Article Courtesy of The Miami Herald
By Marc Caputo and Steve Bousquet
Published May 20, 2014The reasons for the
cancellation are unclear, but people familiar with the decision said the
group felt nervous about the political ramifications of upsetting Gov.
Rick Scott at its spring general membership meeting.
The Florida Council of 100, a politically astute
group of top business leaders, abruptly blocked a speech Thursday by
Charlie Crist scheduled shortly after an address by Gov. Rick Scott, the
Democrat’s successor and likely opponent in November.
The Republican-leaning group had invited Crist weeks ago to address its
spring meeting at the Ritz-Carlton Orlando, and offered 30 minutes of
speaking time.
On Tuesday, it withdrew the
invitation, but Crist showed up anyway and listened to
Scott’s talk. He then called a press conference and
basked in the free publicity.
“It’s silly, childish and, frankly, rude,” said Crist.
“It’s galactically stupid.”
The council gave no explanation for silencing Crist, who
as a former governor is a lifetime member of the
council. Two council leaders, chief executive Susan
Pareigis and chairman Steve Halverson, did not respond
to phone and text messages and emails.
Crist said Halverson told him Wednesday, “I owe you an
apology. I was involved in that,” and that the reason
was “we didn’t want it to be political.”
Halverson, a Jacksonville construction executive, has
personally given $3,000 to Scott’s reelection campaign
and $25,000 more to Let’s Get to Work, Scott’s political
committee. |
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Former Florida Republican Governor Charlie Crist, who is
currently the leading Democrat trying to unseat incumbent
Republican Gov. Rick Scott, greets people as he visits the Forum
Club of the Palm Beaches held in the Cohen Pavilion at the
Kravis Center on April 14, 2014 in West Palm Beach, Florida.
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The highly
public snub of Crist by Florida’s corporate leadership played directly
into his hands. He’s being vastly outspent by Scott in TV advertising
and he’s running as a populist “people’s governor” who sides with
individuals, not corporations that support Scott.
Ironically, Crist’s speech would have been largely ignored because
Council of 100 events are off-limits to reporters.
The speech that Crist was not allowed to give was an all-out attack on
Scott’s record and his integrity — “a bully with a $100 million
checkbook,” according to prepared remarks released by his campaign.
“We have a governor who leads by embracing the ideological fringes,
taking care of his friends, bullying his opponents, hiding from the
public and press and running from tough issues,” Crist’s text said.
The speech also included policy ideas, such as a high-speed rail system,
opening borders to Cuba and a program to encourage college students to
get graduate degrees in science and technology if they stay in Florida.
Scott’s breakfast speech was a familiar recitation of job growth, lower
unemployment, student learning gains and tax cuts. He made no mention of
Crist, according to details released by the governor’s office, other
than to repeat that the state is in far better shape now than when Crist
left office.
“We’ve come a long way in the last 3 1/2 years,” Scott said, according
to the text.
Afterward, a Scott aide distributed a flier to every table in the
ballroom entitled “Why Charlie Crist Hates Your Business.” The council
ordered the leaflets removed.
The Council of 100, created in the 1960s by Gov. Farris Bryant, calls
itself nonpartisan, but many members are Republicans and Scott
supporters.
Scott, who was promoting tourism figures at an event at Busch Gardens
after his Council of 100 speech, said: “You’ll see a great change and a
great difference between the two of us. Someone that talks a lot and
someone that gets things done.”
Asked whether he, his office or his campaign had anything to do with
Crist’s speech being canceled, Scott shook his head and said: “No.” He
also said he was not aware Crist had been taken off the program.
A few council members voiced their opposition to the snub. And state
Sen. Dwight Bullard, the leader of the legislative black caucus, and the
state House Democrats’ leader, Perry Thurston, wrote the council a
letter that accused it of bending to the “bullying of Governor Scott.”
They suggested the council was an all-white conservative front group.
“In the year 2014, not one of your 31 officers or directors is an
African-American. Your actions and your choices make it abundantly clear
whom you seek to represent,” the two South Florida Democrats wrote.
It’s customary for the council to invite former governors to its
meetings, but this is the first time the organization — and Florida —
has had a governor’s race that pits an incumbent against his
predecessor.
The Council of 100 Crist cancellation isn’t the first time that Scott
critics have encountered turbulence over free speech.
In March, Florida State University professor Diane Roberts, an
occasional Tampa Bay Times op-ed contributor and frequent Scott critic,
was uninvited from speaking at the state-run Mission San Luis. A state
worker, Jessica Kindrick, quit in protest and accused “Scott’s cronies”
at the Secretary of State’s office of censorship. The office later
reversed its decision and invited Roberts to speak.
Earlier this month, the Department of Environmental Protection removed
from its website pictures taken by outdoor photographer John Moran, a
critic of the agency and of Scott’s policies on Florida’s springs.
The Tallahassee Democrat obtained an agency email suggesting Moran’s
photographs were specifically targeted for removal, but a DEP
spokesperson said they were taken down to make way for a state park
photo contest.
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