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2 APPEARANCES:
ACCURATE
STENOTYPE REPORTERS, INC. 3 ACCURATE
STENOTYPE REPORTERS, INC. SUMMARY/SUBSEQUENT
TO SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 4 2 (The agenda items commenced at 9:39 a.m.) 3 GOVERNOR BUSH: Secretary Harris, can you 4 Chair the meeting so that I can -- 5 SECRETARY HARRIS: Absolutely, Governor. 6 GOVERNOR BUSH: -- do the next Resolution? 7 SECRETARY HARRIS: You're recognized for 8 your Resolution. 9 GOVERNOR BUSH: Thank you. 10 This is I think the second time I've done 11 this. And it gives me real joy to propose this 12 Resolution. 13 In the aftermath of September 11th, 14 approximately one-third of the Florida Guard 15 has been called up for active duty, along with 16 a whole lot of Reservists as well around our 17 state. 18 The men and women who serve our country in 19 times like this bear a real burden, if you 20 think about it, their families particularly do. 21 It is a fact that in most cases, the -- the 22 men and women that serve, that are called up, 23 earn less in their military active duty pay 24 than they do in their -- on their civilian 25 jobs. ACCURATE
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TO SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 5 2 passed a law that attempts to ease this undue 3 financial hardship. And I think it's one of 4 the better laws that we have on the books. 5 Florida's Military Service Compensation Law 6 allows all State and local government employees 7 to receive their full civilian pay, in addition 8 to their military pay, for their first 30 days 9 of active duty. 10 And then after the 30 days, the law allows 11 for Reservists to receive the pay necessary to 12 fill any gap between their military and 13 civilian pay. 14 And as a policy of our State government at 15 least, we also pay for the benefits -- health 16 benefits, and -- and -- and other benefits that 17 a State employee would receive. 18 The Resolution that I am presenting to you 19 directs all Cabinet agencies to implement this 20 law, because the law says it allows you to do 21 it, it doesn't require you to. And this 22 resolution will ask all State agencies to 23 implement the law. 24 In addition, the Resolution encourages 25 private employers, to the extent that they're ACCURATE
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TO SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 6 2 also send out a notice to all local governments 3 for their -- for their action as well. 4 I urge you to support this Resolution. 5 Is there -- 6 SECRETARY HARRIS: Is there a second? 7 COMMISSIONER BRONSON: Second. 8 TREASURER GALLAGHER: Second. 9 SECRETARY HARRIS: Is there -- 10 GOVERNOR BUSH: Moved and seconded -- 11 SECRETARY HARRIS: Moved and seconded. 12 GOVERNOR BUSH: Without objection -- 13 SECRETARY HARRIS: Thank you. 14 Without objection. 15 GOVERNOR BUSH: -- it's approved. 16 General Harrison, would you like to come -- 17 come up and explain the situation, where we are 18 today as it relates to -- 19 Perhaps a little bit about the briefing 20 that we had about the -- how the -- the 21 Defense Department, how the people were -- the 22 Air Guard at least is reporting, and the 23 flexibility that we're giving, and how we're 24 encouraging the private sector to take part in 25 this as well. ACCURATE
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TO SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 7 2 Thank you very much, Governor, and members 3 of the Cabinet. 4 As -- as Americans continue to deal with 5 this tragic loss of life, and -- on the attacks 6 with the -- from the attacks on the 7 Trade Center, and -- and the Pentagon, I'm sure 8 that you'll join with me in expressing our 9 continued concern for the victims and the 10 families of those affected. 11 The Florida National Guard, as have all 12 Americans, shared in this tragedy, and we 13 continue to offer our thoughts and prayers and 14 support. 15 As we've already heard from the -- 16 President Bush, we owe our -- we owe it to our 17 citizens to do all we can to prevent terrorist 18 actions, and to help to bring those responsible 19 to justice. 20 Today the Florida National Guard is 21 responding to two totally different and 22 distinct change of commands. 23 First, at the direction of the Governor, we 24 will, and have -- we have, and will continue to 25 meet the requirements of the State of Florida, ACCURATE
