T H E C A B I N E T
S T A T E O F F L O R I D A
Representing:
STATE BOARD OF ADMINISTRATION
DEPARTMENT OF HIGHWAY SAFETY AND MOTOR VEHICLES
DEPARTMENT OF LAW ENFORCEMENT
DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE
STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION
BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE
INTERNAL IMPROVEMENT TRUST FUND
The above agencies came to be heard before
THE FLORIDA CABINET, Honorable Governor Bush
presiding, in the Sarasota County Administration
Building, 1660 Ringling Boulevard, Sarasota County
Commission Chambers, Sarasota, Florida, on Tuesday,
May 23, 2000, commencing at approximately 9:08 a.m.
Reported by:
LAURIE L. GILBERT
Registered Professional Reporter
Certified Court Reporter
Certified Realtime Reporter
Registered Merit Reporter
Notary Public in and for
the State of Florida at Large
ACCURATE STENOTYPE REPORTERS, INC.
100 SALEM COURT
TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA 32301
850/878-2221
2
APPEARANCES:
Representing the Florida Cabinet:
JEB BUSH
Governor
BOB CRAWFORD
Commissioner of Agriculture
BOB MILLIGAN
Comptroller
KATHERINE HARRIS
Secretary of State
BOB BUTTERWORTH
Attorney General
TOM GALLAGHER
Commissioner of Education
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May 23, 2000
I N D E X
ITEM ACTION PAGE
STATE BOARD OF ADMINISTRATION:
(Presented by Horace Schow, II,
General Counsel)
1 Approved 7
2 Approved 8
3 Approved 8
4 Withdrawn 8
5 For Information Only 8
DEPARTMENT OF HIGHWAY SAFETY AND MOTOR VEHICLES:
(Presented by Fred O. Dickinson, III,
Executive Director)
1 Approved 19
2 Approved 19
3 Approved 24
DEPARTMENT OF LAW ENFORCEMENT:
(Presented by James T. Moore,
Executive Director)
1 Approved 25
2 Approved 31
DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE:
(Presented by James A. Zingale, Ph.D.,
Executive Director)
1 Approved 33
2 Approved 44
STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION:
(Presented by Wayne V. Pierson,
Deputy Commissioner)
1 Approved 45
2 Deferred 45
3 Approved 45
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May 23, 2000
I N D E X
ITEM ACTION PAGE
BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE
INTERNAL IMPROVEMENT
TRUST FUND:
(Presented David B. Struhs,
Secretary)
1 Approved 60
Substitute 2 Approved 62
Substitute 3 Approved 63
4 Approved 63
5 Approved 64
Additional 6 Approved 65
Substitute
Additional 7 Approved 69
CERTIFICATE OF REPORTER 71
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STATE BOARD OF ADMINISTRATION 5
May 23, 2000
1 P R O C E E D I N G S
2 (The agenda items commenced at 10:07 a.m.)
3 GOVERNOR BUSH: Now we're going to start
4 the business side of our meeting.
5 And what I'd like to do is for the
6 people -- the people that are -- come speak
7 briefly, if when you come, if you could just
8 give a brief description of what -- what
9 elements of the State Board of Administration,
10 and the other reports that we'll be getting
11 here, gathered as the -- the Cabinet, if you
12 could just give a description of what we do.
13 State Board of Administration.
14 MR. SCHOW: Good morning, Governor.
15 GOVERNOR BUSH: Good morning.
16 MR. SCHOW: Comptroller Milligan, I'm
17 Horace Schow, General Counsel, standing in for
18 Tom Herndon.
19 In 1942, the voters of Florida revised the
20 Constitution to create the State Board of
21 Administration, a three-member group, comprised
22 of the Governor, as Chairman; the Treasurer;
23 and the Comptroller.
24 The first mission was to administer the
25 second gas tax and the bonds related thereto,
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May 23, 2000
1 and, quote, all other powers conferred by law.
2 And throughout the years, "the all other powers
3 conferred by law" have greatly dominated our
4 mission.
5 We have turned in to a financial investment
6 agency for the State of Florida. And at
7 present, we invest 132 billion dollars for the
8 State.
9 The -- 81 percent of that is the Florida
10 Retirement System, 10-- 12.7 billion are local
11 government funds. We also invest the --
12 1.2 billion in the -- the Lawton Chiles
13 Endowment Fund.
14 Under us also, we invest for the Department
15 of Lottery, and the Hurricane Catastrophe Fund
16 is under our administration.
17 GOVERNOR BUSH: Thank you.
18 MR. SCHOW: And, Governor, we --
19 GOVERNOR BUSH: I want to make sure
20 everybody heard that you said billion, not
21 million.
22 What size -- the Florida Retirement System
23 is what size pension fund -- what -- are we --
24 where are we ranked?
25 MR. SCHOW: We're ranked about fifth in --
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May 23, 2000
1 in the world.
2 It is a "b."
3 GOVERNOR BUSH: Thank you.
4 Just want everybody to know.
5 MR. SCHOW: We have five items on the
6 agenda.
7 First is to request approval of the minutes
8 of the meeting held on May 9.
9 COMPTROLLER MILLIGAN: I will move the
10 minutes, Governor.
11 GOVERNOR BUSH: I'll second it.
12 Normally the -- by the way, the State Board
13 of Administration is comprised of three
14 members: The Insurance Commissioner, who's not
15 here today, is the third member.
16 So there's two -- we'll have to have two
17 votes here, General. I think we can handle
18 that.
19 COMPTROLLER MILLIGAN: Yes, sir.
20 GOVERNOR BUSH: Moved and seconded.
21 Without objection, it's approved.
22 Item 2.
23 MR. SCHOW: Approval of two bond issues of
24 the Florida Housing Finance Corporation,
25 8.1 million, 3.3 million for the
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1 Waterford Pointe Apartments in Orange County.
2 COMPTROLLER MILLIGAN: I move Item 2.
3 GOVERNOR BUSH: I second it.
4 Moved and seconded.
5 Without objection, it's approved.
6 Item 3.
7 MR. SCHOW: The third item is another
8 Florida Housing Finance Corporation bond issue.
9 Two bond issues requesting approval of fiscal
10 determination, 8.6 million, 3.3 million, the
11 Mystic Pointe II Apartments Project, also in
12 Orange County.
13 COMPTROLLER MILLIGAN: Move Item 3, and
14 note that they are both competitive.
15 GOVERNOR BUSH: I second it.
16 Moved and seconded.
17 Without objection, it's approved.
18 MR. SCHOW: The fourth agenda item was
19 withdrawn by the requester. That was to be an
20 interest rate exception. Interest rates went
21 down. They don't need the exception, so they
22 withdrew it.
23 GOVERNOR BUSH: Okay.
24 MR. SCHOW: And finally, a report submitted
25 for information only is our Fund Activity
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May 23, 2000
1 Analysis Reports for the month of March.
2 GOVERNOR BUSH: Thank you very much.
3 COMPTROLLER MILLIGAN: I note, Governor,
4 that they are also assuming responsibility for
5 the Defined Contribution Program.
6 GOVERNOR BUSH: Absolutely.
7 I'm not sure everybody realizes it. But
8 not only are we the largest -- one of the
9 largest pension funds in the world, but we're
10 probably the largest pension fund to offer
11 State employees the option of having a defined
12 contribution option, instead of just a defined
13 benefit where you work for X number of years,
14 you get vested, and you have a retirement at a
15 fixed amount.
16 We're also going to offer, within very
17 strictly defined parameters with lots of
18 education, the option of a 401-K type
19 alternative for State workers.
20 And given the current debate in Washington,
21 and in the presidential campaign, I might add,
22 about these -- who should be making decisions
23 for people's retirement, it is fairly timely
24 that the Legislature did pass this. And over
25 the next 18 months, there will be lots of
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May 23, 2000
1 education for State workers.
2 We have 133,000 State workers, most of whom
3 will be allowed to make this choice. So
4 there's -- there'll be a lot of -- a lot of
5 activity at the State Board of Administration,
6 that's for sure.
7 MR. SCHOW: Yes, sir.
8 GOVERNOR BUSH: Thank you.
9 (The State Board of Administration Agenda
10 was concluded.)
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1 GOVERNOR BUSH: Department of
2 Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles.
