Sex and scandal cast a cloud over an annual meeting usually reserved for talking about legislative priorities, as Tallahassee continues to scrutinize the behaviors of some of the state’s top lawmakers behind closed doors.
On the other hand, maybe sex and scandal is a legislative priority in 2017-18.
Accusations of sexual misconduct in Tallahassee have dominated the headlines since last week, when Sen. Jeff Clemens resigned after reports broke of an extramarital affair with a female lobbyist.
There's a sense of more to come.
Clemens’ infidelity has opened up a can of worms in Florida’s capital city. So prevalent have the conversations about sexual misconduct and harassment been that hardly anyone at Thursday’s Associated Press Legislative Planning Day failed to bring up the scandal.
Senate President Joe Negron, R-Stuart, sought to assure reporters covering the meeting that the “vast majority” of senators and staff act appropriately; but whispers and rumors have been swirling about many of the state’s elected officials, some of whom are said also to be engaging in affairs and sexual misconduct.
Negron defended his chamber’s sexual harassment reporting policy on Thursday, saying the Senate has a “pro-reporting” policy which urges people to file complaints if they have been victims of sexual harassment.
“The process works when people come forward and there will be an investigation, and when the complaint is founded there will be consequences,” Negron said, adding the Senate has a “zero tolerance” policy towards sexual harassment.
The Florida Senate is now short one lawmaker after Clemens’ resignation, and other news reports of potentially problematic relationships have already surfaced.
Senate Budget Chief Jack Latvala, R-Clearwater, seemed to imply there was a witch hunt against state senators heading into the 2018 legislative session.
“What's going on is an organized effort to tear down the Senate ... and [it] make us look weak,” Latvala said.
Latvala was caught by a private investigator's camera kissing a female lobbyist who was not his wife, in the parking lot of a Tallahassee Italian restaurant.
Latvala didn’t deny kissing the lobbyist and told POLITICO Florida “different people have different habits” when interacting with each other.
“I’m sure there are a lot of pictures of me kissing people up there, especially if I have not seen them for a while,” Latvala said. “Some people kiss on the lips.”
Rep. Ray Rodrigues, R-Estero, who filled in for House Speaker Richard Corcoran, fielded a “sex” question at Thursday’s meeting.
Rodrigues’ chamber has seen its fair share of allegations of sexual misconduct and infidelity. Rep. Cary Pigman, R-Avon Park, was reported to be involved in an affair in 2015 with his then-district secretary, who he later married.
Rodrigues said nobody raised the issue of the affair at the time.
“The first thing I would say is, those actions — if true and accurate — occurred before we initiated our rules changes [on sexual harassment,]," he said. “To my knowledge there was no complaint filed against Rep. Pigman. Had there been, we would have initiated an investigation.”
When asked whether relationships between staffers and legislators could be problematic, Rodrigues said he didn’t feel they would be appropriate.
“I don’t think elected officials should be using their position, whether it’s a staff member or a lobbyist … and that kind of behavior is unacceptable. Period,” he said.
Pigman, also involved in a DUI in April, is still serving in the House.
Senate Democratic Leader Oscar Braynon, D-Miami, said he believes the focus should be on sexual harassment rather than "consensual relationships" between two adults, despite an imbalance of power.
"If someone has a personal relationship ... if it's proven that it's inappropriate, then that's a different discussion," he said. "We have to go issue by issue."
The ongoing rumors of scandal even became the butt of a joke from Commissioner of Agriculture Adam Putnam, who admitted his pitch for governor was less interesting than the salacious rumors swirling about legislators’ private lives.
“It’s hard to compete with sex, but I’ll do my best to keep it interesting,” said Putnam.
Reach reporter Allison Nielsen by email at allison@sunshinestatenews.com or follow her on Twitter: @AllisonNielsen.
