Florida Gov’t Weekly Roundup: As The Session Begins
March 1, 2015
The tickets to Associated Industries of Florida’s annual legislative session-eve party are pinned to the bulletin board. Suits and sweaters are back from the dry cleaners. And Tallahassee’s fickle pre-spring weather promises to turn balmy just in time to bring March in like a lamb.
By Tuesday, when the 60-day legislative session officially begins, lobbyists and lawmakers will have returned from far-flung places and traded in their fishing rods for Gucci loafers.
Same as it ever was, the 2015 session will commence with the pomp, circumstance and civility that’s made the opening days a ho-hum but must-do requisite for even the most jaded Capitol insiders.
The caustic Dorothy Parker best captured the pre-session sentiment of those for whom the annual pageant evokes a cringe rather than cause for celebration: “They sicken of the calm who know the storm.”
So with a sigh, we bid adieu to serenity, and brace ourselves for the storm.
DISGRACED HOUSE SPEAKER WALKS AWAY A WINNER
Years after being ousted from the speaker’s podium and resigning his House seat over corruption allegations, former House Speaker Ray Sansom walked away from the Leon County Courthouse on Friday as a winner after a Tallahassee judge granted his request to have the state pick up the tab for hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees.
“I think today completely solidifies the fact that I was completely acquitted. I was found completely not guilty,” Samson, who four years ago was cleared of the charges that drove him out of office, told reporters after Circuit Court Judge Angela Dempsey issued her decision from the bench.
Samson and his criminal defense attorney sued the state to try to force it to pay Sansom’s hefty legal bills under a common-law principle that public officials who successfully defend themselves against charges related to public duties are entitled to have legal costs covered.
But the state argued that the manner in which prosecutor Willie Meggs decided to drop the case, which concerned a 2007 budget item that was supposed to pay for an emergency operations center in Sansom’s Panhandle district, essentially amounted to a settlement of the case rather than a successful defense.
Meggs agreed to drop the case after being assured that Sansom and a political contributor, Jay Odom, would pay $206,000 to help reimburse the state for design costs of the project, which was never built. Sansom’s attorneys note that Odom actually paid the money and contend that Samson was not really a party to the agreement.
Dempsey’s ruling came on the same day that Sansom took the stand, the first time he had ever testified in open court about the case that left a man who was briefly one of the most powerful figures in the state out of office and, for a time, unemployed.
COURTROOM SUNSHINE STRUGGLES
An appellate panel on Monday shut down a case about whether public officials’ use of blind trusts violates the state constitution’s requirement that officials fully disclose their financial interests. Meanwhile, a courtroom fight over whether Gov. Rick Scott and the Florida Cabinet violated the state’s Sunshine Laws leading up to the ouster of former Florida Department of Law Enforcement Commissioner Gerald Bailey, who was forced to resign in December, escalated.
In the blind-trust case, Jim Apthorp, who served as chief of staff to former Gov. Reubin Askew, filed a lawsuit last year alleging that a 2013 law allowing state officials to put their assets into blind trusts violated a constitutional requirement spearheaded by his late boss.
But a three-judge panel for the 1st District Court of Appeal tossed out the challenge, pointing to the “speculative nature” of the case. Apthorp’s case “wholly failed to allege a bona fide, actual, present practical need for a declaration that the qualified blind trust statute is unconstitutional.” In part, it said Apthorp did not allege any public official or candidate had used a blind trust in the most-recent financial disclosures.
Gov. Rick Scott used a blind trust during his first term in office but ended it last year and listed his financial assets as he qualified for re-election. That disclosure showed Scott’s net worth at $132.7 million. After the disclosure, Scott put his assets in a new blind trust.
With Askew leading the effort, Florida voters in 1976 overwhelmingly approved the Sunshine Amendment, which included requiring public officials to disclose their financial interests.
Supporters of the 2013 law say blind trusts prevent conflicts of interest between officials’ public duties and financial interests. A blind trust gives someone else the ability to manage investments without a politician’s knowledge, but it doesn’t require the same level of detail about officials’ holdings as is required by typical financial-disclosure forms.
Judge Brad Thomas, however, wrote a concurring opinion that suggested the court has questions about the constitutionality of the law. He wrote that “our conclusion on jurisdiction should not be read as an imprimatur on the statute’s constitutional validity.”
The decision “should not be read to lend any support for the proposition that the statute at issue ensures ‘full and public disclosure,’ as mandated by … the Florida Constitution,” Thomas wrote.
