Kevin McCarty, appointed insurance commissioner in 2003, apparently tops the prospective "dead man walking" list -- particularly after the governor's office would not deny the rumor he's up next for the chop.
Believe it or not, in some quarters in Tallahassee there's a fantasy lottery going on."We've got odds on who goes next," one Capitol staffer told me on condition of anonymity. "Most of us have McCarty, but some think (Secretary of State Ken) Detzner is the most deserving fowl in the barnyard."
Talk of McCarty's fate goes a little like that around town, accelerated by the forced departure of Gerald Bailey, commissioner of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. In my experience, shakeups on the top usually leave rank-and-file staffers either playful or paranoid.
What did Bailey do to get the governor's knickers in a twist? And if McCarty's out, how did he so ruffle Insurance World after 14 years and three governors that he had to get the shaft? Frankly, I thought it would take a forklift to get that guy out.
Not that I have anything against Kevin McCarty. I know Mike Fasano likes him. The former Republican senator and House member, no friend of the insurance industry, told the Herald/Times consumers would be the losers if McCarty goes.
"If McCarty goes there will be few left in Tallahassee that sincerely care about the premium payers of Florida,'' he told the Herald/Times. "He has been successful in stopping the premiums on property insurance policies from going even higher than what they are now. If they fire him it's the homeowners, auto owners and every other person who pays insurance premiums loss. Premiums will go much higher."
But one Capitol observer I talked to saw McCarty as overly chummy with insurers in recent years. He told me he thought the commissioner was too cautious in 2013 in particular, when Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater was pushing rate reductions for Florida homeowners. McCarty didnt object, he said, but "he could have been much more proactive and his cautiousness benefited big insurance companies."
In fact, Atwater told McCarty in an August 2013 letter, If insurance companies can justifiably raise rates on Florida families because the reinsurance market drives the cost up, they can certainly lower the cost for Florida families when reinsurance prices fall.
Meanwhile, offices of Cabinet members Atwater, Adam Putnam and Pam Bondi are all claiming they haven't discussed McCarty's future.
On the other hand, governor's office communications director Jackie Schutz is just firing off the same brief, cryptic statement to anybody in the media who asks for comment on McCarty. Here's what it says.
Government too often gets stuck in a rut and doesnt like to change. But, just like in business it is good to get fresh ideas and new leadership, especially as we move into a second term. Executive office positions are not lifetime appointments and for the same reason there are term limits in elected office it is important to search for the best and newest ideas whenever possible. In regard to OIR, we have no announcements at this time.
Schutz's statement pretty much answers the question. The "... at this time" tells me the fantasy lottery is over and so is McCarty. He's a goner -- on Monday, Tuesday, probably sooner rather than later, whenever the governor et al. have their ducks in a row.
And as sorry as I am to hear so many senior government employees have to restructure their careers when they probably least expected it, Schutz is right. Executive office positions really aren't lifetime appointments. No government job in the 21st century should carry implied tenure.
In fact, the idea that it's healthy for a state government, a big bureaucracy, to bring on a continuum of new leaders with fresh ideas makes good sense.
And high-level government jobs are paid well; benefits are generally significant. Neither McCarty nor Bailey nor any top-level manager in Florida is headed to a bread line.
If Charlie Crist and the Democrats had won the gubernatorial election, right now Crist would be changing senior staff like Hilton changes towels. He might or might not have replaced Bailey or McCarty -- the point is, it would have been his decision and the Cabinet's to make. It's what happens when a new regime takes over. Why shouldn't it happen after a re-election?
Rick Scott and the Florida Cabinet have every right to make an executive officer change. And they don't have to clear it with the media -- many of whom spent the last four years criticizing the caliber of Scott's choices for the state's top positions.
It's our job in the media to ask what's going on, certainly; but when push comes to shove, neither Scott nor the Cabinet have to give us a reason why one exec is out and another is in.
Reach Nancy Smith at nsmith@sunshinestatenews.com or at 228-282-2423. Twitter: @NancyLBSmith
