollars in contracts to their buddies or voting on multi-million dollar deals in which they have a financial stake.

But, Rader said, the fine “and a year in jail is a step in the right direction.”

Palm Beach County recently established an ethics panel in an effort to shed its “Corruption County” image. In the past four years, three former county commissioners and two West Palm Beach city commissioners were sent to prison on corruption charges.

A new Palm Beach County Ethics Commission, created by county commissioners last year in response to the corruption convictions of five local elected officials between 2006 and 2009, holds its first meeting Tuesday in West Palm Beach.

Among the first orders of business for the five-member commission will be choosing a chairman and vice-chairman.

The ethics panel, plus representatives from the State Attorney and Public Defender offices, will sit as the selection committee for a new inspector general position. The inspector general post, modeled after one in Miami-Dade County, is the centerpiece of reforms approved Dec. 1. Applications for the inspector general’s job and for a new executive director for the ethics commission are due Friday.

The ethics panelists were chosen by a variety of groups outside county government. Read about them after the jump…..

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Rev. Ed Bieluch, the former Palm Beach County sheriff who was later ordained as a priest in the Anglican Catholic Church, is applying for a seat on the new county ethics commission.

The five-member commission is to include one seat for a former elected official to be named by the Palm Beach County League of Cities. The league is accepting applications through 5 p.m. Monday and plans to choose a candidate Wednesday.

Six other former elected officials are also applying.

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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Chances are he or she is at the Clayton Hutcheson Agricultural Center outside West Palm Beach, where about 40 elected officials from Palm Beach County — county commissioners, school board members, state legislators and municipal officials — are engaged in a joint meeting that just got underway.

Among the topics the group will discuss: a countywide ethics watchdog. County commissioners are considering a package of ethics reforms for county government. The school board and city governments could also come under the proposed inspector general’s scrutiny if elected officials agree. No binding votes are expected today.

UPDATE: School board Chairman Bill Graham just reminded everyone that the 0.5 percent county sales tax to pay for school construction is set to expire at the end of 2010. The tax, originally approved in a 2004 referendum, can only be extended if voters approve in another referendum

“We’d like to have a discussion with everybody here about what we might do in the future,” Graham said.

The group put off discussion of the matter until the next multi-board meeting in January.

Palm Beach County officials and leaders of a consortium of groups pushing for ethics reform say they’re near agreement on a package of reforms that include creating an independent inspector general’s office and an ethics commission.

One key element is a sort of ethical pay-to-play system for hiring the inspector general.

The original county proposal called for an independent panel to select the watchdog and the county commission to cast a final up-or-down vote on the nominee. Critics said the commission’s role would discourage the school board and other public entities from agreeing to come under the inspector’s scrutiny. The latest plan would allow any other entity to have a vote on the inspector if it contributes at least 25 percent of the inspector’s budget.

Read the complete story here.

Senate President Jeff Atwater tapped former House Speaker John Thrasher, the most recent addition to the Florida Senate, to head up the Ethics and Elections Committee.

Thrasher is no stranger to ethics violations. He admitted to breaking state ethics rules twice, once when he was a House member and again after he returned to lobbying.

The first violation took place in 1993 when Thrasher appeared before the state medical board as a paid representative of the Florida Medical Association. State law bans sitting lawmakers from lobbying.

In 2001, after he left the legislature and returned to lobbying, Thrasher was hit with another ethics violation.

The Jacksonville Republican lobbied lawmakers on behalf of his client the University of Miami without waiting for the two-year waiting period to elapse before former lawmakers can legally lobby current lawmakers.

Thrasher admitted he had violated the ethics laws and was chastised for the first violation and fined $500 for the second.

A majority of Palm Beach County school board members likes the idea of bringing the $2.7 billion school district under the eye of a proposed county ethics watchdog — but not if county commissioners have the final say on filling the position.

After watching five local elected officials go to prison on federal corruption charges since 2006, county commissioners this summer endorsed the concept of an independent inspector general’s office with subpoena power to monitor public officials and government contracts.

But who would hire and fire and approve the budget of the inspector general remains an open question.

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How independent should Palm Beach County’s independent ethics watchdog be?

