Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy! Told you so. ... Told you this here is Tallahassee, Gov. I'll-Do-It-My-Way. We don't need no stinkin' outsiders.
What a week for the local Fourth Estate.
Notice the new bounce in the press corps' step?
The lilt in every written line?
That's because they have a new best friend in Sen. J.D. Alexander, chairman of the Senate Budget Committee. Alexander did what the press folks have been trying to do since Nov. 2 -- nail the uppity new governor from Leftfieldsville and CEOburg -- show him you don't just waltz in and take over other people's capitols.
The Republican senator of Lake Wales got the press blowing him kisses last Thursday after he sent a letter to Gov. Rick Scott -- followed, of course, by a "media availability." The letter told the governor that the manner in which he sold the two state planes violated Florida law. Scott used the sale of the first plane to satisfy lease obligations on the second.
Not allowed.
He spent state money that had not been appropriated -- a violation of the Florida Constitution.
Scott responded by saying his legal advisers had approved the sale of the planes, even how the sale was completed, and he trusted them.
But Alexander, buoyed by a giddy media -- a senator who, for half a decade, had advocated for the sale of the state planes -- kept on truckin' with his complaint of governor wrongdoing. Wednesday he sent a second letter to the governor. Not satisfied to leave it there either, he ressurrected the planes in his Budget Committee.
The press lauds Alexander, as you might imagine, because, as one reporter put it, "his principled stand" places the Constitution above "accomplishing a goal both he and the governor seek." I guess that goal is sale of the planes.
Oh, please.
For one moment here, could we just consider something else might be afoot in J.D. Alexander's life? And could we please look at this in some perspective?
In the first place, Scott made selling the state planes one of his campaign promises. He didn't just wake up in the governor's mansion one morning and declare, "What a great day to sell the state planes!" Alexander must have heard with the rest of us that the planes were going up on the block. With all his interest in that particular "goal" in his legislative life, why didn't he get with the governor, offer to help him effect a proper sale?
Maybe he did and I've got him all wrong?
In the second place -- and this is a subject I know something about -- you don't leave an aircraft powered by any kind of engine alone and uncared-for on an airfeld or in a hangar, at least not for long. You dispose of it quickly to get the best price. Scott sold the jet for $1.9 million, the prop plane for $1.8 million. He was working quickly for a reason.
In the third place, what is Alexander suggesting the Legislature do now? What does the Constitution say is proper punishment for the governor's misdeed, if there was a misdeed? Do we sue him? Impeach him? Give him community service at, say, the Florida Press Center?
In the fourth place -- just a funny coincidence, I guess -- the same day Alexander whipped up his first letter to Scott, the governor was fielding criticism from 26 angry legislators -- Alexander was not one of them -- for rejecting $2.4 billion in federal stimulus money earmarked for a high-speed rail line ... going where? Had it been accepted, going right through Polk County.
Alexander is a wealthy citrus grower and landowner with a great pedigree and, be honest, a quite gigantic supporter of SunRail. He's a rail guy like Sen. Paula Dockery is a rail gal. He's from Polk, she's from Polk. They've got interests right there in rail country. Dockery and Alexander may not be the best of friends, but they've both got constituents and campaign donors and friends with beaucoup vested interests who are mighty disappointed over Scott's decision.
Is J.D. Alexander just one angry, frustrated puppy?
With a look of faint amusement, pressed by the media during his Wednesday press conference, Senate President Mike Haridopolos told the group that as far as he's concerned, the governor might have made a mistake and if he did, he'll correct it. "Let's remember, he's been in office for less than a month," Haridopolos said.
Then he told the room that Alexander brought up some important points because there could be other property, buildings to sell, for example, at a later date, and "we need to make sure it's done right."
Now there's a diplomat and a leader.
This column is by Nancy Smith, who may be reached at nsmith@sunshinestatenews.com or (850) 727-0859.
