Showing posts with label Mike Haridopolos. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mike Haridopolos. Show all posts

Sunday, May 1, 2011

Sen. Marco Rubio on NBC's Meet the Press re federal budget, debt ceiling, Medicare, et al; FL U.S. Senate 2012 possibilities



NBC-TV's Meet the Press
video
-Host David Gregory speaks to Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida about the 2012 federal budget, the federal debt ceiling, saving Medicare, the (Paul) 'Ryan Plan,' and U.S. foreign policy, to wit, Libya.

http://youtu.be/GdtR7s-nqcE

If you are someone who considers themselves pretty well-informed and are watching the video of this morning's Meet the Press program from outside of the U.S., and get the distinct impression that Sen. Rubio, who has been in office less than four months, is being asked to explain -and or defend- public policies in more detail than many longstanding members of the U.S. Congress you can name, who get nothing but softball questions... take a bow.
You are correct.


Sen. Rubio's
YouTube Channel is at:
http://www.youtube.com/user/SenatorMarcoRubio

U.S. House Budget Comm. YouTube Channel:
http://www.youtube.com/user/HouseBudgetCommittee

American Roadmap YouTube Channel:
http://www.youtube.com/user/AmericanRoadmap

The other U.S. Senator from Florida is Democratic two-termer Bill Nelson, who is up for re-election in 2012. He's a nice enough guy, but NOT nearly as dynamic, savvy or articulate as what this complex and crazy-quilt of a state demands, Florida being the country's fourth-largest.

Sen. Nelson's YouTube Channel is at http://www.youtube.com/user/SenBillNelson

I won't be voting for Nelson next year and currently have no GOP preference, but I am AGAINST a few GOP candidates for the office, the most prominent being the myopic, ethically-troubled Florida State Senate President, Mike Haridopolos; he's bad news personified!


I'd much prefer Florida State Senator
Paula Dockery or Orange County (Orlando) mayor Teresa Jacobs, both of whom are very smart and articulate people full of ideas who are NOT at all afraid to speak (and vote) against the state political orthodoxy and the establishment of Tallahassee in particular, and Florida in general.
Nor are they afraid to speak against their own party and supporters when they think they're wrong.


For an excellent example of that attitude, read these two Mike Thomas columns from the Orlando Sentinel, since they're positive pieces of a sort that very, very few Florida pols could earn.


-----

Orlando Sentinel

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/columnists/os-mike-thomas-performing-arts-center20101222,0,3790804.column

Teresa Jacobs has to challenge performing-arts center bailout

By Mike Thomas COMMENTARY
8:50 p.m. EST, December 22, 2010
Orlando is $61 million short in getting the performing-arts center off the ground. So the city and arts supporters are hitting up Teresa Jacobs, Orange County's mayor-elect, for an advance on almost half of it.

She might as well get used to people groveling for money.


I have long supported an arts center. But this is like old Uncle Al, flat broke with holes in his shoes, hitting you up for $500 because he's got a sure thing at the track.


Give it to him and you know he's coming back for more.

None of this is a surprise for those of us who have followed the saga of the three downtown venues — the arts center, the arena and the Citrus Bowl.


The county budget-crunchers knew this day was coming back in 2007 when they negotiated the $1.1 billion venues deal with Orlando. They thought Mayor Buddy Dyer and Co. were out of their fiscal minds for taking on this much risk.


So the county built a firewall.

It would give the city enough resort-tax money to build a new Magic arena for billionaire Rich DeVos.


But the performing-arts center and Citrus Bowl would have to get in line behind a long list of priorities already funded by the resort tax.


If Buddy's gamble failed, the county was protected.


On paper, at least. That doesn't take into account the intangible of political pressure that would accompany the request for a bailout. If you don't give us the money, the project will not get built, and it will be your fault.


Now that we are there, what will Jacobs do?


She is, by nature, a cautious fiscal conservative. In fact, it was Jacobs who put a caveat in the venues deal, requiring that the arts center be fully funded before any debt was issued to waste money on a Citrus Bowl renovation.


