Category: Florida

We all know the Democratic bench is still disturbingly thin in Florida. But insiders keep pointing to African-American Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum, 37, as an exception to the thin-bench reality. There’s been incipient talk of a draft Gillum–for governor–movement.

His recent op-ed piece on climate change implications for Florida was carried around the state, including in the Tampa Bay Times. Major media commentary is a tried and true way of getting a potential candidate’s name–and message–out in front of voters statewide.

It’s encouraging to see that this state continues in the right direction when it comes to high school graduation.  In the last year, the grad rates statewide have gone from 77.9 percent to 80.7 percent. Here in Hillsborough, the rate has jumped from 76 percent to 79.1 percent. While rates are headed upward, the reality remains that 1 in 5 students doesn’t graduate. No reason yet to be in a state of celebration.

The passing of Charlie Reed, 75, one-time university system chancellor of Florida, was well noted around the state. He was known for his blunt demeanor as well as his advocacy of a strong, centralized authority for higher education and a goal to improve the state’s national reputation.

USF once felt his wrath. Reed’s response to President Frank Borkowski’s inaugural speech in 1988 was illustrative. In the tradition of inaugural rhetoric, Borkowski aimed high by referencing a goal to put USF into the “top 25” of public universities in the U.S. He summarily heard about it from Reed. Basically, “Who the hell do you think you are down there with such aims? That’s the goal of our flagship university (in Gainesville). You’re a regional university.” Ouch.

The relationship never got appreciably better until President Betty Castor came on board in 1994. She was a player in Tallahassee. Reed would leave in 1998 to lead the California State University System.

What if we close the gun-show loophole? What if background checks become serious, consistent and coordinated? What if Marion Hammer stops channeling the Founding Fathers on the Second Amendment?

How much does that help if a bunch of gangbangers or would-be terrorists can just ram a pick-up into a serious gun store and make off with a small arsenal of weapons–including semiautomatic rifles–in less than two minutes?

That’s what happened last week as hooded thieves made off with a cache of arms at the Tampa Arms Co. It’s the latest of at least four such brazen burglaries around here in a little more than a year. It’s worrisome, scary–and unnecessary. And, yeah, there ought to be a law.

Put it this way. If your business must be guns and ammo, your defense against would-be robbers has to be better than burglar bars, alarms and state-of-the-art surveillance. Off-hours, armed guards would add to overhead, but would lessen the risk to the community. How’s that for a trade off? And vaults that would hold a lethal inventory should be mandatory. In the case of Tampa Arms Co., its vault was impractically small and useless.

In short, if the cost of security is an issue, then get out of the gun business.

Here’s the societal bottom line: The Tampa Arms owner will have his inventory losses covered by insurance. But there’s no ensuring the public at large–that’s everybody else–that they won’t pay the ultimate price for more weapons on the street.

Two years ago, this state’s Senate countered its Flori-duh stereotype by granting in-state college tuition rates to undocumented students who attended high schools in the state. The context was emotional as it passed by a wide margin (26-13). State Sen. Jack Latvala of Clearwater underscored the rationale when he said it was about “doing the right thing.” And Gov. Rick Scott signed it. With a bit of flourish too. “Just think,” he declared, “children that grew up in our state will now get the same tuition as their peers.”

And just think, two years later there is an effort to undo it.

State Sen. Greg Steube, R-Sarasota, filed a repeal bill last week with the rationale that he just doesn’t think helping out those immigrant dreamers is particularly “good public policy for the state.” Steube, who was elected to the Senate last month after six years in the House, says he’s honoring the wishes of his constituents. Without fail, he says, voters he encountered during his primary campaign asked about two things: the Second Amendment and illegal immigration.

Too bad his cherry-picked door knocking didn’t bring him into contact with those who might have asked: “Are you running to do what’s best and what’s right for Florida and all those who call this home–regardless of where they’re from or who brought them here? Or are you running to be another pandering pimp to the alt-right?”

As we know, a Republican Legislature is no rubber stamp for this Republican governor. Exhibit A: marketing. As in, the cost of–from Enterprise Florida to Visit Florida.
Incoming Florida House Speaker Richard Corcoran has now made it clear that Visit Florida, which takes credit for ratcheting tourist numbers since 2009, will take a hit to its budget–one that has increased 169 percent ($29 million to $78 million) since 2009.
Gov. Scott, as we also know, is driven by jobs quantification. It’s his raison d’être and mantra. But Corcoran has a case beyond budget ideology. It’s called transparency.
Visit Florida doesn’t disclose what it spends on a number of its marketing sorties. That includes what it paid the hip-hopping Pitbull–and what it was that Pitbull did for his undisclosed fee.