3 Fred, how are you?
4 MR. DICKINSON: Good morning, Governor.
5 Fine, thank you.
6 My name's Fred Dickinson. I'm the
7 Executive Director of the Department of Highway
8 Safety and Motor Vehicles.
9 This is my Board of Directors. They sit
10 every two weeks. And that's who I serve at the
11 pleasure of. But we all serve at the pleasure
12 of you, the people, and that's why we're here
13 today.
14 A stroke of genius to -- to bring the
15 government home. And -- and in my line of
16 work, which is the Department of Highway Safety
17 and Motor Vehicles, we couldn't do it without
18 your local officials. Barbara Ford-Coates,
19 your local Tax Collector, works as our agent,
20 as well as some other agencies that are here
21 today.
22 And, Governor, if I may, I'd like to just
23 say thanks to Barbara Ford-Coates. She is the
24 incoming President of the Tax Collector
25 Association, and the Chairman of the
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1 prestigious DMV Committee this year.
2 So, Barbara --
3 Our Department has just under
4 5,000 employees. We have about 200 locations
5 statewide.
6 I'm kind of going to give you a day in the
7 life of. We've got 1771 authorized
8 law enforcement positions, which are your
9 Florida Highway Patrol.
10 We unfortunately sustain about nine crash
11 fatalities each day here in Florida. And that
12 compares with about three handguns,
13 Commissioner, I think each day. So you can see
14 there's a substantial issue there.
15 If a common carrier were -- were having
16 that many fatalities; i.e., your airlines or
17 your buses, or something like that, we'd --
18 we'd declare it a catastrophe.
19 Three of those nine are alcohol related.
20 We have gone down from about six in nine and --
21 about 13 years ago, to three in nine this year.
22 So we're really having an impact on alcohol
23 related fatalities on our highways, and --
24 and -- and we can -- we can make a difference.
25 We weren't successful in our seat belt law
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1 this year, but we're still trying to get more
2 people to buckle up. That's about the best
3 thing we can do to save lives.
4 We collect about 5.7 million in revenue
5 each day; we patrol almost 150,000 miles each
6 day; we issue about 75,000 vehicle
7 registrations, through our tax collectors.
8 Incidentally, we are working with the
9 tax collectors to provide -- they already
10 provide you a mail in-service. But you're
11 going to also have an Internet renewal option
12 for both the driver license and the tags, which
13 I know the Governor's very interested in,
14 within the next, I hope, six to eight weeks.
15 We've already got the driver license being
16 tested. And the motor vehicle side should be
17 forthcoming soon.
18 We issue about 13,350 plates a day.
19 Those -- I -- I might add, we don't have any
20 new plates. That's the first new plate we've
21 had this year, Governor, that -- and it'll be
22 the last one, because the Legislature didn't --
23 didn't have any this year.
24 COMMISSIONER CRAWFORD: All right.
25 MR. DICKINSON: We have -- we do
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1 20,000 emissions tests --
2 GOVERNOR BUSH: What are you clapping for?
3 MR. DICKINSON: We do 20,000 emissions
4 tests. But I think that's only good for
5 another couple of months, depending on what's
6 signed later. So -- to be -- to be debated, I
7 just found out.
8 We have about 30,000 driver license
9 customers come in each day. And
10 Barbara Ford-Coates also is one of the
11 19 tax collectors statewide that provides
12 driver license services here to her public here
13 in Sarasota County.
14 We dispose of about 16,000 court cases a
15 day, issue about 2100 citations, and have about
16 300 court hearings.
17 The theme of our -- of our Cabinet --
18 Capital for a Day here was volunteerism. And I
19 thought I'd just point out the Florida Highway
20 Patrol Auxiliary, which is about 400 strong,
21 does about 200,000 hours of volunteer work a
22 year.
23 And I was hoping that we -- our Major from
24 the area, Major Ron Getman, was here last night
25 with us. I was hoping he was going to be here
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1 today. But we couldn't do it. That's about
2 100 plus authorized positions for the Patrol.
3 And these are folks that give of their time
4 freely. And they are sworn -- well, they're --
5 they're trained at a -- at a lower level than
6 our sworn personnel, but they do carry
7 handguns, and we issue them uniforms. And the
8 Governor's been very supportive, and the
9 Cabinet.
10 And this year we have a little extra money
11 for them, so we're going to try to buy them
12 more equipment. But they're very helpful, not
13 only when we have our disasters, but when we
14 have those all-important football games around
15 the state.
16 I would like to say thanks to our
17 volunteers for our Department. We also have
18 about 100 driver license employees that give us
19 about 10,000 hours a year. So that's very
20 helpful.
21 GOVERNOR BUSH: Fred, can you also just
22 mention briefly what the Legislature did as it
23 related to the paying sworn officers of the --
24 of the Department.
25 MR. DICKINSON: Yes, sir.
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1 As a matter of fact, for two years now,
2 we've had support -- we've always had great
3 support from the Governor and Cabinet, but this
4 Governor has been particularly interested in --
5 in law enforcement.
6 And last year we were fortunate enough to
7 get some added positions. And hopefully, we
8 can fill those positions soon. We've got some
9 big training classes going on.
10 But this year, we're fortunate enough --
11 not only the pension that the Governor
12 mentioned earlier -- there were a number of
13 years, from I think '78 to '92, '93, where your
14 statewide law enforcement and your county
15 officers were -- didn't get the 3 percent
16 contribution rate. It bumped back to
17 2 percent.
18 And this year, the -- the Legislature, in
19 their infinite wisdom, went ahead and filled
20 that hole in it. So any of your
21 law enforcement personnel who may have been
22 sworn law enforcement at that time, and are
23 still sworn law enforcement, will be
24 participating in that 3 percent bump in their
25 pension.
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1 In addition, the statewide law enforcement
2 officers also will enjoy a -- about an
3 8 percent increase in their pay this year. And
4 that's the first substantial pay increase I
5 think we've had in about eight -- eight years.
6 So, Governor and Cabinet, thank you for
7 your support. I know y'all always have. And
8 it's a small way we can tell the -- the men and
9 women of law enforcement who really do an
10 outstanding job in this state.
11 And they're -- I can tell you,
12 Commissioner Moore will be up earl-- later, and
13 he can probably give you more specific details.
14 But we don't have near the law enforcement
15 personnel per population in our state that
16 other states enjoy. And I think you know,
17 with -- you know, 44, 50 million people coming
18 in each year, the natural -- natural disasters
19 that we unfortunately have occur to us, we can
20 use all the law enforcement we get.
21 So it's a help to have the Super Sleuths,
22 it's a help to have the teachers in our
23 communities. The law enforcement personnel,
24 the DARE program, where we put law enforcement
25 in our schools, has been a tremendous help.
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1 But the Sheriffs, the police, everybody's
2 to be commended. And it's nice that we're able
3 to give our law enforcement a nice pay raise,
4 Governor.
5 I hope -- hope it continues.
6 GOVERNOR BUSH: Thank you.
7 MR. DICKINSON: Thank you.
8 GOVERNOR BUSH: No, thank you.
9 Item 1.
10 MR. DICKINSON: Item 1. This is our
11 original minutes. Thankfully, we have our --
12 our official court reporter with us.
13 GOVERNOR BUSH: Yeah.
14 COMPTROLLER MILLIGAN: Yeah.
15 MR. DICKINSON: I did have to pay for her
16 dinner last night, I wanted to tell you that,
17 Governor. But --
18 COMMISSIONER GALLAGHER: She deserved it.
19 MR. DICKINSON: -- she did very well.
20 COMMISSIONER GALLAGHER: Motion on Item 1,
21 minutes; and the Item 2 minutes from
22 March 28th.
23 SECRETARY HARRIS: Second.
24 COMMISSIONER CRAWFORD: Second.
25 GOVERNOR BUSH: Moved and seconded.
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1 Without objection, it's approved.
2 Item 3.
3 MR. DICKINSON: Item 3 is our quarterly
4 report.
5 I kind of went through basically what our
6 quarterly report shows. We handle a lot of
7 customers. The volunteer efforts seem to be --
8 volunteer surveys seem to show that we're
9 doing -- doing our job. We're up about
10 7 percent on our alcohol related DUI
11 enforcement, our DUI arrests over the same
12 quarter last year. So there's some very --
13 very good positives to -- to be pointed out
14 here.
15 GOVERNOR BUSH: Fred, can you mention just
16 briefly the organ donation effort? Since
17 you're on television, maybe we could recruit a
18 few?