In a separate case, the fallout from Bailey’s FDLE ouster heated up this week as media organizations and the government-in-the-sunshine watchdogs filed an emergency motion asking the court to force Scott and the Cabinet, and their aides, to preserve electronic documents related to the issue.
Monday’s motion came in a lawsuit filed earlier this month alleging that Scott and Cabinet members violated the state’s Sunshine Law by communicating through aides about the removal of Bailey in December and the appointment of new FDLE Commissioner Rick Swearingen.
In the document filed Monday in Leon County circuit court, the plaintiffs in the case alleged that Scott and his staff got rid of public records in the past without properly storing them. It pointed to lost emails from Scott’s transition team after the 2010 election and “multiple anomalies” about preserving public records that have been an issue in an otherwise unrelated lawsuit filed by Tallahassee attorney Steven Andrews against Scott.
The media organizations and other plaintiffs allege in the overall lawsuit that the Sunshine Law was violated because Scott and Cabinet members used aides as “conduits” to communicate about the Bailey ouster. Cabinet decisions are supposed to be made in public.
Scott’s office has denied that discussions about Bailey violated the Sunshine Law.
“It has been a longstanding convention for governor’s staff to provide information to Cabinet staff,” the governor’s office said in an email to reporters in late January. “This was the same process the Cabinet staff followed in respect to Gerald Bailey.”
STORY OF THE WEEK: Tallahassee judge Angela Dempsey orders the state to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees amassed by former House Speaker Ray Sansom.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: “I will stand by this budget item for the rest of my life as being one of the best things that I’ve ever seen try to be done for my area.”—Former House Speaker Ray Sansom speaking in court about a 2007 budget item that was supposed to pay for an emergency operations center in the then-House budget chair’s district and which led to Sansom’s resignation from the speakership in 2009, and from the Legislature the following year.
by Dara Kam, The News Service of Florida
Report: Crime Is Down In Escambia County
February 28, 2015
Crime in Escambia County was down 9.6 percent in 2014, while the number of violent crimes was down 1.2 percent, according to the latest numbers released Friday by the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office. There were 1,761 violent crimes in Escambia County in 2014, down from 2,271 in 2008, the year before Sheriff David Morgan took office, a news release stated.
The numbers, Morgan said, disprove a common misconception that crime is up in the county.
“Often the perception, cast through social media,is that crime is on the rise. However, these are the accurate statistic sand they reflect a continually positive trend,” the sheriff said.
According to the report, there were 18 murders in Escambia County in 2014, down 21.7 percent from 23 reported in 2013. Robberies were also down by a double digit percentage, a 17.3 percent drop from 370 in 2013 to 306 in 2014. Rapes were up just under 10 percent from 135 in 2013 to 148 in 2014, and there was a slight increase in aggravated assaults. All other violent crime categories were down.
Burglaries and mother vehicle thefts were down about 15 percent, while larcenies were down about 10 percent. Domestic violence offenses were down slightly overall
“With our limited resources, we are focusing on violent crime. Our continued goal is to make Escambia County safe and improving the quality of life for our families and businesses. Much of our success in reducing crime is due to our partnerships with the communities we serve.We encourage citizens to form or join neighborhood watch groups and report suspicious activity to Gulf CoastCrime Stoppers.Let’s work together to make Escambia County a better place to work, worship and play,” Morgan said.
The Pensacola Police Department’s annual crime report released Friday also showed an overall 8 percent reduction of the city’s crime rate compared with 2013. The report shows a 9.4 percent reduction in the non-violent crime rate and a 5.1 percent reduction in the violent crime rate, resulting in an overall reduction of 8 percent.
“Not only does this show a decrease in violent and non-violent crimes within city limits, but also it reflects the outstanding work done on a daily basis by our officers,” said Chief Chip W. Simmons.
The Uniform Crime Reporting statistics are submitted and accepted yearly by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
Questions Raised About Proposed Florida Pot Rule
February 28, 2015
A lawyer for the Legislature is questioning the Department of Health’s proposed medical-marijuana rule, slated for a public vetting on Monday.
The top lawyer for the Joint Administrative Procedures Committee raised concerns this week about a variety of issues, including a scoring system proposal to decide “dispensing organizations” that will grow, process and distribute the non-euphoric marijuana legalized last year.
The proposal under scrutiny is the department’s second stab at creating a framework for types of cannabis that are low in euphoria-inducing tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, and high in cannabadiol, or CBD, authorized by the Legislature and Gov. Rick Scott last year for patients who suffer from severe spasms or cancer. An administrative law judge tossed the department’s first attempt at a rule, finding fault with a proposed lottery to choose five nurseries across the state to kick off Florida’s pot industry.
