Rick Scott: Central Florida Economy's Great Hope or Wrecking Ball?

A Central Florida survey of 1,200 businesses and 100 government officials call it a split decision on the governor's usefulness to the economy in the middle of the state.

Gov. Rick Scott is either the carpenter building Florida's economic recovery hopes or the wrecking ball pounding them into the ground.

According to Mary Shanklin's story in the Orlando Sentinel, the survey funded by Orlando-area business groups and conducted in an eight-county area March 16-24 by Strategic Guidance Systems of Gainesville, found that the governor gets most of his negative marks because he killed plans for the high-speed rail link between Tampa and Orlando and he put a proposed commuter rail line on hold.

But respondents gave positives to Scott's efforts to hold government accountable and close budget gaps -- a reason, the reporter concluded, why the area's economy is headed up.

Says Shanklin, "Those surveyed also pointed to the region's disjointed menu of regulatory rules and fees, which vary by county and city, as a top impediment to business growth. 'We're trying to get things to be consistent,' said Mike McGraw, chairman of the Orlando Realtors group, who released the survey results to the Orlando Sentinel on Wednesday."

The counties involved in the survey were Brevard, Lake, Orange, Osceola, Polk, Seminole, Sumter and Volusia.

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