Beach Peanuts

Gov. Rick Scott Kept Official State Email Account Off Public Records Site

Propaganda Machine?

Because Florida Gov. Rick Scott began his term by deleting his transition emails due to "an error," his announcement last May that he was making his emails public on a website called "Project Sunburst" all in the name of "transparency," the news was met with a certain amount of skepticism.

As it turns out, there was good reason to be skeptical.

If you've ever spent any time perusing those emails as I have, you noticed a couple of things. The emails tended to be random and spotty at best, and there was rarely much in the way of follow ups. Now, that last one isn't really that surprising. Most news accounts involving the governor end with "Scott was not available for comment" or "calls to the governor's office were not returned." The other thing you notice about the emails is how overwhelmingly positive they are. Page after page are filled with subject headings like "Stand Strong," or "We Support You!" and "Thank You!" Normally that might not seem too unusual, but with a governor as unpopular as Rick Scott you would expect more than a little "negative feedback."

And what subject was most notable among the emails of support? An overwhelming amount of encouragement favoring Scott's recent new-found interest in "voter roll integrity."

Who knew Scott's voter purge was so popular?

On Monday, reporters from The Miami Herald and the Tampa Bay Times questioned the "unrealistically high percentage of favorable emails on the public database." The governor's office subsequently issued a statement, admitting to the use of two separate email accounts. Email from Scott's official state account weren't posted on the public records site. Instead they posted mail from another email account, this one for an email address given mostly to Scott's "conservative supporters:"

It also announced that it would phase out the address which Scott solely used to respond to email. That email address — which was not on any official state website — appears on many Tea Party websites across the state, under the heading “Governor Rick Scott’s email.”

“Effective this week, emails sent or received using the official website contact form will also be added to the Sunburst system,” said Scott spokesman Brian Burgess, who emphasized that the governor’s emails are always available through a public records request.

Other "supportive emails" from the website were over the current controversy involving Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll who also has a secondary account that’s not listed on state websites. According to the Bradenton Herald, the dual-email strategy has already impacted media coverage for both Scott and Carroll:

Reporters—acting at the urging of Scott—have relied on the Sunburst database rather than filing a public records request for official emails. Several reporters have used those emails to gauge public sentiment on a host of issues, and the informal reviews have returned skewed results in favor of the governor.

Several people who were present when the initiative was announced by Scott’s former chief of staff, Steve MacNamara, said they had no idea that it only included the governor’s unpublished account. That was never mentioned during the press conference.

“It was always my understanding that all of the governor’s email accounts were going to be listed,” said Barbara Petersen, president of the First Amendment Foundation. “I find it very odd and misleading that we’re only getting the [positive] stuff.”

Scott and his staff have also used other measures to "promote" the voter purge, using the public to do so through Facebook and Twitter. Earlier this month the Republican Party of Florida used party funds to promote the purge in emails from Scott to his supporters, asking "Will you help me share this victory for Florida voters?"

Still, Scott's office is defending the Project Sunburst website, saying:

It's “most transparent public records system in Florida state government,” and they say Scott’s official state account was not displayed because of concern for the privacy of people who include personal information in their emails to the governor.

Dan Krassner, director of Integrity Florida, a good governance organization, criticized the failure to put all emails on Project Sunburst.

“Project Sunburst should not be used as a propaganda machine,” said Krassner. “When you leave transparency in the hands of officials to pick and choose what they want to share with the public, problems arise.”

Will this mean more transparency from Scott's office in the future though? Probably not.

As usual:

Scott was not available for comment.

Rick Scott Gets Burned By His Own "Sunshine"

SPF = 0

What is it with Gov. Rick Scott's office and so-called "transparency?"

First there were the "accidentally" deleted emails, and now this, involving another "accidental" release of data. When the emails went missing, the losers were the citizens of Florida, to which the governor's office said what amounted to "Oops! No matter though, nothing to see there anyway" and an investigation found there was no wrongdoing. 

Sure.

Those deleted emails led Scott to create "Project Sunburst" where emails to his administration are posted for all to see. Of course, Scott isn't a fan of using email, and rarely communicates that way, and those that are posted are only what they want the public to see. Mostly communications from the media. It shifts most of the actual "sunlight" onto what reporters are working on rather than the governors office communications. Naturally, that means reporters may be less apt to communicate with them, hence less questions asked. Problem solved.