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TO SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 8 2 and energy -- emergency management agencies. 3 And I'll cover more on that in just a 4 moment in my comments. 5 Second, Federally at the direction of the 6 President, we have received, and most likely 7 will continue to receive, mobilization orders 8 for tact-- tactical units of the Florida 9 National Guard, and I'll address these in just 10 a moment. 11 The U.S. recovery efforts and our military 12 response to these attacks will be a long, 13 ongoing process. Additional mobilizations will 14 come. 15 The National Guard forces, especially here 16 in Florida, will be major participants, along 17 with their active duty counterparts. The 18 Florida National Guard has more than 19 12,000 soldiers and airmen that comprise 20 128 units in 55 of our communities. 21 Of these units, 105 of them are Army 22 National Guard, and 23 are Air Guard. 23 And let me briefly -- very briefly tell you 24 what we call our major commands. 25 The Army Guard, the 53rd Separate Infantry ACCURATE
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TO SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 9 2 units scattered all over the state, about 3 4,000 plus members of our citizens. 4 The 32nd Army and Air Missile Defense 5 Command in Orlando, 2,000 of our citizens; 6 air defense and field artillery, with units 7 scattered from central Florida south on both 8 coasts; the 83rd Troop Command here in 9 Tallahassee, with units like special forces and 10 attack helicopter units scattered around the 11 state to support; and the 50th Air Support 12 Group in Miami with logistical units all around 13 the state. 14 Camp Blanding, of course, is our major 15 training site in Starke, which is our 16 mobilization and training center. The 17 Air Guard major commands are the 18 125th Fighter Wing in Jacksonville, along with 19 its alert detachment, which is -- is housed at 20 Homestead Air Reserve Base; the Southeast 21 Air Defense Sector at Tyndall Air Force Base in 22 Panama City, with a detachment there of the 23 Southeast Air Defense Sector that is an F15 24 instructor pilot unit there at Tyndall; the 25 202nd Red Horse Squadron at Camp Blanding, ACCURATE
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TO SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 10 2 290th Joint Communications Squadron at MacDill, 3 and the 114th Comm Squadron at 4 Patrick Air Force Base. 5 Our main priority has always been, and will 6 continue to be, of course, public safety, both 7 for our citizens and our Guardsmen and their 8 families. 9 In response to these recent events, the 10 Florida Guard has executed its force protection 11 plan, and continues to upgrade that. 12 That means heightened security at all of 13 our headquarters, and all National Guard 14 Armories across the state. That means 15 curtailing nonessential activities at some of 16 our facilities as a precautionary measure. 17 We've installed barriers, and established 18 other physical protection procedures at the 19 entrances to all of our facilities, based on 20 the Department of Defense's requirements. 21 We've also assigned or added Guardsmen to 22 provide physical security at each Armory, and 23 other vital Guard facilities; and are preparing 24 Guard units to assist our Florida Department of 25 Law Enforcement for security missions vital to ACCURATE
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TO SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 11 2 state. 3 The Guard remains at what we call force -- 4 Force Protection Level C, or Charlie, and will 5 continue at this security level for the unknown 6 future. 7 Security measures under each forced 8 condition may vary with the units and the 9 Armories. 10 Additionally, the Florida National Guard is 11 providing assistance to the State in their 12 terrorist protect-- preparedness assessment. 13 The Guardsmen with experience in homeland 14 security, threat identification, and 15 vulnerability assessments are working with FDLE 16 to make recommendations for improvement. And 17 that's ongoing and will come to some conclusion 18 this week. 19 As the President said last week, we must go 20 on with our lives. So despite all these new 21 missions, the Florida National Guard will 22 continue working and training as planned. 23 We will continue our day-to-day activities 24 with increased readiness and -- and 25 preparedness. Some of our units may be tasked ACCURATE