During the mayoral campaign, Jacobs was criticized for being too focused on details when the job required a big-picture consensus builder. Being branded as the person who killed the arts center wouldn't help that perception.

But there are so many pitfalls here, she could hardly be blamed for doing so. Here are a few of them:


•The city is broke, which raises the question of where it plans to come up with its half of the shortfall. The county also doesn't have a spare $30 million stuffed in a mattress, meaning it could be forced to raid a reserve fund set aside for the convention center. That would be ill-advised.


•This deal would allow construction of phase one of the arts center — an amplified arena for events such as Broadway shows and a small 300-seat theater. Will the city come back for another cash advance when it comes time to build phase two — a 1,700 seat acoustical hall?


•The county could be the money pile of last resort to cover operating deficits. Some of this tab was going to be paid by leasing property next to the center for a hotel and office building. But the economy put the kibosh on that.


There also are disturbing rumors about donors backing out of their pledges, which could create an even deeper fiscal hole for the county to fill down the road.


The problem in dealing with Orlando is that the city is tapped out. So the minute a bulldozer rolls onto the site, the county could find itself sucked into a black hole, from which there is no politically feasible escape.


At a minimum, Jacobs should insist that the city raise its $31 million share of the shortfall first. She then should demand to see an updated list of all donor pledges and the contracts they signed with the arts center.

The county needs some guarantee it won't bankroll operating expenses.


The city must agree not to spend any more money renovating the Citrus Bowl until the arts center is finished and its operating costs are known and accounted for.

Every dime the city spends on that empty stadium is another dime the county probably will have to make up for at the arts center.

Finally, Jacobs should insist the city contact Magic owner Rich DeVos about providing a loan, which would be repaid as resort-tax funds become available. He could take his interest out of the $10 million he has pledged to the arts center.

Jacobs has a lot of options. The worst one is writing out a check for $30 million with no questions and no demands.
-----

Orlando Sentinel

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/os-mike-thomas-jacobs-arts-021311-20110212,0,351626.column

Orange Mayor Jacobs gives Orlando a dose of reality on arts center

Mike Thomas COMMENTARY
5:59 p.m. EST
, February 12, 2011

Business as usual in this town officially ended at noon on Feb. 10.

That's when Orange Mayor Teresa Jacobs hit the send button and delivered a scathing review of the planned performing-arts center to inboxes across Orange County.

Her staff uncovered millions in waste, slipshod construction contracts, double-billings and overall gross mismanagement. Given that Orlando is ultimately in charge of building the center, she left City Hall in pretty much the same shape that the Air Force left Baghdad in 2003.

Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer emerged from the rubble hours later to answer questions like: "Are you embarrassed?"

You better believe it. He also was livid. This was a major breach of protocol. Proper etiquette requires that mayoral combat be conducted by backstabbing in private.

This all began in December when the city made the big mistake of asking the county for $30 million to help cover a funding shortfall for the arts center.

Normally, the county would have put up token resistance before succumbing to political pressure and writing a check.

The days of normalcy are over.

Jacobs said no. And then she unleashed her advisers and staff on an arts-center cost-cutting mission. Needless to say, mission accomplished.

Normally this would have been handled behind the scenes.

But Jacobs and her people grew suspicious of the city's good intentions as the process dragged on.

She also believes that full public disclosure is in the best interest of the public. Judging by her landslide election victory last November, the public agrees.

And so Jacobs gave the public what it voted for. She publicly nuked Buddy.

Somewhere, former Orange Mayor Rich Crotty is either smiling or wincing. Jacobs used to nuke him all the time when she served on the commission.

But just to be clear, Jacobs does not launch unless the target presents itself.

There are bigger problems with this arts center than mismanagement of planning and construction.

The city's reserve fund to cover its bond debt is underfunded. The endowment fund that will be used to help cover center operations expenses is grossly underfunded.

The city's downtown taxing district is tapped out.

Construction of the acoustical hall — the venue most cherished by local arts groups — has been put off indefinitely. And each year of delay will add an estimated $16 million to the price tag.

And then there are the things not in the report.

Last year, Fitch Ratings downgraded the city's Magic arena bonds to junk status.