Well, it seems this new accidental release of information is a little different. The problem for Scott's office this time? It puts some of his actions out there in full sunlight, and what he's doing about that shows he's really not all that concerned with transperency.

Suffice it to say Gov. Scott may get burned this time around.

It's quite an interesting read:

From Aaron Deslatte of The Orlando Sentinel: Scott's Office Flips Out Over Accidental Release Of Data

 

 

GOP Lawmakers Pass Bill To Shield Them From Testifying In Redistricting Lawsuits

Just one week after Florida Democrats filed a suit to challenge redistricting maps, Republicans in the Florida House passed a bill that would shield them from ever testifying or to produce public records when they get sued:

The Republican-controlled Legislature’s proposal to grant itself what’s called “absolute privilege” in any civil suit or legal proceeding emerged for the first time Wednesday, the sixth week of the nine week lawmaking session, less than one week after the Florida Democratic Party filed a lawsuit challenging its redistricting maps.

Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee blasted the last-minute proposal as a blatant attempt to “hide the ball” behind its redistricting effort, which are expected to draw additional lawsuits from defenders of the Fair Districts amendments voters passed in 2010.

“I think timing is telling,” said Rep. Darren Soto, an Orlando Democrat on the panel. “What it’s telling me is that this is an attempt to shield legislators from depositions in the redistricting process.”

Republicans on the panel said the move was necessary because more and more groups – teachers, unions, and others – are filing lawsuits against the Legislature and attempting to compel lawmakers and their staff to testify about the “legislative intent” behind what they’ve passed.

But Democrats challenged them to prove the move wasn’t a veiled attempt to hide lawmakers from explaining the “intent” behind their new congressional and legislative maps, offering an amendment to exclude the coming redistricting lawsuits from the new legal privilege. Republicans defeated it.

Florida Democratic Party Executive Director Scott Arceneaux issued this statement on the legislative immunity bill:

“With the GOP redistricting legal team in the front row, Republicans today rammed through perhaps the most outrageous and transparent abuse of legislative power in years, and that is no small feat in Florida. Today, with a looming redistricting legal fight on the horizon, Republicans sought to shield themselves from the courts and the people in what can only be called a cowardly move to conceal their own unconstitutional dealings from court review.

“If Republicans truly believed their maps would withstand court muster they wouldn’t be so concerned about ensuring immunity and avoiding questions.”

"If You See Something, Say Something?" Where Do We Start?

I Can See Clearly Now 
 
(Illustration: Beach Peanuts)

Last week Gov. Rick Scott announced he was joining domestic security officials to launch an "If You See Something, Say Something" campaign in Florida. 

From his press release:

The initiative features a toll-free, statewide hotline and online reporting form for citizens to report suspicious activity.

“As we draw closer to the 10-year anniversary of 9-11, there is no better time to remember the many lives lost that day a decade ago, and to remind citizens of the need to remain vigilant,” said Governor Scott. “This is another tool that citizens and tourists can use to contact authorities when they witness something they know is out of place.”

Wake up and smell the irony, citizens of Florida!

Something was a tad suspicious and out of place just recently, but I can't quite put my finger on it.......oh that's right! The governor's transition e-mails! The ones which he literally can't put his fingers on because they were deleted. I guess that would fall under the "If You Can't See Something, We Must Have Deleted It" department?

Good thing Gov. Scott called for an investigation to find out how those e-mails got deleted during a "chaotic transition run by a largely out-of-state staff still learning Florida law"..........except that those conducting the investigation also happen to work for Scott. Gosh, I wonder how that will turn out? I'm guessing he'll release the "findings" soon, something like: "The e-mails were indeed "mistakenly" deleted, but it won't happen again" or they'll find the company which deleted them entirely at fault as a scapegoat. 

The Florida Democratic Party in turn put out their own tongue and cheek press release highlighting several items:

Thursday, August 11th – Said individual lied to Floridians about the state’s credit rating.

Monday, August 16th (sic) - Florida Supreme Court ruled said individual violated the Florida Constitution by exceeding his authority.

Thursday, August 18th – Said individual lied to the Orlando Sentinel about the quality of state workers' health care.