That question is complicating efforts to win 2010 voter approval for an inspector general’s office to monitor local government after a three-year shame spiral in which County Commissioners Tony Masilotti, Warren Newell and Mary McCarty and West Palm Beach Commishes Ray Liberti and Jim Exline went to prison for corruption.

There’s broad support for an inspector general’s office with subpoena powers to keep an eye on local public officials, lobbyists and contractors.

But then the consensus breaks down.

A consortium of business and civic leaders says the inspector should be hired and fired and have its budget set by an independent ethics commission.

County officials propose the inspector be chosen by an outside panel but approved by a commission vote, financed through the county budget process and fired if five of seven commissioners agree.

Commissioners haven’t endorsed anything yet. They can wait until June to agree on a plan and put it on the November 2010 ballot.

The ethics consortium has less time. If it can’t persuade commissioners to endorse its view of the inspector general, the group has vowed to gather 58,200 signatures to put its version on the 2010 ballot. To succeed, such a petition drive should launch in November, said Marty Rogol of Leadership Palm Beach County and Mike Jones of the Economic Council.

Keeping the inspector general independent of the county commission is a key to ethics reform, Rogol and Jones argue.

Commission Chairman Jeff Koons disagrees. He says commissioners are more visible and accountable than an appointed ethics panel.

“We’re public elected officials…Everything we do is in the public,” Koons said. “We’re held responsible and we meet every couple weeks and people can come yell at us.”

If the sides can’t agree, it’s possible voters could see rival inspector-general ballot questions.

“Do we want dueling proposals before voters? Absolutely not,” said Jones. “It’s too early to say there’s no room for compromise.”

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Palm Beach Kennel Club Prez Pat Rooney Jr. says he needs more time to decide whether to launch a GOP campaign for the open state House District 83 seat. Rooney’s brother is U.S. Rep. Tom Rooney, R-Tequesta.

A third Rooney brother could also run in 2010: attorney and Iraq war vet Brian Rooney, who lives in Michigan and is eyeing a challenge of Democratic Rep. Mark Schauer.

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Rock and Roll Hall of Famer and Boca Raton resident Dion DiMucci performed three numbers to big applause Wednesday at a powwow of about 300 Republicans featuring congressional hopeful Allen West.

When Dion covered Eddie Cochran’s Summertime Blues, however, the lyric expressing multilateralist sentiment (“Gonna take my problem to the United Nations”) drew audible boos and groans.

In a county where residents have grown accustomed to seeing their elected officials striding in and out of the federal courthouse to answer to corruption charges (see above gallery), Palm Beach County administrators have rolled out an ethics plan that calls for creating an Office of Inspector General and an independent ethics commission.

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.

A House panel charged with determining whether Republican Rep. Ray Sansom violated the chamber’s ethics rules decided today to hire an independent counsel to present them the facts of the case. But the committee will not meet again until October – after the start of Sansom’s criminal trial.

Rep. Ari Porth, one of two Democrats on the five-member panel, urged the committee to impose deadlines for their work, noting the ethics complaint was filed in January.

“It’s now early August. I think we need to move forward expeditiously,” Porth said.

But other members warned of interfering with the court case, scheduled to start Sept. 29.

A House special investigator, Stephen Kahn, noted that Sansom referred to the criminal charges when he refused to be interviewed for his report. Kahn wondered aloud whether Sansom’s defense would rely on “RHIP” – a military acronym for “rank has its privileges.”

Asked after the hearing about that possible defense, Sansom’s attorney, Richard Coates, declined to comment.

“He’s looking forward … to cooperating,” Coates said about Sansom. “But right now we’ve got these other issues out there.”

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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.

Special investigator D. Stephen Kahn released his investigation of former House Speaker Ray Sansom today, deciding that the Destin Republican’s budget dealings and his relationship with Northwest Florida State College left probable cause for the public to “lose faith” in the integrity of the Florida House.

The report means a special committee of House lawmakers will convene to review the findings and decide on a punishment.

House Speaker Larry Cretul, R-Ocala, announced that panel will include Rules Chairman Bill Galvano, R-Bradenton; Faye Culp, R-Tampa; Rich Glorioso, R-Plant City; Joe Gibbons, D-Hallandale Beach, and Ari Porth, D-Coral Springs.

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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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