Orlando has borrowed $90 million, with the loan based on the value of Centroplex property that's not worth half that much. Dyer has thrown $10 million at sprucing up the FloridaCitrus Bowl and now is aiming money at the "Creative Village.

The city's tab for pension benefits exceeds $50 million a year.

And this was on our front page last April: "For the second year in a row, the city of Orlando faces a staggering deficit of tens of millions of dollars and will look to erase the red ink by paring city staff and cutting services."

Yet in December, Dyer said he could cough up an additional $31 million for the arts center.

Jacobs is rightly concerned that she is doing business with Greece.

And when Dyer can't pull any more money out of his magic hat, the county will be the deep pocket of last resort once construction of the arts center begins. Even more disturbing is that the city and arts supporters are in a mad dash to get construction going. Their theory is that everything will work itself out once the bulldozers arrive.

It's a faith-based initiative, whereas the county administration building is filled with fiscal atheists who don't believe in miracles.

So what happens next?

The prevailing theory is that Dyer and the board running the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts will tell Jacobs to butt out and try to get the project started without any more help from the county. That certainly should scare the bejabbers out of big-money donors and city taxpayers.

A better idea is for Dyer to go to Jacobs, get her terms of surrender for more financial backing, let her more-experienced staff help salvage this mess and worry about revenge some other day.

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Elaine de Valle's Political Cortadito blog channels Sherlock Holmes and catches the crook red-handed: FL Rep. Frank Artiles. Blogger 1, Lying Pol 0

Elaine de Valle's Political Cortadito blog channels Sherlock Holmes and catches the crook red-handed: FL Rep. Frank Artiles. Blogger 1, Lying Pol 0
Elementary, my dear Watson!
http://politicalcortadito.blogspot.com/2011/04/normal-0-false-false-false-en-us-x-none.html



Above, Florida Rep. Frank Artiles, the guy who couldn't find a place to live since the election of November 2nd. How could you trust someone who was both so unethical and so stupid?
http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/sections/representatives/details.aspx?MemberId=4529&SessionId=66

Score so far: Blogger 1, Egregiously-unethical legislative rep 0.


After reading the Marc Caputo story below that was posted online just before midnight Thursday morning, why-oh-why is there STILL no movement on the Joe Gibbons campaign registration/residency issue?

BrowardPalmBeach New Times
The Daily Pulp blog
House Pro Tem Investigated for Homestead Fraud
By Bob Norman
November 15 2010 @ 10:15AM
http://blogs.browardpalmbeach.com/pulp/2010/11/joe_gibbons_investigated_homestead_fraud.php


Naturally, it being the Herald, they didn't have an online link to Elaine de Valle's
blog, http://politicalcortadito.blogspot.com/

Common sense dictates that State Rep. Frank Artiles should've been expelled weeks ago.
To soon be followed by Gibbons if rules and laws mean anything.

Now THAT would set an example for the future: when you register to run for office, the information you write on the documents filed with the State of Florida are true and legally-binding, and you actually LIVE at the address you write down -in the District.
Otherwise, why abide by the rules?

That's why all the other legislative members ought to just pile-on these guys and ruin their political careers.
Seriously, w
hy would you want to have such low-lifes in your group?


Could you have any faith or confidence in someone who'd shown themselves to be incapable of appreciating that what they were doing was reprehensible?

It's
NOT really too much to ask that the Florida legislature enforce the State Constitution and the public's right to be represented in Tallahassee by someone who ACTUALLY lives in the legislative district.

In fact, that should just be the bare minimum one expects.



State Representative: an elector and resident of the district upon taking office and a resident of the state for at least 2 years prior to election.
Above, from website of State of Florida Dept. of State, Frequently Asked Questions,
Residency requirements for Florida House of Representatives.

http://election.dos.state.fl.us/gen-faq.shtml#link5



And yet, here we are in the Florida of 2011, with
Mike Haridopolos, the ethically-challenged Senate president and U.S. Senate wannabe, and Dean Cannon, the Florida House Speaker so little known outside of his own family and a small clique of Tallahassee-based reporters.