19 MR. DICKINSON: Yes, sir.
20 About 30 percent of you, and I am one, are
21 organ donors --
22 COMMISSIONER GALLAGHER: Two.
23 MR. DICKINSON: -- and it appears on your
24 driver's license.
25 And what this will do is, God forbid the
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1 situation should arise, but if you were ever in
2 a situation where law enforcement has to notify
3 somebody, your next of kin, you can register to
4 be an organ donor in Florida. And that will
5 alert the hospital personnel that you may want
6 to help with your organs to -- to some needy
7 person.
8 We -- we typically do 20 percent -- I think
9 we did 75,000 last quarter of our people come
10 in to register organ donor. You can do it
11 on-line through your driver license.
12 You will always -- the -- the next of kin
13 will always be notified before anything
14 happens. But it's a -- it's a great program,
15 and it's through your -- I guess soon to be
16 Department -- Healthcare is really running the
17 program, but we're the most visible arm.
18 If you consider Florida as a hotel, we're
19 the registration desk. And we affect probably
20 more families than any other agency.
21 So this is our opportunity to say, people,
22 if you want to really do something, you want to
23 provide a life for somebody who may have a -- a
24 shortened time, this is your opportunity.
25 And I would encourage you not only to visit
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1 our office, but visit our website, and get all
2 the information you can on it.
3 COMMISSIONER GALLAGHER: If I could,
4 Governor.
5 On the -- on your report, I think it might
6 be worthwhile to point out that over the
7 765 highway deaths that were recorded, 224 were
8 alcohol related, which is 29 percent.
9 And so that's a -- that's a problem we have
10 on our highways. And I think it's important to
11 let people know that they're -- alcohol is
12 causing people's death on the highway.
13 (Commissioner Crawford exited the room.)
14 MR. DICKINSON: Governor, if I may, I --
15 GOVERNOR BUSH: I believe --
16 MR. DICKINSON: -- I've pointed out earlier
17 that we have driven that rate about in half
18 over the last 10, 15 years.
19 We're making a big impact. There are a
20 number of groups to be commended: The MADD
21 type organizations, the support groups, the
22 law enforcement, your judiciary, your
23 Legislature. Every -- we've got the laws in
24 place to deal with this.
25 What we're finding out is, if -- if we can
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1 get people into treatment, let them know how
2 alcohol affects them. I mean, it's a very
3 slight bit of alcohol sometimes can have a
4 major impact in your reflex, and -- and some
5 other things.
6 And once the education effort is out there,
7 we're -- we're seeing a tremendous decline in
8 the alcohol related fatalities.
9 Where I think we are really making an
10 impact is, the earlier we can get to our
11 children with the message, we're seeing it in
12 seat belts, we're seeing it now in alcohol
13 related -- once we get that message across to
14 them, they learn that --
15 (Secretary Harris exited the room, and
16 Commissioner Crawford entered the room.)
17 MR. DICKINSON: -- at an early age, and
18 they generally carry it with them.
19 We also find out that those students that
20 are in the cars, the -- the parents are less
21 likely to be involved in some of the activities
22 that we're trying to prohibit.
23 So we're having a -- we're having a
24 substantial impact. And it's -- it's
25 comforting -- this is not the time to let up.
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1 We've got them on the run. And we need to --
2 we need to work with them.
3 You were -- there are a number of laws this
4 year dealing with -- with our DUI problem. And
5 as a matter of fact, the Governor's going down
6 to sign the bill in two weeks in Miami of the
7 trooper that was --
8 GOVERNOR BUSH: Trooper Smith.
9 MR. DICKINSON: -- who was a trooper that
10 was killed. One of our top DUI enforcement
11 troopers in Miami, a former pro baseball
12 pitcher.
13 And he was in the emergency lane writing up
14 a ticket, and a person came up over a rise
15 inebriated, plowed into his car, and -- and he
16 never even got out of the car. So that's how
17 bad a fire it was.
18 But the Legislature passed a law this year
19 that will make it tougher for drunks to get out
20 of jail once they are charged. And we -- the
21 Legislature named it the Trooper Smith Act.
22 So the Governor's going to Miami in a
23 couple of weeks to sign that bill, and we're
24 very pleased.
25 COMMISSIONER GALLAGHER: Governor, I'll
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1 move the quarterly report.
2 COMPTROLLER MILLIGAN: Second.
3 GOVERNOR BUSH: Moved and seconded.
4 Without objection, it's approved.
5 Thank you, Fred.
6 MR. DICKINSON: Thank you, Governor.
7 (The Department of Highway Safety and Motor
8 Vehicles Agenda was concluded.)
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1 GOVERNOR BUSH: Florida Department of
2 Law Enforcement.
3 Commissioner Moore.
4 COMMISSIONER GALLAGHER: Motion on the
5 minutes.
6 ATTORNEY GENERAL BUTTERWORTH: Second.
7 GOVERNOR BUSH: Is there a second?
8 COMMISSIONER GALLAGHER: Don't you want
9 to --
10 ATTORNEY GENERAL BUTTERWORTH: Second.
11 GOVERNOR BUSH: Moved and seconded.
12 Without objection, it's approved.
13 We just did Item 1.
14 Can you give us --
15 MR. MOORE: Thank you for that --
16 GOVERNOR BUSH: -- a little summary of --
17 MR. MOORE: -- Governor.
18 GOVERNOR BUSH: Any time.
19 MR. MOORE: As the Cabinet knows, most
20 law enforcement in the state of Florida is
21 local, as it should be. It's done by our
22 400 chiefs of police and 67 Sheriffs across our
23 great state, and they do a tremendous job.
24 People like Chief John Lewis there, who are
25 responsible for a lot of good things that's
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1 happening in public safety in our state.
2 Sheriff Geoff Monge is here locally, Prosecutor
3 Earl Moreland, they all do a great job. And
4 you ought to be proud of that.
5 Good things are happening here, and good
6 things are happening in our state. About a
7 month ago, the Governor joined us, and we
8 released the -- the crime data for calendar
9 year 1998 and '99. And we had the lowest crime
10 rate we've had in Florida in 27 years. The
11 lowest crime rate we've had in Florida in
12 27 years.
13 COMMISSIONER GALLAGHER: With a lot more --
14 MR. MOORE: That's a good thing.
15 COMMISSIONER GALLAGHER: With a -- with a
16 lot more people.
17 MR. MOORE: It was the first time in over
18 13 years that we had less than a million crimes
19 reported to us by local law enforcement in
20 us -- in -- in our state.
21 And there's reason to be optimistic now.
22 In fact, I'm more optimistic now than -- than
23 I've ever been that we've got some, some good
24 reason to be optimistic.
25 A convict today'll serve 85 percent of his
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1 or her sentence upon conviction, as compared to
2 roughly 20 percent back in the late '80s and
3 early '90s. That's making a difference. And
4 where they need to be. They're not in your
5 communities robbing and raping and committing
6 crime.
7 We've got reason to be optimistic in the
8 leadership that we've got, too. Not only here
9 in the Governor and the Cabinet, but in -- our
10 legislative leadership has been strong.
11 They're not ashamed to be supporters of public
12 safety and law enforcement, because that's what
13 you said you want day in and day out. And
14 that's making a difference.
15 But we have to be realistic, too, along
16 with that optimism. Eight hundred fifty
17 thousand victims are still far too many. So
18 we've got a lot to do.
19 Governor, as you've said repeatedly, we've
20 got to continue to keep our eye on the prize.
21 On behalf of all of Florida's 40,000 plus State
22 and local law enforcement officers, I
23 thank you, Governor, for your leadership; you,
24 too, General Milligan, on the special risk
25 buy-back. That was the right thing to do. And
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DEPARTMENT OF LAW ENFORCEMENT 28
May 23, 2000
1 it will make a difference.
2 And I thank you for your leadership on the
3 pay package, too, not only for the men and
4 women in the Department of Law Enforcement, but
5 for -- for all State law enforcement in our
6 state.
7 As I said, most local -- most
8 law enforcement's local. The best we can do in
9 the Department of Law Enforcement is to provide
10 things, tools, information, forensics,
11 investigative capability that helps increase
12 the solvability of crimes.
13 Men and women like Dale that you met
14 earlier, and -- and Agent Griffin represent
15 about 1800 men and women that we have in the
16 Department of Law Enforcement. We have an
17 annual appropriation of a little less than
18 170 million dollars. And 92 percent of that
19 goes back directly to support local
20 law enforcement and local criminal justice in
21 this State.
