Gov. Rick Scott named Tom Delacenserie as the interim secretary of the Florida Lottery to replace Cynthia O’Connell. Earlier this week, Politico Florida ran a story focusing on O’Connell racking up almost $30,000 in travel expenses and being excessively absent.
On Friday, Scott announced O’Connell would leave her current post on Oct. 1 and head into the private sector. He also pointed to the lottery’s record under O’Connell’s watch and praised her for her leadership.
“Cynthia has been part of my team since my first year in office and she has done a tremendous job serving Florida families,” Scott said. “Under her leadership, the Florida Lottery has achieved record sales, and last year the lottery transferred over $1 billion to Florida’s education system. Cynthia’s constant marketing efforts have not only enhanced our school system, but given many Florida students the opportunity to excel in the classroom. I truly appreciate her dedication to making Florida the best state in the nation for families and our students, and I hope she will continue using her skills to serve our state even as she moves on to other career opportunities.
Scott also named Delacenserie to head the lottery on an interim basis on Friday. Delacenserie is an old hand at the lottery, having started there in 2000 as a district manager based in Fort Myers. In 2005, he was named director of sales for the lottery before taking over as deputy secretary of sales and marketing in 2013.
“Tom has over 30 years of experience in the private sector and 15 years of service at the Florida Lottery where he helped the organization hit their highest sales record ever,” Scott said. “Tom is laser-focused on making sure the Florida Lottery continues to contribute critical funding to our education system so students have the tools they need to succeed.”
As she leaves, O’Connell does have a feather in her cap as, on Thursday, LaFleur's 2015 World Lottery Almanac ranked the Florida Lottery as the second most efficient lottery in the nation behind only Massachusetts. LaFleur noted the Florida Lottery’s administrative expenses are only 2.8 percent while the New York Lottery’s administrative costs stand at 15 percent and the California Lottery’s are 5.6 percent.
"The Florida Lottery remains committed to operating as efficiently and effectively as possible on behalf of all Floridians and we will continue to implement cost-saving measures and increase business efficiencies wherever possible," O'Connell said on Thursday.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or follow him on Twitter: @KevinDerbySSN