Lightweight legislators and junior-varsity crime-fighters are the "leaders" of the fourth-largest state in the U.S.A. and so far, they seem unable to even police their own minions and occasionally throw one smelly fish out before he infects the whole bunch.

It sure explains a lot in the Sunshine State, doesn't it?

------

Miami Herald

Busted by a blogger for not living in his district, Rep. Frank Artiles said he’ll move to his West Kendall district soon. But he could pay a hefty fine.
By Marc Caputo Herald/Times Tallahassee Bureau
April 21, 2011


TALLAHASSEE -- More than 170 days since Republican Rep. Frank Artiles was elected, he still hasn’t moved to the west Miami-Dade district he represents in the Florida House — a potential Constitutional violation that could cost him 5 months’ pay.

Artiles was caught living in his Palmetto Bay home two nights ago when a Miami political blogger knocked on the door of his Palmetto Bay home.

Wearing gym shorts and socks as he watched the Miami Heat basketball game, Artiles admitted to blogger Elaine de Valle that he didn’t live in his district...

Read the rest of the article at:
http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/04/20/2177854/state-rep-artiles-could-face-hefty.html

Saturday, January 15, 2011

You had me at Sofia Vergara! NY Mag Daily Intel blog reports that Nick Loeb may run vs. Bill Nelson in 2012; he's 'reportedly' dating actress Vergara

sofia vergara Pictures, Images and Photos
Actress Sofia Vergara, via photobucket.com

New York Magazine

Daily Intel Main

This Woman Could Be a Senator’s Wife
By Chris Rovzar
January 14, 2011
at 12:15 PM

Nick Loeb, the "tall and handsome scion to New York's Loeb Rhoades banking fortune," had to abandon his U.S. Senate run in Florida in 2009 because his wife left him. He felt it was unfair to conduct a campaign while dealing with such personal turmoil, so he paid back all his donors (out of his own pocket) and called off the run.


Read the rest of this very popular post at:
http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2011/01/this_woman_could_be_a_senators.html


As of now, there are 145 comments, and none of the first 20 are about Nick Loeb's personal stance
on the role of the federal government in a citizen's daily life.
Imagine that.


The Palm Beach Post's
Jose Lambiet http://www.page2live.com/ wrote a bit about the Nick Loeb conundrum last year -and his serious car accident in Bel-Air near Sofia Vergara's home-
http://www.page2live.com/2010/08/24/ex-florida-senate-candidate-nick-loeb-injured-in-car-crash/ which featured this photo essay:
http://page2live.mycapture.com/mycapture/enlargePopup.asp?image=29724487&event=1012290&CategoryID=59758&pSlideshow=1

But then how do you photograph someone's personality?

And a story like this won't stay a secret for long among attention-starved Washington, so The Hill is already saying...
http://washingtonscene.thehill.com/in-the-know/36-news/7823-sofia-vergaras-boyfriend-mulls-senate-run

You all know how much I love Sweden, but from the looks of things, given our particular geographical location in the Sunshine State, Colombia looks to have home-field advantage in this one.



http://www.oceandrive.com/home-page/articles/sofia-vergara-spices-up-primetime


And before you ask, I know nothing about the wife of Mike Haridopolos, the Florida Senate President, who has already announced he's running for next year's GOP nomination to run against Nelson.

http://www.senatormike.com/

http://www.rollcall.com/members/652.html

He looks like he ought to be the number-two at a Hollywood studio and a regular at Laker games, or the lead anchor at an LA TV station:
"From the Southland's news leader, Mike Haridopolous, Eye...witness News!"

Monday, December 27, 2010

Is Mike Haridopolos' ethical case the exception or the rule in corrupt Tallahassee?; Joe Gibbons continues to skate on ethical black ice re residency



Last Sunday's editorial in the Scripps-owned Treasure Coast & Palm Beach newspaper on ethics in the Florida state legislature in Tallahassee -or rather the lack of same amongst some so-called leaders- could hardly be improved upon.

I had meant to reference it here sooner as it is that rare newspaper editorial that is hammer squarely hitting nail with both precision and a minimum of fuss. And while it was ostensibly about the efforts of Mike Haridopolos to evade the law, it is, of course, apocryphal for all the other members and the culture of corruption that flourishes in that town hard by the Georgia state line.

