Gov. Scott proposes Cabinet changes in wake of FDLE fiasco

Gov. Rick Scott has proposed a series of changes in handling of appointments and job reviews of Cabinet-level agency heads in the wake of the fiasco last month in which his office forced the ouster of a top state police executive without the advance knowledge of the three Cabinet members. Scott's office maintains that all three Cabinet members' staff members knew of Scott's desire for changes at FDLE and that staffers "raised no objection."

Scott's proposal essentially is a reworked version of a plan put forward last week by Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam. It will be discussed at the next Cabinet meeting set for Feb. 5 at the Florida State Fairgrounds in Tampa. The governor's office confirmed Wednesday that the meeting will be held in Tampa as scheduled.

Scott's one-page proposal would reduce the job security of those officials by creating a new "annual Cabinet leadership review" that would allow for an agency head's "removal for any reason by an appropriate vote."

Under the Scott proposal, he or any Cabinet member could annually make a motion for "affirmation or removal" of Cabinet agency heads, which include the commissioner of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, state insurance commissioner, banking regulator, tax collector and executive director of highway safety, among others.

The proposal states in part: "Prior to the end of each fiscal year, the performance and tenure of each executive director, director or commissioner appointed and serving under the direction and supervision of the governor and Cabinet shall be reviewed." The proposal also would give Scott the authority to appoint an interim replacement at the head of an agency "in the event of a vacancy," which Scott did last month when he alone selected FDLE's Capitol police director, Rick Swearingen, as an interim replacement for the ousted FDLE Commissioner Gerald Bailey.

Scott also is proposing a nationwide search for qualified candidates for those offices. Earlier this month, Scott's office solicited a resume from a Louisiana state official, Ron Henderson, as a potential replacement for Kevin McCarty, who has headed the Office of Insurance Regulation since 2003.

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Gov. Scott proposes Cabinet changes in wake of FDLE fiasco