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When Scott and Cabinet meet, it’s mostly a millionaires club

Thursday, July 7th, 2011 by John Kennedy

When Gov. Rick Scott and the all-Republican Florida Cabinet meet, it’s mostly a millionaires club, according to new financial disclosure reports.

Only Attorney General Pam Bondi claims a net worth of less than $1 million.  Bondi, a former Hillsborough County prosecutor, quit her job last year to campaign fulltime, resulting in her reporting no income in 2010 and a net worth of $472,696.

Her assets are a house and a car.

Scott, considered Florida’s wealthiest governor in history, reported a $103 million net worth — down by more than half  from a year earlier. But still a bundle detailed in four pages of assets and income sources.

Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam, scion of a Polk County citrus family, reported a $6.8 million net worth. Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater, a former Senate president from North Palm Beach, was worth $1.6 million at the end of last year, according to his report, filed this month.

Atwater said he earned roughly $114,000 last year, with income from the state of Florida, investments, and banking work with Bank of America. Putnam, who left Congress last year to run for Agriculture Commissioner, reported income topping $570,000, including his congressional salary, investments, income from Putnam Groves, Inc., and the sale of  his Washington, D.C., home.

Despite ethics OK, questions endure about Scott’s finances

Saturday, May 14th, 2011 by John Kennedy

The Florida Commission on Ethics unanimously approved Gov. Rick Scott’s plan Friday to put his wide-ranging financial assets into a blind trust, steered by money managers independent of the governor.

The Republican governor, who reported a net worth of $218 million when he filed as a candidate last year, has been forced to tamp down questions about the intersection of his private wealth and public office – even before his election in November.

But the endorsement by the ethics panel isn’t likely to end questions about Scott’s finances.

After all, the governor appears unwilling to produce any documents showing that the blind trust has been created, nor include apparently sizeable assets controlled by his wife, Ann, in the account steered by money managers.

Scott spokesman Brian Burgess also Friday shrugged off questions about how much money the governor is setting aside to finance his substantial daily spending. Scott is using his own seven-passenger jet for travel on executive business and is paying for fuel and maintenance out of his own pocket.

Meanwhile, his most controversial holding, Solantic Corp., has not yet changed hands. The governor pledged to sell the urgent care company on April 29.

But Scott and Burgess revealed for the first time Friday that the sale has been slowed by difficulty transfering state licenses to the minority owners acquiring the governor’s ownership share.

Despite the seemingly endless delays — Scott has been talking about the blind trust since before his election — Burgess insists Scott is trying to do the right thing, and embraced the ethics commission’s support.

“It’s something he takes seriously,” Burgess said. “It’s been a very long and complex process because of the unique questions that are presented. He’s pleased we can put his assets in a place that meets federal guidelines, at least, and satisfies the Florida Ethics Commission.”

Scott’s blind trust proposal OK’d by ethics panel

Friday, May 13th, 2011 by John Kennedy

Without comment, the Florida Commission on Ethics approved Friday Gov. Rick Scott’s intention to put his wide-ranging financial assets into a blind trust steered by money managers independent of the governor.

The commission accepted a recommendation from its executive director that Scott would be shielded from potential violations of state conflict-of-interest laws by taking creating the trust. Scott’s holdings are mostly in large publicly traded companies but attorneys for the governor also provided specific details of five other investments with clear Florida ties.

(more…)

New candidate findings reveal what they’re worth

Monday, June 21st, 2010 by George Bennett

When candidates filed qualifying papers for office last week, they submitted financial disclosure statements estimating their net worths. Naples businessman and ubiquitous TV presence Rick Scott blew everyone away with the $218.6 figure he submitted as a Republican candidate for governor, but state Rep. Carl Domino, R-Jupiter, and other locals posted big numbers as well.

Read about it in this week’s Politics column.

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