The longstanding lack of leadership on ethical and clean government issues by the vast majority of Florida state senators and representatives, Democrat and Republican, save an Ellyn Bogdanoff or Ari Porth, is really a leading indicator of the rather pedestrian character and sub-standard quality of the lawmakers in Florida, the country's fourth-largest state.

My seven years back here in Florida, after 15 spent in the Washington, D.C. area, has informed me that, not surprisingly, with size comes not more quality as we might hope, but rather more of the middling mediocrities, male and female, with parochial self-interest as their number one goal, running from hopelessly gerrymandered districts.

Where never is heard a discouraging word.

Who better to be the poster boy for that sorry lot of self-involved, under-achieving ethically-challenged ne'er do-wells than my very own Florida state representative, Joe Gibbons, the former do-nothing Hallandale Beach City Commissioner?


I seriously toyed with the notion of penning an ode to Gibbons in this space on Christmas Day, wondering where-oh-where he was spending the holiday with his wife and kids: where they live and she works, in Jacksonville, or where he, supposedly, lives, Hallandale Beach.

In case you'd forgotten about Joe Gibbons...
April 18, 2010
In case you'd forgotten what sort of person Joe Gibbons was, here's a quick reminder: Y-O-U are at the bottom of his pyramid
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2010/04/in-case-youd-forgotten-what-sort-of.html

November 15, 2010

Do you recall me telling you months ago that FL State Rep. Joe Gibbons no longer lived in HB? Bob Norman hammers some more nails in that coffin!
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2010/11/do-you-recall-me-telling-you-months-ago.html

November 15, 2010

Bob Norman in The Daily Pulp blog
House Pro Tem Investigated for Homestead Fraud
http://blogs.browardpalmbeach.com/pulp/2010/11/joe_gibbons_investigated_homestead_fraud.php


But as indignant as I was, given the facts we already know with certainty,
I didn't want to be cross in the blog on Christmas Day, and waste precious time and energy on someone whom I have so very little regard for, and who in another time and place would already be receiving calls from leaders in this community to either come clean on whether Gibbons actually lived where he claimed to live on his formal candidacy papers, as required by state law, or resign.

Instead, Gibbons continues to skate on thin black ice and the South Florida news media, save Bob Norman, continue to avert their eyes from what is right in front of them.


Why is everyone down here so deathly afraid of not only real competitive general elections, where issues matter, but in calling out politicians who have the gall and effrontery to actually fail the very low threshold that the state currently requires?

That quorum of mediocrity is why those FL state amendments that passed muster with the public in November, which made creating gerrymandered districts harder to draw in the future by these same ethically-conflicted legislators, a very important victory indeed.

Success that needs to be built upon in future elections and replicated at the local level.


Given the rather brazen and egregious acts and forms of self-dealing that seem to routinely go on in Tallahassee, often drawing nothing but blank stares, it's no wonder really that the vast majority of Sunshine State citizens regard every state legislator and staffer in Tallahassee as someone potentially on the make, with his or her hand extended waiting for a 'sweetener,' the only question being the amount.

This is made worse by their ridiculous high self-regard, and the outrageous sense of entitlement they possess, as if they were our betters, which they are not.

Sadly, this same unethical and anti-democratic sentiment is mirrored in most of the state's 67 county commissions, and many of their cities.

As if this was not enough of a burden for this state's citizenry to bear, it's made worse when some pols who were formerly thought to be on the right side of this ethical line-in-the-sand, begin to make noises and whine quite loudly amongst their friends in the chattering class and news media about the indignities they must bear when they are forbidden from so much as even taking a Mentos from a friend.
More on her and her new suffering soon.

-----
http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2010/dec/19/editorial-haridopolos-financial-disclosure-case/
Editorial
Haridopolos' financial disclosure case illustrates need to reform flawed system
Editorial board
December 19, 2010


The coziness of it all makes the conscientious person want to scream.


Sadly, no one in the halls of power — in this case, the Florida Legislature — appears to be listening.


