A second wave of tea party activists gets back to work in Tallahassee Thursday, meeting with top state officials on budget and policy issues.
In the wake of Tuesday's tea rally outside the old Capitol, 138 tea party leaders will set up shop in the Knott Building, where they will hear from Senate President Mike Haridopolos, Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater and others.
The day-long Legislative Summit is sponsored by the Tea Party Network, a coalition of 58 tea groups from throughout Florida. Meetings are scheduled to run from 8:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m., said network chairwoman Patricia Sullivan.
Tea party leaders have a lot on their minds, from the septic tank law to teacher merit pay and SunRail to the budget, and this is a perfect opportunity to be engaged in the process, said Sullivan, who founded the North Lake Tea Party and hosted Gov. Rick Scott's budget rollout in Eustis last month.
A representative from the governor's office will participate in Thursday's meetings. Other speakers will include Sens. Don Gaetz, R-Niceville; and Greg Evers, R-Crestview; as well as Reps. Doug Broxson, R-Milton, and Clay Ford, R-Pensacola.
Unrelated to the Legislative Summit, tea activist Everett Wilkinson has scheduled a noon rally on the old Capitol grounds -- where some 700 other tea partiers converged Tuesday.
Wilkinson, who heads the South Florida Tea Party, is a controversial figure in the movement. He accompanied Bill McCollum's filing for the GOP gubernatorial campaign and later heckled Scott at a tea party rally outside the South Florida Water Management District offices in West Palm Beach.
Wilkinson also sued the Florida TEA (Taxed Enough Already) Party over alleged misuse of the "tea" brand. The suit stalled when his attorneys quit the case.
"He doesn't work well with others," observed Marianne Moran, founder of the independent Tea Party in Action, and a former co-worker.
Though Wilkinson's StandWithFlorida.com rally website lists several of the same officials scheduled for the Tea Party Network meetings, Sunshine State News could only verify that Atwater would be at the noon event as well. Wilkinson did not return messages.
Sullivan said she will not be attending, noting that the Legislative Summit meetings include a "working lunch."
Sullivan also disclosed that the Tea Party Network previously voted not to admit Wilkinson as a member of the statewide organization.
"We want to keep the organization positive and moving forward," she said.
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Contact Kenric Ward at kward@sunshinestatenews.com or at (772) 801-5341.
