BY MICHAEL C. BENDER TALLAHASSEE — A Republican state senator wants to end secrecy surrounding deals that use tax dollars to lure companies to Florida or that keep existing businesses from leaving. “Once the deal is signed, all the details should be open to the public,” said Nancy Detert, R-Venice, chairwoman of the Senate Commerce…
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BY PAUL TASH Times Chairman and CEO Since I started here as a reporter in 1978, I have answered my phone with some version of “St. Pete Times.” I will need to learn a new habit. Starting Jan. 1, this newspaper will become the Tampa Bay Times. The new name reflects the growth of our…
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BY MICHAEL C. BENDER TALLAHASSEE — The Governor’s Office released 87 pages of public records Friday showing e-mails Gov. Rick Scott sent and received in the final days of his transition into office that have yet to be made public. The documents, which the Governor’s Office has had for nearly six months, include about 65…
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EDITORIAL For a governor who promised accountability as a candidate, Rick Scott sure has a lot of explaining to do. Not once, not twice, but now there has been a third incident involving a “technological mix-up” at the governor’s office that has mysteriously resulted in emails evaporating into cyberspace. Like magic — after a public…
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Naked Politics Blog Attorney General Pam Bondi said it was “indefensible” that the state gave state Sen. Mike Fasano a $10,000 estimate for collecting public records regarding Florida pension investments. “I’ve lost sleep over this bill,” Bondi told State Board of Administration Director Ash Williams. Read more here.
BY MICHAEL C. BENDER TALLAHASSEE — Gov. Rick Scott is e-mailing again. But this time with a state account. Scott declined a state e-mail address after he took office, saying he didn’t want to create public records. But on Aug. 1, Scott activated a new account, public records show. Read more here.
BY MICHAEL C. BENDER TALLAHASSEE — E-mails on Gov. Rick Scott’s BlackBerry may have been lost in another technology mix-up inside his office. Scott and his staff have acknowledged that his account and at least 37 others from his two-month transition — a crucial stretch after Election Day when key hires are made and a…
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EDITORIAL Charging a fortune for public records is a clear attempt to evade Florida’s sunshine laws and conceal public business from public view. That seems to be the motivation behind an invoice sent to state Sen. Mike Fasano for more than $10,000 for public records from Ash Williams, executive director of the state agency that…
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BY MICHAEL C. BENDER, Times/Herald Tallahassee Bureau TALLAHASSEE — For a second time, e-mails to and from Florida Gov. Rick Scott have been deleted in possible violation of state law. Scott’s team acknowledged in August, months after a Times/Herald request for transition records, that dozens of e-mail accounts had been deleted from a private computer server…
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BY MICHAEL C. BENDER TALLAHASSEE The e-mail accounts of Rick Scott and most of the governor-elect’s transition team were deleted soon after he took office, potentially erasing public records that state law requires be kept. Scott’s team acknowledged for the first time this week that the private company providing e-mail service deleted the records as…
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