To wit, the complaint against Florida Senate President Mike Haridopolos, R-Merritt Island, was heard recently by the state Commission on Ethics.

Haridopolos had stated in an October news release: "I acknowledge mistakes made on my financial disclosure form from past years. None of these were intentional and once pointed out, I corrected the mistakes. I have filed amended disclosure forms with the necessary corrections."


These omissions amounted to tens of thousands of dollars in income and personal property Haridopolos failed to report on financial disclosure forms from 2004 to 2008.


The ethics commission heard the complaint but took no action other than to refer the complaint to the Senate Rules Committee — this, in large part, because the commission has no authority to impose penalties. This can only be done by lawmakers. But guess what. The Senate Rules Committee is chaired by Sen. John Thrasher, R-Jacksonsville — a Haridopolos appointee!

So which of the committee's options — do nothing, or recommend to the full Senate that Haridopolos be reprimanded or fined — do you think is forthcoming?

One thing is clear: The system currently in place to require financial disclosure by public officials, and to investigate and penalize alleged violations, is a joke.

What needs to change?


• Require public officials to type the information on their financial disclosure forms.
Some forms completed by candidates and elected officials are handwritten and barely legible. The public shouldn't be left to guess at the meaning behind letters and words that are difficult, even impossible, to decipher.

• Provide basic instructions and guidelines for completing the forms properly. Explain to lawmakers what assets and liabilities are.
For example, Haridopolos, who listed a $325,000 home as both an asset and a liability on his financial disclosure forms two years in a row, should know the outstanding mortgage on the home — not the home itself — is the liability. A simple explainer on the form might help.

• Require public officials to post all financial disclosure forms online.
Now, to obtain a copy of a public official's financial disclosure form, the public must e-mail a request to the Florida Commission on Ethics (disclosure@leg.state.fl.us). The public deserves immediate, online access to these forms. Haridiopolos has championed putting the state budget online. The Legislature should do the same with financial disclosure statements. Even better, create a Web-based form that lawmakers have to fill out online. This would give them fewer excuses when they make errors.

• Give the ethics commission authority to impose penalties.
Deferring this step to the Legislature makes a mockery of such investigations.

• Eliminate inconsistencies in Florida's financial disclosure laws. For example, state law contains the following catch-all provision: "A person may amend his or her full and public disclosure of financial interests to add to or modify the information reported on the form as originally filed at any time after filing the disclosure form." There is no accountability when a statute allows a public official to amend a filing "at any time."

• Make it a crime for a public official to knowingly fail to disclose a financial interest in legislation he or she votes for.
While this isn't the case in the Haridopolos complaint, it remains an issue that merits prompt legislative action. Not surprisingly, a bill that would have made it a crime for lawmakers to knowingly fail to disclose a financial interest in legislation they vote for was rejected by the 2010 Legislature.

The solutions needed to reform Florida's feeble financial disclosure system are transparent. However, fixing the problem requires honest evaluation and self-scrutiny by the Legislature — and these qualities are in short supply in Tallahassee.

----

More TCPalm opinon pieces at:
http://www.tcpalm.com/news/opinion/

------


A few days earlier, The Florida Times-Union, based out of Jacksonville, published this spot-on editorial
on the same subject.

http://jacksonville.com/opinion/editorials/2010-12-12/story/legislature-shoring-ethics

Legislature: Shoring up ethics
December 12, 2010 - 12:00am

NICE DEAL ... FOR THEM


- In most situations involving ethics violations in state and local government, the state ethics commission investigates and makes recommendations on penalties. The governor decides on the penalties.


- In the case of violations by state lawmakers, however, the ethics commission investigates, but it is ultimately state lawmakers who decide the penalties of their colleagues. The ethics commission is not allowed to even recommend penalties unless lawmakers ask them to do it.


Our take:
The Legislature shouldn't be deciding ethics penalties for its own members after commission investigations. Those conflicts and others could be avoided if penalties for lawmakers were up to the governor or a combination of the governor and state Cabinet.


The ethics case involving Florida Senate President Mike Haridopolos exposes a flaw in the ethics system that lawmakers should fix.