22 We have the best information systems and
23 technology in the business in the country. And
24 that's getting better, thanks to
25 Governor Bush's strong leadership of the -- in
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DEPARTMENT OF LAW ENFORCEMENT 29
May 23, 2000
1 the area of technology.
2 We have a -- a communications system that
3 handles 40 million messages plus a month
4 amongst and between Florida's law enforcement
5 community. That same information system brings
6 information to you as well.
7 You can log in on your computer to our
8 website, and you can find by your zip code any
9 sexual predators or sexual offenders that might
10 live in your neighborhood.
11 Here in just a matter of weeks, you'll be
12 able to get the public version of the criminal
13 history record of -- of some 3 million people
14 that are convicted and have records on file in
15 the Department of Law Enforcement. You can get
16 that over the Internet to do the things we've
17 always asked you, the public, to do, take a
18 bigger role in helping provide for your own
19 public safety.
20 Governor, your support this year, and your
21 launching of -- of the legislation to add
22 burglary to our DNA database, and the -- the
23 two million plus dollars that we needed to do
24 that will make even a bigger difference in what
25 is the already the best DNA database in the
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May 23, 2000
1 country.
2 We'll add 40,000 burglars out of that
3 database, their blood, to that database to be
4 searched against any other crimes that happen
5 across our state.
6 We also in the agency established the
7 employment and -- and training standards for
8 all of Florida's police, for all of Florida's
9 correctional officers, and correctional
10 probation officers. We do that through our
11 Standards and Training Commission. And not
12 only do we establish the standards through that
13 Commission -- our Commission is made up of some
14 designates of the Governor and the Cabinet, and
15 some people appointed by the Governor -- but we
16 also police the police, if you will. Less than
17 1 percent of the police officers in our state
18 ever run afoul of -- of the conditions and the
19 requirements of law to uphold good moral
20 character. And I'm proud of that.
21 But when they do, they reflect very
22 negatively on -- on the entire population of
23 police in our state. And our Commission takes
24 strong action, and actually decertifies those
25 men and women when they violate those rules and
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DEPARTMENT OF LAW ENFORCEMENT 31
May 23, 2000
1 those regulations, and they're out of the
2 business in the state of Florida.
3 Governor, with your strong leadership, and
4 the leadership and support of the Cabinet, the
5 Department plays a very vital role in helping
6 people, local criminal justice officials, add
7 for -- provide for public safety in their
8 communities and in our state.
9 And I commend them for a job well done at
10 the local level.
11 COMMISSIONER GALLAGHER: Governor, I'll
12 move Item 2, the report.
13 GOVERNOR BUSH: Do you have any other
14 comments on Item 2, or is that --
15 MR. MOORE: That summarizes it pretty
16 much --
17 GOVERNOR BUSH: Very good.
18 MR. MOORE: We're on the money.
19 COMPTROLLER MILLIGAN: Second.
20 GOVERNOR BUSH: Is there a second?
21 Moved and seconded. Without objection,
22 it's approved.
23 Thank you, Tim.
24 MR. MOORE: Thank you, Governor.
25 (The Florida Department of Law Enforcement
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DEPARTMENT OF LAW ENFORCEMENT 32
May 23, 2000
1 Agenda was concluded.)
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DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE 33
May 23, 2000
1 GOVERNOR BUSH: Department of Revenue.
2 COMMISSIONER GALLAGHER: Motion on minutes.
3 GOVERNOR BUSH: Our favorite department in
4 State government.
5 COMMISSIONER GALLAGHER: Motion on minutes.
6 DR. ZINGALE: They -- they're a tough act
7 to follow. When a you're Department of
8 Revenue, and you sit here, and you've got to
9 look out and say, you know, we're here to help.
10 We are.
11 GOVERNOR BUSH: Item 1 has been moved and
12 seconded.
13 Without objection.
14 COMMISSIONER GALLAGHER: Do we have --
15 GOVERNOR BUSH: Dr. Jim --
16 Dr. Jim Zingale's been the -- been a
17 long-standing employee of the Department.
18 But how long have you been on the job now?
19 DR. ZINGALE: Five months.
20 GOVERNOR BUSH: Five months. So --
21 DR. ZINGALE: And it's exciting.
22 GOVERNOR BUSH: -- if you've ever had a
23 complaint about the Department of Revenue, you
24 can't blame him, unless it's in the last
25 five months. That's why -- he wanted me to
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DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE 34
May 23, 2000
1 make sure that --
2 But the Department -- I -- I hope that
3 you'll talk a little bit about your total
4 quality management systems and the fact that
5 while it may sound oxymoronic, they are here to
6 help.
7 And there are a lot of whole -- there are a
8 whole lot of people that are waiting for
9 child support payments, that when it was in the
10 old HRS and then the Department of Children and
11 Families are very happy that we moved the
12 Department -- moved the child support payments,
13 which are a huge volume of business, sadly in
14 our state, they moved it to the
15 Department of Revenue.
16 So while I don't think I would ever have
17 admitted this publicly --
18 (Commissioner Crawford exited the room.)
19 GOVERNOR BUSH: -- until I got to be
20 privileged to serve as Governor, I can now
21 proudly say that I think that we have an
22 excellent Department of Revenue, and they do --
23 they do serve as best they can.
24 You're on your own now, Zingale.
25 DR. ZINGALE: Well, to follow up, I mean,
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DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE 35
May 23, 2000
1 yeah, you -- you sit here, and -- and our
2 session just ended, and -- and with the
3 Governor's leadership, we -- we do want to
4 announce some of the tax relief proposal.
5 We do get to implement all of the tax
6 relief provisions. The second --
7 GOVERNOR BUSH: I think --
8 DR. ZINGALE: -- phase of the intangible
9 tax relief bill or -- or repeal is out there.
10 We're getting ready not only to implement that,
11 but to prepare for the phase-out in the last
12 phase coming up, probably next session, of
13 intangible tax. We've got another tax--
14 tax-free holiday.
15 GOVERNOR BUSH: Colleen.
16 DR. ZINGALE: We've got another tax-free
17 holiday coming up this summer.
18 There's been major legislation that deals
19 with telecommunication simplification to make
20 that tax easier to understand. And that
21 administrative burden has been shifted from the
22 counties --
23 (Secretary Harris entered the room.)
24 DR. ZINGALE: -- back up to the State.
25 Those that deal in religious, charitable,
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DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE 36
May 23, 2000
1 or educational organizations, a major piece of
2 legislation was passed to deal with
3 clarification, simplification. We're able to
4 extend the Federal exemption to all of those
5 institutions in Florida. And that was a
6 provision the Governor and Cabinet adopted in
7 the fall as part of our package.
8 So we're out there trying to help. I've
9 got other examples.
10 In our -- in our mission to our association
11 and relationship with cities, counties, and
12 millage levying authorities, we do have the
13 primary role of not only to regulate, to
14 provide assistance.
15 About five weeks ago -- Ms. Coates could
16 certainly attest to it -- we had a catastrophe
17 in the tax collecting business. They had a
18 vendor in 32 tax collector's offices that
19 provided all of their collection, distribution,
20 file bankruptcy, laid off all the staff.
21 Soon to cause a major disruption in the
22 flow of information that supports I hate to
23 tell you how many local government activities.
24 We helped Ms. Coates and Chris Hughes and
25 Joe Mellichamp from General Butterworth's
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DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE 37
May 23, 2000
1 staff, got together with staffs of our staffs,
2 and we went out to Texas. We entered the
3 bankruptcy court, without a lot of fanfare,
4 without a lot of publicity.
5 We were able to succeed in getting hold of
6 the judge, convincing them of our public
7 interest, got a third party company to take
8 over the business, extend the contracts. And a
9 great partnership was forged, and a lot of
10 friendships made.
11 But we were able to successfully not create
12 a catastrophe, and hardly anybody even knew it
13 happened, and a lot of thanks to Joe. He was
14 of great assistance in doing that.
15 Let's hear it for that kind of teamwork,
16 too.
17 Got another small story, before we give you
18 the quick highlights. Part of our mission is
19 to reduce the burden on the public. To do
20 that, we created a team, oh, about 18 months
21 ago, our Estate Tax Team, a program that had
22 caused long delays in -- in the cleaning up of
23 estates, so you could file for and get credit
24 for your Federal and estate tax. Slowed down a
25 lot of the closing out of that account.
