FL Gov. Rick Scott: The prince of darkness

[seafan]

FL Gov. Rick Scott, with FL House Speaker henchman Dean Cannon, of the traitorous Legislature.



Tim Nickens, in today's St. Petersburg Times editorial:

March 27, 2011

‘GIVE AN INCH…" • That was the sarcastic tweet last weekend by Brian Burgess, the communications director for Gov. Rick Scott. He complained about a Times/Herald Tallahassee bureau article describing how Scott's selective release of information about large public pensions advances his political agenda. • Burgess' point: The poor governor gets criticized for not being transparent, creates a website to provide more public information, and still gets criticized by whiny reporters.

• My assessment of this snarky tweet: The Scott administration views Florida's Sunshine Laws as a nuisance and the release of public records as a personal favor. It treats public records as private corporate documents and grudgingly distributes what it wants, when it wants — and to whom it wants. • Nearly three months into the job, Scott acts as though he is still the CEO of a private hospital company who has no legal obligation to be transparent.

.....

Nickens describes two of the worst examples of Rick Scott trashing open records laws in Florida:



1. Private dinners with state legislators at the Governor's Mansion, with Scott disallowing reporters inside to cover it.

Oh, there was one female reporter from a shadowy conservative website allowed in. When the press corps objected to Scott choosing which reporter was allowed in behind the closed doors, negotiations between the press and the Governor disintegrated. And it is reported that she thought he was "utterly charming".

Why are members of the press forced to choose between groveling at the feet of a criminal or engaging in verbal combat with his operatives to report the news to the public? And this question is about legitimate journalists trying to keep the public informed as to what their government is doing... not Ms. "Utterly enthralled with Rick Scott" from Sunshine State News.



2. Rick Scott's new policy that charges a fee for freedom of information (FOIA) public records requests to the governor's office that take more than 30 minutes to process. It's all about dragging out the time it takes to release records, charging fees, and making it too onerous a task for people to try to obtain these records.



Oh, and Rick Scott refuses to use e-mail, so there will conveniently be no document trail of what he is doing. And we cannot know who flies around with him on his private plane. And his agency heads are prohibited from speaking in public until they have received prior approval from Scott.


We don't need no steenkin' Sunshine Laws.



Nickens continues:

.....

Scott has created a facade of openness. He held one town meeting on Twitter — good luck having a serious public policy discussion in 140 characters — and another last week on Facebook. He will direct his driver to pull over so he can chat for a few minutes to reporters waiting on the side of the road. Those are no substitutes for the prompt disclosure of public records, access to meetings with legislators that ought to be public and broader opportunities for Scott to give more thoughtful answers than sound bites.

.....

This is not just a routine skirmish between a governor controlling his message and a frustrated Tallahassee press corps. This is not about new media such as Twitter vs. traditional media such as newspapers. This is about a lack of respect for the constitutional rights of all Floridians to have access to their state government and the information necessary to hold it accountable. Scott is more hostile to open meetings and public records than any governor in more than 40 years, and he has created a dark cloud over Florida's Sunshine Laws. I hope I'm wrong, but I don't expect that cloud to lift any time soon.

I don't think you are wrong, Mr. Nickens.

[monmouth]

1. Charlie is looking very good to many remorseful voters. How I hate

this man, his actions, make me ill. One can only hope he's a one-termer but, ya know, this is Floriduh....

[QC]

2. Kick!

[lib2DaBone]

3. pRick Scott may bea one termer.....

.but he will do so much damage.. that the State will never recover.

Schools, hospitals, roads.... Florida is FUCKED. Scott will suck the life out of all that is good and decent.

[Voice for Peace]

4. doesn't he look an awful lot like voldemort? nt

[lib2DaBone]

5. pRick Scott is a fungas... a festering infection and puss-filled open sore...

[Blue Owl]

6. Hey that POD is a real POS

n/t