The fox's friends are guarding the henhouse.


It surfaced after Haridopolos admitted he failed to fully note details about property owned and business ties he was supposed to list on his required financial disclosure form, which applies to elected local and state officials at all levels of Florida government.

The disclosures are important because they can help the public spot potential conflicts of interest.

They are safeguards against corruption that help enhance public confidence - provided officials share the details as required.


A Vero Beach man filed a complaint with the Florida Commission on Ethics alleging Haridopolos didn't comply. The omissions included a $400,000 investment home in Mount Dora and the names of two clients who paid him more than $120,000 over a five-year-period.


Haridopolos acknowledged the mistakes to commission investigators and then filed amended disclosures.


The ethics commission accepted the investigation findings but has no legal ability to recommend a penalty to the state Legislature unless lawmakers ask.

So, by law, the matter went to the Senate Rules Committee for consideration.

It could do nothing or recommend a fine or reprimand to the full Senate for action.
And that spotlights a big defect in the system.

As Senate president, Haridopolos is the guy who appoints the committees and their chairmen.

The henhouse effect


In this case, the committee chairman is Sen. John Thrasher, R-St. Augustine, most recently the head of the Republican Party of Florida and a key Haridopolos ally and friend.

But the ally part would be true of just about anybody Haridopolos would appoint to the committee.


Plus, the committee is now asked to weigh in on an ethics case involving someone who can - at whim - kill any future piece of legislation the members might offer.

In other words, going against the boss in this case is yanking hard on Superman's cape.


Haridopolos' attorney argues that embarrassment is enough of a penalty for his client, especially since Haridopolos admitted the mistakes and moved quickly to correct them.


But that misses the broader point.

A conflict of interest should not be built into the system, but that is the case in the Legislature.


An ethics enforcement system needs the ability to enforce independently and should be beyond the direct influence of anyone who is subject to a decision, whether it be the Senate president or a newly elected state lawmaker who has yet to find the restroom.


In fact, that's the way it works in most cases in state government.

For instance, the governor gets details from the ethics commission about problems with a sheriff and then decides, within the options outlined by law, what will happen - not a committee appointed by the sheriff.

Distance equals credibility
If the complaint came in against the governor and the governor was in clear violation, the attorney general would ultimately decide what would happen, not some group the governor appointed that he could leverage or that depended on him for future success.

The governor would make the call on ethics penalties in most cases for the agriculture commissioner, attorney general or chief financial officer.

But state lawmakers get the privilege of deciding what will happen to their own - if anything at all.

Where's the impartiality?

It's like exempting themselves from full application of Florida's Government in the Sunshine Law.


Worse yet, the ethics commission - unlike with complaints against state and local constitutional officers - is barred by law from even recommending ethics penalties to lawmakers involving state lawmaker violations, unless state lawmakers request it.


In other words, the ethics commission is told, if lawmakers want your suggestions on penalties, they'll ask for them.

Adjustments needed


It's rare, though not impossible, for there to be an ethics finding by the commission against a Senate president or other legislative leader.

But infrequency is no reason to avoid upgrading the system.


The ethics commission should be able to recommend penalties about lawmaker violations like they can for everyone else.

But they should be directed to the governor or the state Cabinet for penalty consideration, not lawmakers themselves.


Should lawmakers be able to legally change that process by themselves, they should do it.


If, for some reason, it should require a state constitutional amendment, lawmakers should propose one.


If they won't, shame on them.


Then various citizens groups that advocate for strong ethics and more transparency in government should band together and seek a constitutional amendment as part of a broader move to strengthen the state ethics commission in general.


Having the foxes guard the henhouse never worked on the farm, and it isn't good for state government, either.

-----


Because I have the
Florida Commission on Ethics as a daily Google Alert, I not only saw these editorials the day they came out, but also caught an excellent Dec. 17, 2010 Letter to the Editor of Florida Today, the Gannett-owned newspaper in Melbourne, FL, i.e. the Daytona Beach area for those of you reading this from out-of-state, on the sort of character of the attorney hired by incoming Florida State Senate President Mike Haridopolos when the evidence was overwhelmingly against him.
A petty one!

http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20101217/OPINION/101216030/1004/

Attorney’s comments were unprofessional

Attorney Pete Dunbar, who represented state Sen. Mike Haridopolos in a hearing earlier this month before the Florida Commission on Ethics, made inappropriate and caustic comments against Eugene Benson, a citizen who first noted Haridopolos had failed to report key financial information for the past five years.