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DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE 38
May 23, 2000
1 So it was taking us about five to
2 six months when someone came to us with one of
3 the certificates to clean it up. Our team sat
4 down, reduced the burden on those taxpayers,
5 took 50,000 of them, went in front of the
6 Florida Legislature, and said we're not even
7 filing.
8 Was able to get a piece of legislation
9 passed to not even have to have them go
10 through. They reduced the time it took to file
11 down to two weeks, wrote that up, submitted it
12 to U.S.A. Today that had a national quality cup
13 in terms of team performance. Florida
14 Department of Revenue team was the national
15 winner of the government category about
16 three weeks ago.
17 Went to Washington, recognized as the
18 quality team in the country in government, line
19 employees using quality principles, practice in
20 the private sector. Very proud of the support
21 that they did. Excellent activity.
22 We are the Department of Revenue though.
23 We do collect 16.8 billion dollars a year. We
24 do it in a very modern way. We have the finest
25 remittance processing site in the country.
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DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE 39
May 23, 2000
1 We have the capacity to process a
2 billion dollars a day. EFT, EDI Imaging
3 system. Over the next 14 months, we will be
4 putting in place the only integrated
5 registration system in the country that will
6 unify all 32 of the taxes by taxpayers, using
7 today's modern technology.
8 That's going to allow a taxpayer to come in
9 and register once, not 32 times across the
10 taxes; going to allow a consolidation of debt;
11 it's going to allow us to go in early and help
12 them when companies are perceived to be in
13 trouble, might need kind of assistance; enable
14 us to tailor taxpayer education to a single
15 firm so that they are less likely to make
16 errors.
17 We're out there trying. We're trying to
18 reduce the burden, we're trying to operate more
19 like a business, we're trying to become much
20 more efficient.
21 What we also do, this oversight and this
22 aid and assistance to all local governments:
23 Cities, counties, school districts to the
24 extent they levy millage.
25 We did create an advisory council, made up
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DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE 40
May 23, 2000
1 of 20 members. Had our first meeting last
2 week, was very successful, generated a lot of
3 interest from a broad-based community.
4 Identified things like role approval for
5 intensive look, guidelines. We're going to
6 take the issues of guidelines to that
7 advisory council before we come up to the
8 Cabinet, trim tangible personal property.
9 We've got a public forum to be able to
10 listen to the broad interests of the community,
11 the broad interests of government, try to
12 provide consensus before we take issues in
13 front of the Governor and the Cabinet.
14 But we do property tax, we do general tax,
15 we do child support. Child support's kind of a
16 special program to me. I had an employee tell
17 me, there's probably no finer job in State
18 government than to find children their fathers.
19 That's part of our job. We -- we find
20 them, we establish legal paternity. We
21 calculate and get an establishment order for
22 the amount of funds that are owed. And then we
23 hold fathers responsible for their payments.
24 We've had the program for about five years.
25 We've gone from one of the worst child support
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DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE 41
May 23, 2000
1 enforcement programs in the country, to
2 average. We expect to be the best in the
3 country in three years.
4 GOVERNOR BUSH: Why don't you describe our
5 volume a little bit, just to put it in
6 perspective about --
7 DR. ZINGALE: About eight hundred --
8 GOVERNOR BUSH: -- what kind of state we
9 live in.
10 DR. ZINGALE: Eight hundred and
11 thirty-seven thousand children in the state
12 that have to come to the Department of Revenue
13 for child support assistance. That's either to
14 establish the legal father, through a court
15 proceeding, or on the back end, to provide a
16 collection. Fairly simple program, legal
17 paternity, support order, dollar for the child.
18 Fairly difficult to do. Eight hundred and
19 thirty-seven thousand is a lot of families to
20 be dealing with.
21 I served on the Fatherhood Commission for a
22 number of years. On that Commission, I heard a
23 lot of testimony that would talk about how
24 important it is for a child to understand who
25 the father is, whether that father is a
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DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE 42
May 23, 2000
1 positive influence in their life, or a negative
2 influence in their life. Knowing who the
3 father is, having that to either serve as a
4 positive role model, or a role model to react
5 against is very critical to the success of a
6 child's --
7 GOVERNOR BUSH: Jim --
8 DR. ZINGALE: -- development.
9 GOVERNOR BUSH: -- Jim, how many children
10 are receiving, or should be receiving
11 child support in our state at any given time?
12 That may -- it may not be the same number,
13 but it --
14 DR. ZINGALE: Well, that's a little higher
15 number. These are 837,000 families. We've got
16 a little over a million children that need
17 assistance from the Department of Revenue.
18 That doesn't count all the families that are
19 out there paying support directly to each
20 other.
21 GOVERNOR BUSH: But just to put that in
22 perspec-- that's what I thought. I thought it
23 was about a million.
24 A million children do child support out of
25 2.2 million children that go to public schools.
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DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE 43
May 23, 2000
1 So you add private schools and the pre-K, it's
2 a third of all the children, more or less.
3 Just to put it in perspective.
4 And we -- we organize ourselves, we -- both
5 locally and State, to -- to deal with an issue
6 that government really is not equipped to deal
7 with, which is a -- an altered family structure
8 that has dramatically put pressures on
9 government.
10 I just wanted to bring that up. And I see
11 in the back Chris Card from the -- the YMCA,
12 the most innovative children's program probably
13 in our -- organization in our -- in our state,
14 deals with the increase in demand, whether it's
15 related to child care, or our child welfare
16 system, or our juvenile justice programs.
17 A lot of it relates to the fact that family
18 life now is dramatically different than it once
19 was. And I -- we don't -- people just don't
20 realize the scope to which it has been altered
21 over the last generation.
22 DR. ZINGALE: We did profiles in each of
23 the six front porch Florida communities in
24 terms of what proportion of those populations
25 were child support, either mother, father, or
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DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE 44
May 23, 2000
1 child.
2 We have been quietly working on getting
3 their child support enforcement up to full
4 speed. In some of these communities that
5 are -- that are poor, that's how they were
6 designated, we have as many as 60 to 70 percent
7 of the residents in those front porch Florida
8 communities as either a mother, a father, or a
9 child in child support.
10 GOVERNOR BUSH: Thank you.
11 DR. ZINGALE: Okay. Moving on to the
12 agenda. We've got the minutes approved,
13 Item 1.
14 Item 2 is a sequence of six rules.
15 Excuse me, but --
16 COMMISSIONER GALLAGHER: Motion on 2.
17 COMMISSIONER CRAWFORD: Second.
18 GOVERNOR BUSH: Moved and seconded.
19 Without objection, it's approved.
20 DR. ZINGALE: Thank you.
21 GOVERNOR BUSH: Thank you, Jim.
22 (The Department of Revenue Agenda was
23 concluded.)
24 * * *
25
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STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION 45
May 23, 2000
1 GOVERNOR BUSH: State Board of Education.
2 COMMISSIONER GALLAGHER: Motion on the
3 minutes from March 28th and April 11th
4 meetings.
5 COMMISSIONER CRAWFORD: Second.
6 GOVERNOR BUSH: Moved and seconded.
7 Without objection, it's approved.
8 Item 2.
9 MR. PIERSON: Item 2 is an amendment to
10 Rule 6A-5.066, and we request it be deferred to
11 June 13th.
12 COMMISSIONER GALLAGHER: Motion to defer to
13 June 13th.
14 COMMISSIONER CRAWFORD: Second.
15 GOVERNOR BUSH: There's a motion to defer,
16 and a second.
17 Without objection, it's approved.
18 MR. PIERSON: Item 3 are Florida School for
19 the Deaf and Blind repealed rules: 6D-1.006,
20 6D-1.007, 1.009, 1.010, 2.002, 2.003, and
21 6.1019 (sic).
22 COMMISSIONER GALLAGHER: Motion for repeal.
23 COMMISSIONER CRAWFORD: Second.
24 GOVERNOR BUSH: Moved and seconded.
25 Without objection, it's approved.
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STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION 46
May 23, 2000
1 Commissioner Gallagher, would you like to
2 talk a little bit about what the Board of
3 Education does, since it may be changing?
4 COMMISSIONER GALLAGHER: Sure, Governor.
5 I'd be glad to.
6 Right now we have an elected Commissioner
7 of Education. And that will last until the
8 year 2002, when, in fact, beginning
9 January 2003, the Commissioner will be
10 appointed. And the appointment will be made by
11 a new Board of Education that will be appointed
12 by the Governor.