The latest plan, issued after a rare “negotiated rule” workshop last month, replaces the lottery with a scoring system. The weighted scorecard would rate applicants based on cultivation (30 percent), processing (30 percent), dispensing (15 percent), financials (20 percent) and medical director (5 percent).
But, in a 14-page letter Thursday to the health department’s Office of Compassionate Use Director Patricia Nelson, the legislative committee’s chief attorney, Marjorie Holladay, suggested that the proposed scoring system is too vague.
“It does not appear that part III of the application contains any ascertainable minimum thresholds or standards to demonstrate each item,” Holladay wrote.
Under the law, five nurseries that have been in business for 30 years or longer and cultivate at least 400,000 plants would be eligible to apply for licenses in five regions.
But Holladay’s letter also requested an explanation of the department’s decision to allow “dispensing organizations” to grow the product in one place, process it in another and distribute it in other locations, the same issue that prompted a request for a hearing Monday on the proposed rule.
The Joint Administrative Procedures Committee plays a key role in overseeing state regulations and frequently requests more information when new rules are proposed. Two months before Administrative Law Judge W. David Watkins struck down the original proposal in November, Holladay sent health officials a similar inquiry.
In Thursday’s letter, she also asked why health officials are asking applicants to provide information about their relationships with independent laboratories because nothing in the proposed rule requires testing, an expensive process that could raise the cost imposed by the rule, another issue brought up by Holladay.
Florida law requires legislative approval of rules if regulatory costs for all the businesses that participate in the program exceed $200,000 in one year, or $1 million over five years. At last month’s negotiating session, the 12-member panel, hand-picked by health officials, went to great lengths to eliminate costs directly associated with the rule, instead embedding them into the application.
The committee estimated that 15 nurseries would apply for the licenses, bringing the cumulative cost of the rule to just under $1 million.
But the proposal does not address how much the biannual renewal fee would be, Holladay noted.
“Depending on the amount of this fee, the statutory threshold for legislative ratification could be triggered, especially because there will be three renewal fees to be paid by the five dispensing organizations seeking renewal within five years after implementation of the rule,” Holladay wrote.
Health officials had wanted to avoid legislative approval in order to get the product to eligible patients sooner. The law had required the department to have selected the five dispensing organizations by Jan. 1 of this year, but the legal challenge created a delay.
Senate Regulated Industries Chairman Rob Bradley, whose panel is expected to take up other medical-medical marijuana legislation this session and who was instrumental in passage of the low-THC measure last year, said he wants the issue resolved.
“If it’s required, it needs to be done,” Bradley, R-Fleming Island, said.
by Dara Kam, The News Service of Florida
Today: 41st Annual Ruritan Farm Equipment Auction
February 28, 2015
The 41st Annual Walnut Hill Ruritan Club Farm Equipment Auction is going on as of 9:30 this morning.
The auction includes not only farm equipment, but also household items like tools and small equipment, lawn and garden items, antiques and more. A $5 lot fee will be charged. Must be present to “no sale” items.
Settlement must be made the day of the sale; unknown buyers must have cash, cashier’s check, major credit card, or a letter of credit from their bank. Items must be removed within 24 hours.
Concessions will be available all day from the Ruritan Club. The is at the Walnut Hill Community Center on Highway 97 just north of Ernest Ward Middle School.
Pictured: Hundreds attended a previous Walnut Hill Ruritan Club farm equipment auction in Walnut Hill. NorthEscambia.com file photos, click to enlarge.
Gastrointestinal Infections On The Rise In Escambia County
February 28, 2015
An increased number of gastrointestinal infections have been reported in Escambia County, and the Florida Department of Health in Escambia County would like to remind the community of proper hygiene practices to prevent gastrointestinal illness.
Gastrointestinal infections can be highly contagious and are usually spread through person to person contact with an infected person, contact with contaminated surfaces, or contaminated food or drinking water. Symptoms can include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, low to high grade fever, and headache.
Most gastrointestinal infections can be prevented with proper hygiene practices, clean drinking water, and safe food preparation. The best way to avoid contracting or spreading these infections is to take the following precautions:
- Wash your hands frequently with soap and water, especially after using the bathroom, handling diapers, and before preparing or eating food.
- Use proper hand washing practices by rubbing soapy water on hands and under fingernails for 15 to 20 seconds. If soap and water are not available, use an alcohol-based sanitizer.