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TO SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 12 2 that we will be prepared to deploy, if 3 requested for a Federal mission, and also to 4 protect our citizens from Florida from 5 localized threats, or -- of terror, or 6 potential for hurricanes or other natural 7 disasters. 8 The activation of the Florida National 9 Guard is occurring gradually since the 10 11th of September. The 125th Fighter Wing was 11 placed immediately under control of NORAD, the 12 North American Air Defense Command, and the 13 Southeast Air Defense Sector, and started 14 flying immediately combat air patrols and 15 intercept missions out of Jacksonville and 16 Homestead. 17 The unit's mission was expanded by 18 approximately 133 volunteers to Federal active 19 service, allowing them to maintain a 24-hour 20 alert. 21 Additional personnel are Federalized as 22 necessary to meet these air defense 23 requirements. 24 Detachments of the 32nd Army and Air 25 Missile Defense Command in Orlando are awaiting ACCURATE
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TO SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 13 2 Federal mission tasking. And it's a matter of 3 time before that happens. This probably will 4 happen today. 5 The 290th Joint Communications Support 6 Squadron in MacDill Air Force Base is being 7 activated as we speak. Personnel are now 8 mobilizing to meet a deploying order this week, 9 with a follow-on deployment of additional 10 personnel expected next week. 11 There are a few Florida National Guard 12 individuals currently assigned to assist 13 Federal agencies in linguistics, and the 14 Federal Emergency Management Association for 15 search and rescue, and weapons of mass 16 destruction. 17 When units activate -- receive activation 18 notices, they may arrive as warning orders, and 19 we begin our preparations then. 20 Usually the time and method of departure is 21 determined beforehand to accommodate media and 22 public support. However, due to the nature of 23 this particular war, public awareness and 24 notification is limited. And so we'll make 25 every effort to keep you and the public ACCURATE
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TO SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 14 2 Now, while the other Reserve components of 3 other services do not come under my command, 4 the Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine, and 5 Coast Guard Reserves, I think that you should 6 know that these certainly are an impact on our 7 state as these men and women mobilize under 8 their services, and there will be some impact 9 to the State concerning the activation of 10 law enforcement agencies, and of other State 11 agencies. Many of these people will be called 12 to duty. 13 We are currently developing details that we 14 can come back with with all service 15 information. 16 Rest assured, the Florida National Guard 17 will remain capable to respond to whatever's 18 needed in the state at the call of the 19 Governor. No doubt we will have members go to 20 Federal duty, but we will always be able to 21 maintain enough here to support what you need 22 in this state. 23 I'd like to thank you very much for giving 24 me the time for this resolution, for all the 25 members of the Reserve that are -- are -- that ACCURATE
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TO SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 15 2 I thank you very much for that, and for 3 your support. 4 Governor. 5 GOVERNOR BUSH: Thank you, General. 6 Perhaps what we ought to -- let's -- let's 7 get a picture. Maybe you can get this out to 8 the -- 9 GENERAL HARRISON: Certainly. 10 GOVERNOR BUSH: -- through -- through 11 newsletters, so the families know that -- 12 GENERAL HARRISON: Thank you. 13 GOVERNOR BUSH: -- we're serious about this 14 and we want to provide support. 15 (Discussion off the record.) 16 GOVERNOR BUSH: As a continuation of the -- 17 of the report that -- 18 COMPTROLLER MILLIGAN: Governor, could I 19 interject something here, since it does pertain 20 uniquely to General Harrison and his people. 21 In addition to the resolution, I think you 22 may be aware -- I know General Harrison's 23 aware -- of the Soldier and Sailors Act, which 24 was passed during World War II, which provides 25 protection to all military personnel, including ACCURATE