13 Seven members of that appointed Board will
14 name a Commissioner. And then depending how
15 the Legislature leaves what's in place right
16 now -- which they just passed a new
17 governance -- underneath that Board and
18 Commissioner will be basically a Chancellor for
19 the University System; an Executive Director
20 person in charge of the Community College
21 system; a Chancellor for the K through 12
22 system; private college system also, which has
23 some regulatory area, will also have its own
24 board. And probably over a few years, the
25 partnership for pre-K students, early childhood
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STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION 47
May 23, 2000
1 will also come under the -- under the Board.
2 But today, prior to those governance
3 changes, the Commissioner basically sits on
4 about 30 different regulatory boards and
5 commissions that the Legislature has assigned.
6 But the three major ones are, of course,
7 this State Board of Education, which we, the
8 Cabinet members, make that up.
9 The Commissioner also sits on the
10 Board of Regents, which oversees the
11 ten universities; and the State Board of
12 Community Colleges, which is the 28
13 community colleges across the state. And they
14 oversee those.
15 We on the State Board approve all of the
16 rules for the community colleges, the
17 universities, and the K through 12 system as it
18 is now. And, of course, that will move over to
19 the appointed Board.
20 It's my job, of course, to advise and
21 counsel the State Board of Education on matters
22 dealing with education, and to recommend
23 actions and policies to be adopted by this
24 particular Board.
25 Within the Department of Education, we have
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STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION 48
May 23, 2000
1 various responsibility, and a variety of
2 responsibility, for 3,500 schools statewide, a
3 total student enrollment of over 2 million --
4 actually two million three hundred and
5 thirty-three thousand nine hundred and
6 fifty-eight.
7 And we handle such diverse issues as
8 teacher certification; curriculum and
9 assessment; we administer the Bright Futures
10 Scholarship Program; we handle student loans
11 for community college and university students,
12 both public and private; and we provide the
13 funding through which the local school
14 districts get the State money.
15 And if anybody has any -- if anybody'd like
16 information on Bright Future Scholarships, or
17 anything like that, at the Agency Fair, we're
18 going to have information available to the
19 local citizens on Bright Future Scholarships,
20 as well as student loans, and anything else
21 that our Department does.
22 GOVERNOR BUSH: Secretary Harris.
23 SECRETARY HARRIS: Yes.
24 Commissioner Gallagher, I had a quick
25 question that we had advised the Department
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STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION 49
May 23, 2000
1 of -- DOE -- Department of Education earlier.
2 We'd like to have an update, just as we're
3 very concerned, and since I'm from Sarasota, on
4 the Sarasota charter school district charter --
5 the plans, and then also kind of what the
6 status is of that whole approval process.
7 COMMISSIONER GALLAGHER: Well, we -- we
8 gave an extension on the time that the
9 districts -- the three charter districts chose
10 to apply. We extended the time for them to get
11 their final application in, which put us into
12 the legislative session.
13 So we got -- it was behind, and we got
14 behind on that. And so we are in the process
15 of having a full matrix put out of the
16 differences between the -- the different
17 applications.
18 And the Cabinet Aides have met, and they've
19 worked on some direction in regards to what
20 these charter district agreements should be.
21 And in first blush, I think -- I would say
22 that we have some expectations that districts
23 will basically have a contract with us to
24 produce some deliverables to us in regards to
25 student achievement when they ask for -- from
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May 23, 2000
1 us add-- additional -- or less regulation and
2 less involvement in what they do in -- on -- in
3 the particular districts.
4 It's -- there's some issues that I think
5 can be -- and will be worked out, and we're
6 going to be bringing those to the -- again, the
7 Cabinet Aides and to the Cabinet probably in
8 the next -- I think by the end -- what are
9 we --
10 GOVERNOR BUSH: The 26th?
11 COMMISSIONER GALLAGHER: -- end of -- end
12 of June meeting.
13 SECRETARY HARRIS: Okay. So this -- this
14 is the time line I -- I kind of understand: In
15 October they submitted the plans, they
16 resubmitted them in January to align with --
17 with what y'all were going to do I think on the
18 performance contracts.
19 Then in April, our -- our Cabinet Aides
20 met. And now at the end of this month, you're
21 going to have the new model performance
22 contracts that they're going to -- to work
23 through. I think that's correct.
24 My question really goes to -- I have a
25 question about this: I thought that at the
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May 23, 2000
1 Cabinet Aides meeting, that the Cabi-- that the
2 State Board of Education was going to review
3 these model performance contracts.
4 Is -- is that --
5 COMMISSIONER GALLAGHER: Well --
6 SECRETARY HARRIS: -- correct?
7 COMMISSIONER GALLAGHER: -- they're
8 certainly available to anybody that wants one.
9 I mean, we're not --
10 SECRETARY HARRIS: I mean, the -- the --
11 COMMISSIONER GALLAGHER: -- keeping --
12 SECRETARY HARRIS: -- the fin-- no. The
13 new one. The new one that you're coming up
14 with by the end of May.
15 COMMISSIONER GALLAGHER: The -- the reason
16 we're waiting till June is so everybody has an
17 opportunity to look through them and -- and --
18 and make any suggestions they have.
19 SECRETARY HARRIS: Well, this is just --
20 this is just the question I have. The -- on
21 the new issue, on the model performance
22 contract, at the last Cabinet Aides meeting,
23 and I -- and I could be wrong on this. This is
24 what I'm trying to figure out.
25 I think -- I thought that we were -- the
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STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION 52
May 23, 2000
1 State Board of Education was going to have the
2 opportunity to review the model performance
3 contract.
4 I -- my question goes to the point that if,
5 indeed, it's going to be ready by the end of
6 May, and then it's given to the three districts
7 to rewrite their plan, or to revise it
8 accordingly, then I -- then the Cabinet is
9 never going to -- the State Board of Education
10 will never have the opportunity to review the
11 model performance contract prior to these
12 revisions.
13 And that's okay, because I don't want to
14 hold up the plans. It's my understanding that
15 then we're going to approve it by the 26th,
16 based on these revisions; is that correct?
17 Will we have the chance --
18 COMMISSIONER GALLAGHER: Well, any --
19 SECRETARY HARRIS: -- to take a look
20 at them, or have any input before then?
21 COMMISSIONER GALLAGHER: Any -- absolutely.
22 Through your Cabinet Aides, you will have
23 access to the work in progress. And if you
24 have any recommended changes, we'll certainly
25 take those into consideration.
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STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION 53
May 23, 2000
1 SECRETARY HARRIS: And then in -- then
2 June 26th, we'll have the opportunity to vote.
3 Because I believe -- wasn't it that we're
4 supposed to begin implementation by July? I
5 know that there are a lot of -- the legislation
6 was written very broadly, so we're trying to --
7 to work with it so there are quality products.
8 But -- and -- but is it -- will we be
9 voting on these -- on the newly revised
10 performance con-- model performance contracts
11 with the three school districts in -- at the
12 end of June?
13 COMMISSIONER GALLAGHER: I hope so.
14 I mean, I can't guarantee that. I mean, if
15 they don't agree with what we think ought to
16 happen, or we don't agree with what they think
17 ought to happen, there could be stumbling
18 blocks.
19 But our goal is to -- to have them ready,
20 final approval at that meeting.
21 SECRETARY HARRIS: It's my understanding
22 from the beginning, we've been working to -- to
23 try to start with a July -- we're trying to get
24 to the point where we'll have the opportunity
25 to move forward in July if that's possible,
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1 right?
2 COMMISSIONER GALLAGHER: It'd be fine with
3 me. You know, the sooner the better once we
4 get it finalized.
5 SECRETARY HARRIS: Okay.
6 GOVERNOR BUSH: I'd like to just give an
7 opinion about this, because this actually
8 happened wandering around the halls of a -- of
9 a very fine elementary school in
10 Hillsborough County, where I challenged the
11 Superintendent of Hillsborough County who
12 correctly was complaining -- or at least did
13 what I normally hear from people from local
14 school districts about the burdensome nature of
15 the State.
16 And so I said, well, what rule do you want
17 waived in return for rising student
18 achievement? And that's really -- I know the
19 Commissioner's focus, and as the Board of
20 Education, I -- frankly, that's all -- all I
21 care about. A lot of the rules are a means to
22 achieve that.
