New speaker of Florida House caught being ethically challenged
November 20, 2008 at 5:07 pm by Wayne GarciaRay Sansom is the incoming speaker of the Florida House of Representatives, a gig that pays $42,000 a 
year, and yesterday it was learned he just got another new job: the Northwest Florida State College hired him as vice president of development and planning. That paycheck? $110,000 annually.
He got that job, in addition to being speaker, cuz (as the Palm Beach Post reported)
Sansom helped push through a bill to give the school its state college desgination this year, according to the Northwest Florida Daily Herald. He attended the school when it was known as Okaloosa-Walton Junior College.
Today we learn that Sansom, a Republican from Destin (near where the GOP legislators are having a posh getaway this week) did even more for his alma mater:
House Speaker Ray Sansom got $200,000 into the current fiscal year budget to help Northwest Florida State College, his new employer, build a “leadership institute.”
In an interview today, Sansom confirmed his involvement in the appropriation, which caused a behind-the-scenes stir with the Rubio administration since it was not discovered until late in the process.
Of course, that had noooooooothing to do with his getting the gig:
But Sansom said his involvement ended there. “None of that has anything to do with me or how I’m paid,” he told The Buzz.
November 20th, 2008 at 5:22 pm
Why do you think the legislature seized control of the state university system and disbanded the board of regents? To improve the quality of education, right?
November 20th, 2008 at 5:25 pm
I really don’t want to be the one to defend this guy. I don’t know him from Adam. As much as I like to avoid being prejudicial, “Republican from Destin” definately paints a certain kind of picture in my mind.
Prejudices aside, even for a small college like Northwest Florida, $200,000 is not a lot of money. For comparison, their endowment in 2007 was over $17 million.
That’s not to say that there aren’t some obvious conflicts of interest involved here. I personally don’t think that state legislators should be allowed to work for the state in another capacity while they are in office.
November 20th, 2008 at 5:26 pm
The GOP retreat is paid for by the Republican Party of Florida.
November 20th, 2008 at 6:20 pm
Scott,
The problem here is not so much the value of the appropriaition.
It’s that Sansom was budget chief in the House when it passed, it was weeded in at the 11th hour over the sitting Sepaker’s objections, and a staffer whom Rubio dismissed over the affair has now been rehired by Sansom…
All of this after Sansom ordered a “No Turkey” budget for 2009
November 20th, 2008 at 6:45 pm
Jim – thanks for that important reminder about who is paying the bill. I would argue, however, that it still sends a bad message for the party.
November 20th, 2008 at 9:45 pm
How can you tell if a Republican is lying? His lips are moving.