This isn’t just about numbers. It’s about being up front. When you have to defend selective opaqueness and the merits of Pitbull as marketing magnet, you’ve made Corcoran’s case.
To no one’s surprise, Visit Florida–in taking credit for ripple effects of an overall improving national economy–uses the same numbers playbook as Scott.

Not exactly flattering to be on the receiving end of a robocall trolling for senior votes in support of that Trojan Horse solar amendment backed by utilities. Worse yet, it was Pat Boone making the devious pitch. He hasn’t sounded this bad since he covered Little Richard with his version of “Tutti Frutti.”

While it’s not exactly on life support, the death penalty has been scrutinized again–in the media and in the courts–with Florida, of course, in the cross hairs. It happens when a state’s death row has nearly 400 residents.

First, it was a Harvard University study that labeled Hillsborough and Pinellas counties as national “outliers” in their use of the death penalty. The two counties–along with Duval and Miami-Dade–comprise a quarter of the 16-county list. The criteria: five or more defendants receiving death sentences from 2010-15.

The report took State Attorney Mark Ober to task for being quick to pursue the death penalty even when there were significant mitigating factors, such as intellectual disability. Racial disparities were also noted. And more often than not, juries were not unanimous in their death-sentence recommendations.

Ober, not surprisingly, dismissed the report. “The group releasing the report opposes the death penalty, and its report is nothing more than a position paper to support its cause,” said Ober. “It makes no attempt to be fair and balanced.” Bill O’Reilly couldn’t have said it better.

Two days later the Florida Supreme Court tossed out the way death sentences are imposed throughout the state, in effect, forcing the Legislature to require a unanimous jury decision for the death penalty. Previously legislators had rewritten the majority law with a 10-2 death-vote requirement. That came in response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s finding that Florida’s simple-majority requirement would no longer stand.

Florida will now join the majority of states in requiring unanimous verdicts in death penalty cases.

What’s disturbing is that this is what it took to get this state to make the common-sense, manifestly fair move to unanimous verdicts.

It’s beyond daunting that fallible human beings, operating in an imperfect judicial system–from questionable witnesses to DNA evidence and periodic exonerations–can make the ultimate, irrevocable decision to put someone to death. That a 7-5 jury vote was sufficient was an abomination.

We’ll give the last word to Rep. Darryl Rouson, the St. Petersburg Democrat. “If it’s unanimous guilty,” noted Rouson, “then why not let it be unanimous death recommendation?”

* Last December the Florida High School Athletic Association told Cambridge Christian School that it could not have access to the loudspeaker at Camping World Stadium in Orlando–before the 2A State Championship football game–to broadcast their team prayer to fans and spectators. It’s that First Amendment and free-speech-shy-of-promoting-religion thing. We’ve been here before; we’ll be here again.

But here’s a reality that litigants never acknowledge. This is also, ironically, about the trivialization of religion. In short: “Praise the Lord. Kick some University Christian School ass. Thank you, Jesus.”

*This just in. Pinellas County school officials have underscored that they will continue to double down on efforts to close the racial gap in learning. Most recently, 30 percent of black students scored at their grade level or higher on the states’s English language arts exam. The rate for non-black students was nearly double–58 percent.

Two points. The racial gap remains unacceptable. And that 58 percent mark is also a disgrace.

* Financial Plight Thickens. The Hillsborough County School District is in a budget crisis brought on by crushing debt. Too bad a reset button is not among its options. Too bad the Gates Foundation didn’t say this to MaryEllen Elia & Co: “Here’s a big, 10-figure sum of money. Spend it wisely to the benefit of students and teachers. You’re the day-to-day experts–not us. We’re just well-intentioned and rich. And, no, there will be no matching funds involved. Don’t worry about siphoning from other needs to accommodate a Foundation formula. But, whatever you do, make sure teacher morale never wavers.”

Here’s a question I’ve periodically pondered: How is Paula Dockery, the high-profile, former Republican state legislator, still a Republican?

She’s progressive on a litany of issues, a critic of Rick Scott and often uses her column forum to bash Republican mindsets. Most recently she acknowledged that “Democratic voters seem to be more issue-oriented and fact-based. … They care more about the environment, renewable energy, criminal justice reform, universal health care and economic inequality.” Among other traits, Republicans are “less tolerant” and “respond strongly to fear and anger.”

“So why remain a Republican?” I asked. As it turns out, the end may be near.

“This election might be the final straw,” responded Dockery. “I might be an NPA by the end of the year.”