23 And he said, well, give us the freedom to
24 do it.
25 And so we -- we passed a law that allowed
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1 for school districts to have a bottoms up
2 approach to try to come up with a plan if they
3 weren't doing it this way, how would we.
4 And to the credit of Sarasota, they took
5 this concept way beyond -- with all due respect
6 to Hillsborough and Volusia County --
7 I believe, way beyond where the other two
8 counties have taken it.
9 And it -- it -- one of the measures of
10 that, Katherine, I think, is the -- the
11 consternation that it brought to the community,
12 which means that it was changing things. And
13 that's a pretty good barometer.
14 If you -- the blood pressure goes up of a
15 community, it means that you're getting
16 someone's attention because it's different.
17 And we -- I think we need to make sure that
18 we have performance criteria. And we have them
19 in place with our grading system and the FCAT.
20 I mean, that's basically the -- the -- the
21 foundation for this.
22 But the more freedom I believe that we can
23 give local communities to ensure that there's
24 rising student achievement, the more we can be
25 supportive of that, I think the better off we
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1 are.
2 And I -- I -- I applaud the visionary
3 process that Sarasota went through. It really
4 was remarkable. The first draft of this, when
5 I read it -- and I'm not known for being very
6 timid about education issues, I don't think --
7 I said, wow.
8 This is exactly what -- if I closed my eyes
9 and dreamed about how school districts would
10 operate, they would shift power to schools,
11 they would reward teachers and principals when
12 there was rising student achievement, they
13 would -- they would really focus on a -- on --
14 on making sure that the first and most
15 important thing happened.
16 And so I'm confident that we'll be able to
17 get through this new -- new thing which we're
18 creating, a new rule, to allow this to happen.
19 And I think -- I wish Sarasota well. I'm
20 pretty excited about it.
21 COMMISSIONER GALLAGHER: Let me just
22 mention one thing that -- that we are working
23 on. And that is that we continue what this
24 State Board has done, and -- and what the
25 Legislature said is that basically that we
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1 don't make special grades or special exceptions
2 based on race, income, or any of those other
3 deals.
4 We have the same expectations for every
5 single student in our school system, no matter
6 from where they come. And we know they -- all
7 children can learn, and we know it's up to us
8 to see to it that it happens.
9 And so there has been some movement across
10 the state in different districts to have it set
11 up so that you would get a -- a different grade
12 be-- because of the background of the children,
13 because of the -- their socioeconomic
14 background, et cetera.
15 And that will not be part of an agreement
16 that -- that we're going to bring forward, I
17 can just tell you that. Because we've set the
18 standards for all students. And so we're going
19 to have to deal with that where, in fact,
20 there's been some -- some of that in -- in
21 these proposals.
22 SECRETARY HARRIS: Governor, I think
23 that -- that what's remarkable is the fact that
24 Sarasota did do such -- make -- create such a
25 challenging plan, and that with 150 people from
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1 the community, has really meted this out in a
2 very difficult, but challenging way, and has
3 challenged it.
4 And now you've gone from a lot of
5 consternation, to even the union approving it,
6 with over 81 percent, the newspaper supporting
7 it, the community behind it.
8 And I believe that it's come together in --
9 in a -- in a strong synthesis. And -- and also
10 I think that the integration of those
11 performance goals, the management plan, and
12 then certainly the autonomy plan, that that has
13 to be fully integrated so that that's
14 occurring.
15 But we just -- moving forward, we just
16 wanted to make sure that there was going to be
17 some kind of closure, or some type of true
18 opportunity to try to -- try to get there in
19 July.
20 COMMISSIONER GALLAGHER: We're there.
21 GOVERNOR BUSH: I'm -- I'm pretty excited
22 about this. I think it'll work out.
23 And half this crowd's already e-mailed me
24 at jeb@jeb.org. But if -- if you need any help
25 on this, you can -- the other half can write me
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1 as well.
2 This is -- this is important that we get
3 done before the start of the school year.
4 Thank you, Katherine.
5 Thank you, Commissioner.
6 (The State Board of Education Agenda was
7 concluded.)
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1 GOVERNOR BUSH: Board of Trustees of the
2 Internal Improvement Trust Fund.
3 COMMISSIONER GALLAGHER: Motion on the
4 minutes.
5 GOVERNOR BUSH: Secretary Struhs.
6 COMMISSIONER CRAWFORD: Second.
7 GOVERNOR BUSH: Item 1 has been moved and
8 seconded.
9 Without objection, it's approved.
10 MR. STRUHS: Do you want to hear --
11 GOVERNOR BUSH: David, why don't you
12 describe what this Board of Trustees of the
13 Internal Improvement Trust Fund is?
14 MR. STRUHS: Well, I'd like to do that.
15 Thank you, Governor, and members of the
16 Cabinet.
17 DEP is probably best known for --
18 GOVERNOR BUSH: What's DEP?
19 MR. STRUHS: -- Department of
20 Environmental Protection is probably best
21 known --
22 Just testing you, sir.
23 COMMISSIONER CRAWFORD: I don't think so.
24 MR. STRUHS: -- we're probably best known
25 for our regulatory programs, making sure we've
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1 got clean --
2 ATTORNEY GENERAL BUTTERWORTH: Point three
3 votes, and he's gone, Governor.
4 MR. STRUHS: -- air and clean water and
5 clean soil.
6 But one of the other functions that the
7 Department of Environmental Protection serves
8 is as staff to the Cabinet where we work on the
9 proprietary interests of the State.
10 The Cabinet sits not only as a -- a Board
11 of Education, but also as a Board of Trustees
12 where they hold all of the public lands in
13 trust for all Floridians.
14 This includes things like State forests,
15 which are managed by the Department of
16 Agriculture; and State parks, which are managed
17 by our Department. In fact, we've recently won
18 that national gold medal for the best State
19 park system in America.
20 And it also includes underwater, or
21 submerged lands, which are also held in trust
22 for -- for all Floridians.
23 So this Board, sitting as the Trustees, has
24 to make decisions every other week in terms of
25 what lands are purchased, which lands are
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1 surplused and sold, and which lands are leased.
2 And we are happy to serve in the capacity of
3 staff to the Cabinet for this purpose.
4 The -- the next item, in fact, is -- is a
5 good demonstration of it. We are recommending,
6 as staff, approval of an application to convey
7 a little over 1,000 square feet, more or less,
8 of a formerly filled parcel of what had been
9 sovereign submerged land.
10 We're recommending this for approval,
11 subject to the payment of $15,000. And this is
12 consistent with previous Board of Trustee
13 actions on these kinds of issues.
14 COMMISSIONER GALLAGHER: Motion, Item 2.
15 COMMISSIONER CRAWFORD: Second.
16 GOVERNOR BUSH: Moved and seconded.
17 Without objection, it's approved.
18 MR. STRUHS: Item Number 3, we're seeking
19 your approval for four different actions. One
20 is to authorize a ten-year sovereignty
21 submerged land lease for an existing commercial
22 docking facility. Then to authorize the
23 renovation and expansion of that facility.
24 Further to authorize the severance of about
25 185 cubic yards of material.
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1 And, finally, authorization for the
2 placement of 221 cubic yards of riprap.
3 The overall consideration for this is about
4 $48,000, most of which has already been paid by
5 the applicant, still subject to an initial
6 lease fee of $13,818.
7 COMMISSIONER GALLAGHER: Motion on 3.
8 COMMISSIONER CRAWFORD: Second.
9 ATTORNEY GENERAL BUTTERWORTH: Second.
10 GOVERNOR BUSH: Moved and seconded.
11 Without objection, it's approved.
12 MR. STRUHS: Item Number 4, we're
13 recommending approval of a request to issue a
14 perpetual nonexclusive easement containing
15 (sic) to 1.81 acres to a Mr. William Robey and
16 Marianne Robey for ingress and egress to an
17 inholding they have in the -- Santa Rosa
18 County.
19 COMMISSIONER GALLAGHER: Motion on 4.
20 COMMISSIONER CRAWFORD: Second.
21 GOVERNOR BUSH: Moved and seconded.
22 Without objection, it's approved.
23 MR. STRUHS: Item 5, we're seeking approval
24 for an option agreement to acquire 68.88 acres
25 within the South Savannah CARL Project from
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1 David and Patricia Childs. Recommending
2 approval.