Dunbar’s remarks leaves a sad mark on the legal profession.


Even though Haridopolos quickly admitted guilt, somehow Dunbar felt the only way to represent his client was to imply that Benson was the problem by stating, among other things, “Basically, what you’ve got here is a harassing complaint.”

Several other negative comments were also made by Dunbar.


Is this what our legal profession has sunk to, that even if your client admits guilt, someone else should be blamed?


Alan Zoellner

Merritt Island

See, people really are paying attention to what is going on in the Sunshine State.

Meanwhile. days earlier...

Miami Herald

http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/12/04/1956721/senate-chiefs-mistakes-remain.html

Senate chief's mistakes remain an issue
By Marc Caputo Herald/Times Tallahassee Bureau

Florida Senate President Mike Haridopolos admitted he made an "embarrassing'' mistake when he repeatedly failed to properly fill out financial disclosure forms.


On Friday, the Florida Commission on Ethics accepted Haridopolos' formal admission that he violated the state Constitution by neglecting to detail his investments, a $400,000 home and a consulting job that earned him $120,000 from 2004 through 2008.


But Haridopolos wasn't fined Friday. The commission can't do that under constitutional rules.
That job is up to Haridopolos' fellow senators. And they might not fine him at all.


Haridopolos' attorney, Pete Dunbar, said they shouldn't make him pay any more because the errors were minimal, unintentional and were corrected as soon as Haridopolos learned of them.


"
He has paid enough. This is deeply embarrassing,'' Dunbar said Friday after the commission approved Haridopolos' acknowledgement of guilt. "This was a clerical error.''

But it's not going away.


Regardless of what penalty -- if any -- Haridopolos' Senate levies against its boss, the issue is sure to haunt him on the campaign trail.


POSSIBLE RUN


Haridopolos is already putting out feelers for a possible 2012 run for the U.S. Senate against Democrat Bill Nelson, putting the Merritt Island Republican on a crash course with fellow Republican U.S. Sen. George LeMieux. LeMieux's deputy staff chief, Vivian Myrtetus, sent out an electronic Twitter message Friday that linked to a blog with the headline, "Haridopolos guilty in ethics violation.''


Democrats also pounced. Shortly after the commission approved Haridopolos' settlement agreement, the Florida Democratic Party sent out a press release with the headline "Haridopolos Kicks Off 2012 Senate Campaign By Pleading Guilty To Breaking Ethics Laws.''


The ethics case against Haridopolos was brought by a sharp-eyed retiree, Vero Beach resident Eugene H. "Bucky'' Benson, who noticed that Haridopolos failed to write the addresses of his employers, the Legislature and the University of Florida. Benson also spotted discrepancies in the way Haridopolos reported income through MJH Consulting Company, which performed work for a public-relations firm called Syntax Communication and the marketing arm of an appliance company, Appliance Direct.


'BIGGEST FARCE'


In an e-mail to reporters, Benson groused that the ethics commission was "the biggest farce in the world. . . . The Florida Legislature snookered Florida taxpayers into thinking that it governs `in the sunshine' and the Ethics Commission is the taxpayer's watchdog.''

But Haridopolos said he's committed to transparency and open government, which he said is what mortified him about his mistakes. Also, he noted to ethics investigators, he's a college teacher and should've filled out the annual financial disclosure forms properly. He said that after he improperly filled out the forms in a matter of minutes the first time, he repeated his errors year after year.

"
I thought I did it correctly,'' he told reporters last month. "I turned in the paper. No one turned it back with a red mark on it saying you did this wrong. And so for 10 years, I thought I did this right. My wife's not happy with me. My newspaper's not happy with me. And I'm not happy with me. It was a mistake.''

Other Florida stories at:

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/florida/index.html