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TO SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 16 2 Reserve in areas of protecting the amount of 3 interest -- as a matter of fact, it restricts 4 the amount of interest on mortgages, it 5 restricts fore-- foreclosures -- cannot be 6 foreclosed during their time of active duty, 7 and for a period of time afterward -- I don't 8 remember how long -- and also precludes 9 eviction under any circumstance. 10 So in addition to what you have just put 11 forward with the resolution, there are other 12 areas, and I -- I think that needs to be 13 published, too, to these young men and women 14 being called up. 15 GOVERNOR BUSH: Thanks. 16 TREASURER GALLAGHER: Mortgage rates 17 I believe go to 6 percent. 18 COMPTROLLER MILLIGAN: They're held at 19 6 percent, that's -- 20 TREASURER GALLAGHER: And one year 21 non-foreclosure. 22 GOVERNOR BUSH: And we have a very 23 aggressive campaign to -- to recruit private 24 businesses to provide support. It is -- for a 25 lot of small businesses, this is a -- a real ACCURATE
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TO SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 17 2 respond generally in the -- in the patriotic 3 way, and -- and make the necessary adjustments. 4 And the -- and the military's gotten a lot 5 smarter about calling people up as well. 6 They -- they are sensitive to the uniqueness of 7 people's community involvement, their business 8 involvement, their family situations, and they 9 try to -- within reason, tailor make the 10 service so that it does not create huge strains 11 on families or someone's livelihood. 12 So it's a -- I'm really proud of the Guard, 13 and its -- its focus on this, making sure 14 that -- that this does not create undue 15 hardship for Florida families. 16 And, General Harrison, please pass on this 17 Cabinet's high regard for your team and -- and 18 what they're about to embark on. They're a 19 wonderful group of Floridians, and we will 20 continue to support them. 21 As part of this conversation, and in 22 conversation with several of you, since each of 23 us has a responsibility to respond to this 24 question of security and terrorism, I thought 25 it'd be appropriate to ask Commissioner Moore ACCURATE
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TO SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 18 2 with Craig Fugate -- a brief briefing on where 3 we stand, and then ask to -- really just have a 4 dialogue here about our own activities. 5 And I want to also ask Chief 6 Ruben Almaguer -- 7 Is that right? 8 MR. ALMAGUER: Yes, sir. 9 GOVERNOR BUSH: Very good. 10 -- Chief Almaguer, who is the Chief, 11 Special Operations, Miami-Dade Fire Department; 12 and Chief Carlos Castillo, who's the Assistant 13 Chief for Operations. 14 These men represent a group of firefighters 15 that are as good as any in the world. And as 16 Floridians, we can be particularly proud that 17 they were one of the first responders to the -- 18 the bombings in Washington, and in -- in 19 New York City. 20 And so I thought it'd be appropriate also 21 to get a briefing from one of you about what -- 22 what's going on in -- in those efforts, and 23 what Floridians are doing to help. 24 And we really appreciate you, on your way 25 back, after tough duty, to stop here in ACCURATE
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TO SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 19 2 Commissioner. 3 MR. MOORE: Good morning, Governor; and 4 thank you, Cabinet members. 5 You know, we've also all experienced many 6 emotions and feelings over the two weeks since 7 you last met here as a body. And we have 8 faced, and, frankly, we continue to face many 9 challenges as a result of events of -- 10 GOVERNOR BUSH: Just to -- 11 MR. MOORE: -- September the 11th -- 12 GOVERNOR BUSH: -- pause. It's -- it's 13 been two weeks. I mean, it feels like -- 14 MR. MOORE: An eternity. 15 GOVERNOR BUSH: It has only been two weeks. 16 MR. MOORE: As I said, we face -- we -- 17 we've faced a lot, we'll continue to face a lot 18 in the -- in the days ahead. We probably will 19 for some time to come. 20 But, you know, we have a lot to be thankful 21 for. We have a lot to be thankful for 22 personally, we certainly have a lot to be 23 thankful for, and proud of, as a state. You've 24 heard and seen some of that here this morning, 25 you'll hear and see some other examples of ACCURATE