Friday, August 19th – Said individual admits to deleting public record emails belonging to the citizens of the State of Florida.

Sunday, August 28th – Said individual admitted to knowing about public record destruction four months before acknowledging the law had been broken.
 
We appreciate your attention to this very serious matter.

The ACLU came out to criticize the governor, saying: the program will inevitably result in profiling and spurious tips:

"These turn in your neighbor programs produce unreliable information and are little more than a government sponsored invitation to view everyone as a potential criminal and act on racial and ethnic stereotypes," Simon said in a statement. [Howard Simon, executive director ACLU Florida]

Bailey rejected that. [Gerald Bailey, Florida Department of Law Enforcement Commissioner]

"When it comes to suspicious activity, it's not a particular type of person you're going to be looking for, but behavior," Bailey said.

That would be the same Gerald Bailey charged with investigating Rick Scott's missing transition e-mails. Potential conflict of interest anyone?

The head of FDLE, Gerald M. Bailey, is employed at the will of Scott and the Cabinet. That relationship could pose a conflict for the department's investigation, [Alex] Sink said. Sink, a former state CFO, lost the governor's race to Scott in November.

"This is outrageous," Sink said. "Clearly there were laws broken. There should be an independent investigation into why these transition e-mail disappeared into thin air." 

If Bailey defends Scott on the new program, will he also defend Scott in the deleted e-mail investigation? 

What about the hypocritical behavior we see on an almost daily basis? Here's another revelation too recent to make the "list" from the Democratic Party: Scott will tell you that demands to cut spending means "making the tough choices," which translates to cuts in everything from education to unemployment benefits. 

In the latest controversy from the governor's office, you probably won't be surprised to learn that as Scott and the Legislature "tightened your belt" and gave tax cuts to big businesses, he also recently blew nearly $80k on renovations to spruce up his new chief of staff's office and Scott's executive suites, courtesy of the taxpayer. This "makeover" was for a new chief of staff who Scott values to the tune of $189k a year. Rather than taking a 3 percent cut in salary like other state workers, Steve MacNamara gets a 26 percent raise over the last guy. Scott's known for generous salaries for his staff, and MacNamara's even tops those in states like Texas, New York and even California. (Almost brings to mind another scandolous adventure in high-end decorating: the Taj Mahal courthouse in Tallahassee.)

So many other examples are so well known and egregious there's no need to "say something." He's just getting started on his four years of austerity fame: Medicare Fraud, health care cuts, high-speed rail. Drug testing welfare recipients, blocking food stamps from a blind woman, cutting unemployment benefits. Killing jobs, slashing education, cutting insurance regulations. 

Scott gets state health care at a discount, thanks to taxpayers.

While you sit in traffic for hours on end, Scott breezes over head in his own private plane, avoiding both gridlock on the highway AND the Commision Of Ethics. 

In the event of a catastrophic hurricane, Scott has a back up roof stashed away in storage. Don't you?

One almost wonders if he got the idea for "If you see something, say something" from one of several groups out there who already do so, like Awake The State, Pink Slip Rick, and It Gets Worse, just to name a few.

Why stop with the governor's office? There's plenty of "suspicious behavior" to scrutinize elsewhere in Florida government. There's an almost endless supply of "see something, say something" to go around. 

How about the Florida Legislature's redistricting roadshow? There are town hall meetings where you can certainly "say something," but Legislators won't, and you'll see no maps. 

The Legislature? Where do we start? Just try and name a Republican that has no scandal attached to their name.

There are so many chapters from the Adventures Of Mike Haridopolos that you could write a book! In fact, just to keep them all straight, Progress Florida has devoted an entire website, DirtyHari.org, to documenting them all.

Don't forget BondiGate, the foreclosure investigations and firings by the Florida Attorney General. 

The list goes on and on. So much to say, so much to see, and probably so much more we aren't even aware of. Yet.

Three years to go in the Rick Scott Administration and counting....

Rick Scott, Jeb 2.0, And The Case Of The Missing E-Mails

Gov. Ricky-Jeb

Transparency in government. What a concept.

By now I'm sure you've heard the story of Florida Gov. Opaque And The Missing E-mails.

If not, to make a long story short, it seems that the e-mail accounts of Rick Scott and most of the governor-elect's transition team were deleted soon after he took office, potentially erasing public records that state law requires be kept.

