Solantic, the chain of urgent-care clinics Gov. Rick Scott founded — and which just announced plans to move its headquarters from Jacksonville to Nashville, took steps Thursday to downplay the impact of the decision on Florida jobs.

Scott, a day earlier said he was “disappointed,” with the move, which cast a shadow over the governor’s efforts to jump-start Florida’s stalled economy. Scott sold the company in June. His office said he has had no contact with the firm since then.

Solantic, though, appears to be trying to soften the optics of the move for Scott by unveiling numbers Thursday that downplay the impact.

Among them: Of the company’s 567 employees, only 35 work in the Jacksonville office. Even some of those jobs are staying, since Solantic plans to maintain its corporate billing and sales administration there, possibly even adding some positions in Jacksonville, the company said.

 ’The net impact for our Fl base is expected to be positive given the continued growth plans,” spokeswoman Mandy Villalva said in an e-mail.

From The Palm Beach Post‘s Kimberly Miller:

Two Democratic state lawmakers seeking federal assistance to investigate the ouster of state foreclosure fraud investigators have expanded their public records request of Attorney General Pam Bondi’s office.

Sen. Eleanor Sobel, D-Hollywood, and Rep. Darren Soto, D-Orlando, say the request is in response to information they received about high-level attorney general lawyer Joe Jacquot going to work for Lender Processing Services, or LPS, as well as a former general counsel for Gov. Rick Scott’s former health care company, Solantic.

The Jacksonville-based company is under investigation by the attorney general’s office for its foreclosure-related practices. Shortly after Jacquot left Bondi’s office and went to work for LPS, Bondi fired two foreclosure fraud investigators.

“A number of troubling questions have come to our attention involving past and current employees of the Attorney General’s office and at least one mortgage processing company currently under investigation,” the two lawmakers wrote in a press release today. “In particular, we are especially concerned with the sudden departure to Lender Processing Services of your former special counsel, Joe Jacquot, and the subsequent dismissal of two apparently top notch foreclosure fraud attorneys _ June Clarkson and Theresa Edwards.”

Lender Processing Services is a former subsidiary of Fidelity National Financial. Both companies gave big donations _ to both Republicans and Democrats _ during the 2010 general election.

The Republican Party of Florida received about $19,000 from Fidelity, while the Democratic Party picked up $6,000. Fidelity also gave $2,000 to Democratic gubernatorial candidate Alex Sink, and $1,500 to winner Rick Scott.

LPS gave $36,500 to the Republican party and an additional $12,500 to the Democratic party.

Read Kimberly Miller’s blog here.

Two ethics complaints against Gov. Rick Scott’s ownership of Solantic, Corp., the urgent care company he is planning to sell, have been dismissed, the Florida Commission on Ethics said Wednesday.

The commission found the complaints were legally insufficient to move forward. The decision was reached by the commission during its closed-door hearing Friday.

“I’m very comfortable that I’ve been transparent in all my business dealings,” Scott said Wednesday in Fort Lauderdale, during a break in the annual Governor’s Hurricane Conference. “And as you know…basically everything you do is public record, and I’ve filed lots of things.”

Scott, who reported a net worth of $218 million when he filed as a candidate for governor last year, has taken an evolving public stance on Solantic. (more…)

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.”

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…)

Rick Scott’s vast financial holdings have continued to draw heat but today, Florida’ s chief executive is likely to draw support from the state’s Commission on Ethics for steps he’s taken to create some separation from his multi-million dollars investments.

Commissioners will review a draft opinion from the panel’s attorneys that endorse Scott’s efforts to transfer his investments to a blind trust steered by money managers independent of the governor.

 When he filed papers as a candidate last year, Scott put his net worth at $218 million and subsequently spent more than $73 million out of his own pocket in winning the governor’s race.

“Under the circumstances presented, we conclude that the governor’s passive investments in these large national corporations and investment funds do not create a continuing or frequently recurring conflict of interest with his public duties,”  the commission’s executive director, Phil Claypool, wrote last month in a recommended order to be reviewed today by the panel.

Scott was slated to sell what has emerged as his most controversial holding, Solantic, the urgent care company, that attracted criticism for potentially standing to profit from health initiatives he had advanced as governor.

Scott acknowledged last month he was selling his family’s 70 percent ownership of the urgent care chain he co-founded in 2001 for less than the firm’s reported $62 million net worth. The deal was expected to close by April 29, and Scott has said nothing publicly about the transaction.

Most of Scott’s other holdings are in large, publicly traded companies. According to documents submitted to the ethics panel, Scott’s invested in four holding companies that have Florida operations.

 Three are in the propane and natural gas transportation business and the fourth is Republic Services, the nation’s second largest waste-hauling company. Scott also is a limited partner in a New York headquartered investment fund that has a controlling interest in 21st Century Oncology, cancer radiation centers which operate in Florida.

Richard Coates, Scott’s Tallahassee lawyer, acknowledged to the commission in a letter that state law recognizes that investments are considered to be a contractual relationship. And state ethics laws bar public officials from having contract dealings with a business regulated by their agency.

“On the other hand, we are aware of no precedent where the commission has found a conflict of interest based on such an attenuated and speculative relationship between the official’s public office and the investments in question,” Coates wrote.

Gov. Rick Scott’s unloading Solantic, the urgent care chain that’s forced him to do triage to his image as Florida’s most “transparent” governor.

But is this the end of questions about how the governor’s private holdings overlap with his public role? Florida Democrats say no, with state chairman Rod Smith urging the governor Thursday to disclose more details on his finances.

But Scott’s hinting the Solantic move will be his last move in response to critics.

Told of Smith’s challenge, Scott laughed.

“Go back and look at the filings,” Scott said. “I mean I’ve filed everything you can imagine. I don’t know what else I can give people.”

Scott is the wealthiest man ever elected Florida governor.

Along with Solantic, Scott’s holdings, according to his financial disclosure filings in 2010, included a stake in equipment manufacturer Drives Acquisition LLC, worth $20 million; money market funds at Merrill Lynch totaling $19 million; and an array of international investments.

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.

Gov. Rick Scott, a former health care CEO, gave a longish response to a question about The Palm Beach Post’s report about a potential conflict of interest with his proposed changes to the state’s regulation of the health care industry.

Asked what his response is to critics who say his changes are designed to benefit Solantic, the chain of urgent care clinics Scott recently transferred ownership of to his wife Ann, Scott stayed on message.

“Everything that I want to accomplish in health care in Florida is basically what I’ve believed all my life. I believe in the principle that if you have more competition, it will drive down the prices. If you give people more choices, it’s better for the consumer and also help drive down price. I believe that we should reward the person that takes care of themself, eats right, doesn’t smoke, exercises, things like that. All those things are the things that I believe in and that’s exactly what I’m going to do as governor,” Scott said.