3 COMMISSIONER GALLAGHER: Motion on 5.
4 COMMISSIONER CRAWFORD: Second.
5 GOVERNOR BUSH: Moved and seconded.
6 Without objection, it's approved.
7 Secretary Struhs, can you tell us what the
8 CARL program is?
9 MR. STRUHS: Yes.
10 It's -- Florida has a long running
11 tradition of being perhaps the -- the -- the
12 leading jurisdiction anywhere in the world.
13 Not just the leading state in the
14 United States, but any government anywhere in
15 the world in terms of dedicating resources to
16 the acquisition of concentration of lands.
17 And this is a program that was begun some
18 years back by Governor Martinez. And then a
19 year ago, with the Governor's good leadership,
20 was -- was --
21 GOVERNOR BUSH: It was before, wasn't it?
22 MR. STRUHS: -- continued and expanded for
23 another commitment.
24 GOVERNOR BUSH: I think the CARL program
25 was prior to Governor Martinez. But the
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1 Preservation 2000 was --
2 MR. STRUHS: Right. The Florida Forever --
3 GOVERNOR BUSH: Thought I'd throw that in.
4 Show that we're bipartisan. I believe that
5 was Governor Graham or Askew perhaps even.
6 It's been around a long while.
7 Excuse me?
8 MS. CASTILLE: It was Askew.
9 GOVERNOR BUSH: Askew.
10 Go ahead.
11 MR. STRUHS: We have an additional Item
12 Number 6, seeking approval for a purchase
13 agreement to acquire 118 acres within the
14 Spruce Creek CARL Project from the Atlantic
15 Center for the Arts. The price on that is
16 one million three hundred and ninety thousand
17 dollars.
18 COMMISSIONER GALLAGHER: Motion on 6.
19 COMMISSIONER CRAWFORD: Second.
20 GOVERNOR BUSH: Moved and seconded.
21 Without objection, it's approved.
22 MR. STRUHS: Finally --
23 GOVERNOR BUSH: Representative Kosmas is
24 here to -- thank you for crossing the state.
25 MS. KOSMAS: You're welcome.
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1 Thank you for approving the item.
2 GOVERNOR BUSH: Put a lot of hard work into
3 this.
4 MS. KOSMAS: Yes, sir.
5 GOVERNOR BUSH: I'm -- I wouldn't want to
6 meet your wrath if we didn't approve it.
7 No. I'm just joking.
8 SECRETARY HARRIS: And --
9 GOVERNOR BUSH: It's actually a very
10 creative way of dealing with a land purchase
11 arrangement. And we're striving to be a little
12 more creative about how we go about doing this.
13 So this is a good model.
14 MS. KOSMAS: Well, thank you very much.
15 SECRETARY HARRIS: And, Governor, we're
16 pleased with the -- with the input from the
17 Division of -- of Historic Resources. And the
18 historic aspects of this property we think can
19 be long-standing.
20 GOVERNOR BUSH: Thanks.
21 MR. STRUHS: Finally, Additional Item
22 Number 7, seeking approval for two things: One
23 is an approval of a 73-year sublease between
24 the Board of Regents on behalf of the Florida
25 Atlantic University and the Florida Atlantic
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1 University Foundation; and, secondly, an
2 approval of a 30-year ground lease between
3 Florida Atlantic University Foundation and a
4 private development company, Uncommon, Limited,
5 for 22 acres, approximately, on the Florida
6 Atlantic University campus.
7 COMMISSIONER GALLAGHER: Motion on 7.
8 COMMISSIONER CRAWFORD: Second.
9 GOVERNOR BUSH: Any discussion?
10 SECRETARY HARRIS: Not on 7.
11 GOVERNOR BUSH: This is an interesting --
12 COMMISSIONER GALLAGHER: It is.
13 GOVERNOR BUSH: -- issue.
14 General, you're okay with it?
15 COMPTROLLER MILLIGAN: Well, I -- I
16 struggled with it for awhile, Governor. But --
17 GOVERNOR BUSH: I can probably count on you
18 to struggle with some of these.
19 COMPTROLLER MILLIGAN: Yeah.
20 I did struggle with it, but I'm satisfied
21 that it's in the best interest of the public
22 service. So --
23 GOVERNOR BUSH: I'm going to --
24 COMMISSIONER GALLAGHER: Normally --
25 GOVERNOR BUSH: Go ahead.
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1 COMMISSIONER GALLAGHER: -- well -- well,
2 normally foundations have -- have been the
3 catalyst for student housing. They have been
4 the bond issuers and -- and handled the cash
5 flow for student housing at the universities on
6 or near the campuses.
7 And this is really the first time that
8 they've sort of gone into the retail space
9 rental business.
10 But it is certainly a -- a major need for
11 this campus. And -- and I think everybody wins
12 on it. So I'm glad that we're able to bring it
13 to you.
14 GOVERNOR BUSH: Well, I'm -- I'm just
15 concerned about -- this is something --
16 Secretary Seibert from the Department of
17 Community Affairs is here. And for the next
18 year, he's going to, along with some very
19 dedicated Floridians, spend some time
20 throughout the state trying to reorganize how
21 we manage our growth.
22 And one of the things, Steve, I hope we
23 look at is how -- why it is that State entities
24 are exempt from local land use plans. This is
25 a property that, had it gone through the local
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1 land use process, my guess, given Boca Raton's
2 ornery nature about development in general,
3 probably would not have passed.
4 And -- and here, this is a public entity
5 not for profit that competes with private
6 entities that have to go through that process.
7 There's some things that maybe we could sort
8 out.
9 But you're right, there is a -- a real need
10 for -- for the students to have a -- this type
11 of -- this type of use nearby.
12 So -- any other comments on --
13 I'll be supportive of it as well.
14 There's a motion and a second.
15 Without objection, it's approved.
16 MR. STRUHS: Thank you.
17 SECRETARY HARRIS: Governor --
18 GOVERNOR BUSH: Yes, Secretary.
19 SECRETARY HARRIS: Yes. Secretary Struhs,
20 I just wanted to mention that for several
21 months, the Department of State's been
22 analyzing the implications of the legislation
23 that would transfer the museum's management
24 from the Department of State to Florida State
25 University.
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1 So what we've done, we have in recent
2 weeks, worked with the Division Director of
3 the -- of the Division of State Lands,
4 Eva Armstrong, to look and see how we could
5 construct a lease with the Board of Trustees
6 of -- of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund so
7 that there would be a direct responsibility
8 back to us, rather than going under -- having
9 the Ringling go under the 99 year lease from
10 Florida State.
11 So we've been working together with the
12 Department of Environmental Protection. And I
13 assume you'll be bringing that back to us at a
14 future agenda meeting.
15 MR. STRUHS: Yes, ma'am. And -- and we
16 very much appreciate your leadership and
17 spending some personal time and attention to
18 ensure a smooth transition. So thank you.
19 SECRETARY HARRIS: Well, we just -- we
20 believe that this asset is significant enough,
21 a half a billion dollar asset, and unique
22 enough, that it merits the special attention of
23 this Board of Trustees as well.
24 So we appreciate your -- your efforts.
25 Thank you very much.
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1 GOVERNOR BUSH: That's subject to me
2 signing the law, right?
3 SECRETARY HARRIS: Yes, sir.
4 GOVERNOR BUSH: Okay. Just checking.
5 Thank you, David.
6 Thank you all very much for allowing us to
7 come to your beautiful community.
8 (The Board of Trustees of the Internal
9 Improvement Trust Fund Agenda was concluded.)
10 * * *
11 (The Cabinet meeting was concluded at
12 11:03 a.m.)
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1 CERTIFICATE OF REPORTER
2
3
4
5 STATE OF FLORIDA:
6 COUNTY OF LEON:
7 I, LAURIE L. GILBERT, do hereby certify that
8 the foregoing proceedings were taken before me at the
9 time and place therein designated; that my shorthand
10 notes were thereafter translated; and the foregoing
11 pages numbered 1 through 71 are a true and correct
12 record of the aforesaid proceedings.
13 I FURTHER CERTIFY that I am not a relative,
14 employee, attorney or counsel of any of the parties,
15 nor relative or employee of such attorney or counsel,
16 or financially interested in the foregoing action.
17 DATED THIS 1ST day of JUNE, 2000.
18
19
20 LAURIE L. GILBERT, RPR, CCR, CRR, RMR
100 Salem Court
21 Tallahassee, Florida 32301
850/878-2221
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