- If you become ill, stay home. If your child becomes ill, keep him/her out of school or childcare until free from symptoms for 48 hours.
- If you are sick with vomiting or diarrhea, do not prepare food for other people.
- Thoroughly disinfect contaminated surfaces by using a bleach-based household cleaner.
- Immediately remove and wash clothing or linens that may be contaminated after an episode of diarrhea or vomiting.
- Cook foods properly and wash fruits and vegetables before serving. Use separate cutting boards and utensils for preparing meats, fish, vegetables, or fruits.
Treatment for gastrointestinal illness includes drinking plenty of clear fluids and getting rest. Dehydration may be a concern, especially among elderly adults and young children, so it is important to maintain proper fluid replacement. If you have severe symptoms, including bloody stool, vomiting that does not resolve, high fever, or signs of dehydration such as reduced urination, you should contact your doctor.
For more information about prevention of these infections through proper hand hygiene please visit: http://www.cdc.gov/handwashing. If you are concerned that you have a gastrointestinal infection, please contact your doctor.
Judge Orders State To Pay Sansom Legal Fees
February 28, 2015
A Leon County circuit court judge ruled Friday that state taxpayers will have to cover hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees for the defense of former House Speaker Ray Sansom, who was cleared four years ago of charges that had already driven him from office.
The decision came on the same day that Sansom took the stand in a lawsuit about his legal fees — marking the first time he had ever testified in open court about the case that left the man who was briefly one of the most powerful figures in the state out of office and, for a time, unemployed. Sansom, who is currently a vice president at a charter-school management company, said he would defend the project at the center of the dispute “for the rest of my life.”
Judge Angela Dempsey found in favor of Sansom and his criminal defense lawyer, who argued that the state was required to pay Sansom’s legal bills under a common-law principle that public officials who successfully defend themselves against charges related to public duties are entitled to have legal costs covered.
“I think today completely solidifies the fact that I was completely acquitted. I was found completely not guilty,” Sansom told reporters outside the courtroom.
During the case, the state argued that the manner in which prosecutor Willie Meggs decided to drop the 2011 criminal charges, which concerned a 2007 budget item that was supposed to pay for an emergency operations center in Sansom’s Panhandle district, essentially amounted to a settlement of the case rather than a successful defense. Dempsey rejected that argument.
“Based on everything I heard and applying that to the case law that I’m required to follow, I’m going to find that what happened in this case was not any different than an acquittal,” Dempsey said.
Dempsey still has to decide how much in legal fees to award Sansom, and in turn his attorney Stephen Dobson, but it is certain to cost the state several hundred thousand dollars. The plaintiffs were seeking almost $1million dollars in legal fees and interest.
Meggs agreed to drop the criminal case in 2011 after being assured that Sansom and a political contributor, Jay Odom, would pay $206,000 to help reimburse the state for design costs of the project, which was never built. Sansom’s attorneys note that Odom actually paid the money and contend that Samson was not really a party to the agreement.
State lawyers argued that Sansom was included in the settlement and was expected to repay Odom for his half of the money — contracting claims that the former speaker was exonerated.
“There are zero cases in Florida supporting the proposition that a six-figure settlement is an exoneration,” Lisa Raleigh, a lawyer with Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi’s office, argued Friday.
But attorney Stephen Turner, who represented Sansom and Dobson, said the agreement with Odom was simply a “face-saving device” on the part of Meggs, who had just received what he has conceded was a devastating ruling in the case.
“It is plainly clear that he knew he had lost and he was trying to salvage something for the state,” Turner said.
During testimony Friday, the second day of the trial on the fee dispute, Sansom also gave his take on the emergency operations center that Meggs argued was really a thinly disguised effort to build a taxpayer-funded aircraft hangar for Odom. Sansom said the project arose in response to devastating storms that hit Destin in 1995.
The center was designed to withstand a powerful hurricane, Samson said, and could house emergency vehicles that were previously moved from the barrier island to a mainland facility before a storm. It would also serve as a locale for training first responders.
And Samson defended his decision to push for the inclusion of the project as House budget chairman in 2007.
“I will stand by this budget item for the rest of my life as being one of the best things that I’ve ever seen try to be done for my area,” he said.
Earlier, Dobson denied testimony by Meggs that Dobson had been involved in hammering out the deal that ended the case. He said Sansom specifically dismissed one version of the offer.
“I clearly communicated it to him, and he clearly rejected any offer to pay money or to waive his fees,” Dobson said.
