Did Blake Guillory really happen? You might be hard-pressed to remember after Peter Antonacci takes the reins Thursday morning at the South Florida Water Management District.
Don't look for Guillory at Thursday's governing board meeting when the leadership switch comes to a vote. The closest the nine board members will get to the former executive director will be his letter of resignation.
The governor's office has been "reaching out" to SFWMD board members for the last week, "hoping they can be counted upon" to vote for Antonacci, the governor's former general counsel, to replace Guillory.
My guess is, they can be counted upon.
Though all nine were appointed by Gov. Rick Scott, only four of them -- Sandy Batchelor, Mitch Hutchcraft, Daniel O'Keefe and Kevin Powers -- have been confirmed by the Senate. Except in rare circumstances, confirmees can't be removed until their terms expire. But the remaining five -- Sam Accursio, Rick Barber, Clarke Harlow, James Moran and Melanie Peterson -- are less secure. Certainly, if he wishes, the governor can ask them to resign.
Only two board members -- Moran and O'Keefe -- voted for the 8 percent property tax-cut Scott wanted in July. In fact it was that single act -- voting against the governor's tax-cut wishes and for the district's $754 million budget -- that initiated Guillory's removal. According to sources close to the governor's office, Guillory was supposed to brief board members "effectively" -- so the vote would go Scott's way. It didn't.
Still unconfirmed are rumors Antonacci has been asked to dump as many as 100 "unnecessary" staff -- many of them "friendly hires" Guillory brought in during the last 18 months.
Antonacci already has spoken one-on-one to many, if not all, board members. Most have said they are pleasantly surprised, that the veteran GreyRobinson attorney is likable, doesn't pretend to have a water management background, has deep South Florida roots and more important than anything else, a relationship of mutual trust with Rick Scott -- they hope.
Daniel DeLisi, who resigned last week as chief of staff, will not be replaced. Nor will all matters of business be vetted through the Florida Department of Environmental Protection as they were under Guillory. This time the governor will take a more direct role in district decisions. Surprisingly, many who deal with the SFWMD on a regular basis, particularly consultants, think the new arrangement could be an improvement.
"Antonacci didn't suddently grow water experience," one contract engineer told me. "But going to the governor direct could make the district a more efficient agency. If this change is going down the way I'm hearing, then I'm optimistic. I'm going to give it a chance."
Some staff are hopeful Antonacci will exert influence on the governor to put money for badly needed capital improvements back in the next budget.
Thusday's meeting, set for a 9 a.m. start, will be streamed live on the SFWMD website. Tune in early if you want to catch the vote on Antonacci.
Reach Nancy Smith at nsmith@sunshinestatenews.com or at 228-282-2423. Twitter: @NancyLBSmith