To make a long explanation short, Chris Kise, Scott's transition attorney and public records adviser summed it up this way:

But Kise describes it as an oversight, the result, he said, of a chaotic transition run by a largely out-of-state staff still learning Florida law and unfamiliar with the technology that ran the e-mail system.

A few observations here:

1. Right....

2. Rick Scott has a "public records adviser??"

3. That paragraph pretty much explains the entire Rick Scott administration, which is why many of us          said he shouldn't be the governor in the first place.

The governor now claims to be on the case and is investigating himself. The suspense is killing me on just how that will pan out.

However, all was not lost. Some records were actually recovered. Among the recovered e-mails was one from a former governor to the present office holder, and that governor apparently wasn't finished being governor yet.

Despite his two terms in office, it seems Jeb Bush has some unfinished "business" he wants to take care of. Business he was hoping Charlie Crist would take care of for him. Sadly for Jebbie, Crist didn't take the hint, so Jeb tried again, in spite of his claim that he didn't "want to be presumptuous."

Right. Because everyone knows the Bush clan is anything but "presumptuous!" That's why Jeb's little known son recently announced he was endorsing Jon Huntsman for President, and the nation reacted thusly:

"Who? Oh. Whatever..."

So former Gov. Un-Presumptuous sent an e-mail to current Gov. Presumptuous AND Incompetent outlining some to-do items apparently left over from his own list:

"Save the e-mails!"

No, not really. Just kidding. Although I'm sure Jeb wishes the cyber-dog had eaten this particular e-mail.

Here is some of the actual advice and some of the "guidelines" Jeb Bush kindly wrote out for Rick Scott to follow:

"You didn't ask for this, but it is the standard envelope in the desk to the new guy' for words from the old guy," Bush wrote. "To be honest, I did the same thing to Gov. Crist but he did nothing I suggested, so with the risk of being presumptuous, I am trying again."

Bush's list of "lessons learned through trial and error" covered a range of issues, including an assurance that it was "OK to veto stupid bills" from lawmakers and to make sure Scott's wife, Ann, had an effective staff as first lady.

Bush's e-mail was sent just days before Scott was sworn in on Jan. 4.

In two separate documents attached to the e-mail, Bush urged Scott to end one of the state's pension plans, sell the Florida Virtual School and take his first trade mission to Brazil and Colombia. (Scott is traveling to Brazil in October.)

Bush, the state's last two-term governor, also told his fellow Republican to "own the budget," even though lawmakers are in charge of appropriating money.

"By aggressively dominating the budget, the Legislature will grouse but it brings order to the whole process for them to be working off your budget and agenda," Bush said. "The budget drives policy."

Some of Bush's ideas were turned into state law this year, including a plan expand online education in public schools and another to put Medicaid patients into managed care. Scott supported both on the campaign.

Surely his advice on virtual schools and online learning had nothing to do with Jeb's Foundation For Florida's Future, or Ignite!, the education software company run by Jeb's brother Neil?

Bush urged Scott to push for "education savings accounts," acknowledging that the universal private school vouchers would be a constitutional issue.

"I don't know how our court will respond but it will be a game changer for the country and you might have the chance to change the makeup of the court," he wrote.

Coincidentally, Rick is already working on that whole "makeup of the court thing."

Bush also suggested saving more than $150 million a year by stopping the state from paying for "institutes" at universities and selling off the Florida Virtual School while using the proceeds to fund a technology initiative that would lead the nation.

Bush's advice veered away from policy to suggestions on how to lead the fourth-most populous state in the country.

Bush said the ability "to convene to listen and learn" was among the most "understated" powers of the office.

Listen and learn? Sorry Jeb. Scott's ignoring that one, for the most part.

"You can bring together the best and the brightest throughout the state and around the country, and you should take advantage of it," Bush wrote. "If you have a view already, the power to convene can validate that view and allow for a great chance of its implementation."

So it looks like the governor who rarely takes advice from anyone is taking quite a bit from Jeb Bush. For Floridians who thought they were finished with Jeb, only to descend to the bottom of the barrel with Rick Scott, it looks like they're getting the worst of both worlds.

Welcome to your worst nightmare: Jeb 2.0.