After Dempsey’s decision, Sansom reiterated that he never agreed to anything.
“He lied about an agreement,” Sansom said of Meggs.
That brought a sharp rejoinder from Meggs.
“If Mr. Sansom wants to say I’m a liar … I would point out to you that I am still employed and he is not,” Meggs said. “And he resigned his position because of his conduct and I have not resigned my position because of my conduct.”
by Brandon Larrabee, The News Service of Florida
Baseball Wins For NHS, Tate; Softball Win For Tate
February 28, 2015
Tate 7, Washington 5
Tate 9, Washington 3 (JV)
Tate 8, Washington 0 (9th)
The Tate Aggies swept three from Washington Friday. The Tate varsity beat Washington 7-5, the JV topped Washington 9-3, while the freshmen shut out Washington 8-0.
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Northview 12, Freeport 1
Northview 4, Freeport 0 (JV)
The Northview Chiefs beat Freeport in a district game 12-1 at home in Bratt Friday night. The Chiefs (5-0, 2-0) were up 5-0 before rallying for seven in the fourth. The Chiefs will host the Atmore Blue Devils on Monday.
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SOFTBALL
Tate 3, Chiles 2
Tate 4, Mortimer Jordan 1
The Tate Aggies are on the road for four weekend games in Panama City. In the first game Friday night, the Lady Aggies beat Chiles 3-2. In their second game, ending just before midnight, the Lady Aggies beat Mortimer Jorday 4-1.
Pictured: The Northview Chiefs earned a district win over Freeport Friday night. NorthEscambia.com photos by Ramona Preston, click to enlarge.
Tate’s Sawyer Smith Gets Offer From Mississippi State
February 28, 2015
Mississippi State has made an offer to Tate High School quarterback Sawyer Smith, the Tate Quarterback Club announced Friday. He also as an offer from Southern Mississippi. Penn State and BYI have also expressed interest in Smith.
Northview’s Anna Barry Named Escambia Teacher Of The Year
February 27, 2015
Anna Barry of Northview High School has been named the Escambia County Teacher of the Year.
“As a teacher, it’s great to see what you did really did impact students later in life,” Barry said. “Sometimes you have to get them to step outside their comfort zones, and in the end it can all be worth it when they succeed.”
Barry teaches world history and honors world history at Northview. Barry is a product of the Escambia County School systems, from kindergarten at Bratt Elementary School, to Ernest Ward Middle School through gradation from Northview in 2000.
“To give back to something that gave so much to me, words can’t express that,” she said while accepting the award.
Barry received a bachelor of science degree in health education and went on to become professionally certified in several areas. She has taught for 10 years — two years at Ernest Ward and eight years at Northview.
She was quick to thank her students and the entire Northview faculty, staff and leadership for the Teacher of the Year award. “This is an award for Northview. Northview High School is such an incredible place with incredible people.”
Other finalists were Krystal Gibson of Beulah Elementary School, Andrew Rehwinkle of Pensacola High School, Sheila Hall of N.B. Cook Elementary and Doreen Wells of Ensley Elementary School. The award was presented Thursday night at the Golden Apple Awards Dinner, sponsored by the Escambia County Public Schools Foundation.
Pictured top: Anna Barry of Northview High School was named Escambia County Teacher of the Year Thursday night. Pictured inset: Barry with Northview Principal Gayle Weaver. Pictured below: Barry’s parents Ben and Dottie Davis of Walnut Hill react to the Teacher of the Year announcement, as does Northview teacher James Moretz (background). Pictured bottom: Barry and fellow teacher of the years finalists (L-R) Krystal Gibson of Beulah Elementary School, Sheila Harrington Hall of N. B. Cook Elementary School, Andrew Rehwinkle of Pensacola High School, and Doreen Wells of Ensley Elementary School. Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Local High Performing Schools Receive $3.3 Million In Bonus Money
February 27, 2015
High performing schools in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties are receiving over $3.3 million in School Recognition Program funding. The financial awards are based on sustained or significantly improved student achievement.
Schools may use their award for faculty or staff bonuses, to purchase educational equipment or materials, or hire temporary staff to help maintain or improve student performance. How the money will be spent will be decided by the School Advisory Council at each awarded school.
Schools in Escambia County will receive $1,420,617, while schools in Santa Rosa County will receive $1,925,063.
Schools eligible for recognition awards include those receiving an “A” school grade, improving at least one letter grade from the previous year, or improving more than one letter grade and sustaining the improvement the following school year.
A list of local school receiving funding was not yet available.