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TO SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 20 2 Governor, your personal leadership, and, 3 frankly, your quick action, and your calming 4 words to our citizens on the morning of the 5 11th was of tremendous value. 6 Within 1 hour -- actually less than 1 hour 7 of the initial attack, we had activated our 8 State emergency operations center, we had begun 9 the -- the execution of our Critical 10 Infrastructure -- Key Asset Protection Plan, 11 including going to a heightened state of 12 security and alertness statewide, including 13 here in the Capitol Complex. 14 You'll recall that we immediately evacuated 15 the Capitol building, and took steps to 16 maintain the security of this building, and the 17 perimeter of the building after the evacuation. 18 We took steps as well to evacuate the other 19 tallest building in Florida, the Turlington 20 building, Commissioner Crist. 21 You know, in the calm of today, that might 22 seem like an overreaction. But I assure you 23 back two weeks ago, that was the prudent and 24 responsible thing to do. And I'm -- I'm -- I'm 25 proud of the fact that you supported taking ACCURATE
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TO SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 21 2 Concurrent to that action across the state, 3 again, as we began to launch our -- our 4 Critical Asset Infrastructure Protection Plan, 5 we went to other government buildings, State 6 and local, and made sure that security levels 7 were appropriate there; we went to our public 8 energy comp-- complexes; our private energy 9 complexes; we went to our airports and 10 seaports; to our power plants; and to our major 11 tourist attractions, and raised the level of 12 alertness across-the-board. 13 And with this underway, Governor, you 14 immediately put out an executive order fixing 15 clear command and control for how we get 16 through the days ahead. 17 You tasked the Department of 18 Law Enforcement with the responsibility to -- 19 to oversee our crisis response, and you gave us 20 the authority to waive through a lot -- to wade 21 through and waive a lot of bureaucracy if it 22 got in the way of things that we needed to do, 23 things that might impede our effort. 24 And you tasked Craig Fugate and the 25 Division of Emergency Management with handling ACCURATE
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TO SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 22 2 might find ourself in here in the state of 3 Florida. 4 Once we -- we were reasonably sure that 5 our -- our efforts to secure our vital assets 6 around the state was in place, and that Florida 7 was not on anyone's watch list or target list, 8 our law enforcement emphasis at that time 9 shifted, and we began to emphasize the role 10 that we continue to play to this day in 11 supporting the FBI in what is, without 12 question, the largest criminal investigation in 13 the history of our country. 14 And as you know, several early leads 15 focused attention on our state, and it's 16 requiring a tremendous amount of -- of 17 investigative effort, a tremendous amount of 18 manpower and analytical research assistance 19 effort that we continue to provide today. 20 Commissioner Bronson, you and your staff 21 are supporting this activity in a variety of 22 ways, dealing with areas of concern that 23 two weeks ago most -- most Floridians didn't 24 know anything at all about. And today they're 25 front and center in terms of being major ACCURATE
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TO SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 23 2 General Milligan, you and your staff 3 continued to provide access to a lot of 4 information we need in doing some of the 5 financial and analytical work in support of the 6 investigation, and in securing the -- the 7 banking facilities around the state of Florida. 8 General Butterworth, you and your office 9 has continued -- continues to this day to 10 provide information and -- and legal advice and 11 guidance across-the-board on things that 12 matter. 13 Treasurer Gallagher, you're working to help 14 operationalize the National Disaster Fund, 15 which -- Terrorism Disaster Fund, which will be 16 even more important in the days ahead. 17 Secretary Harris, you, along with the other 18 principals here, took action to make sure that 19 the security measurers that needed to be put in 20 place at our vital facilities around Florida 21 were put in place, and remain in place today, 22 notwithstanding the fact that they might be 23 inconvenient at times. 24 As we got on through the -- the week of -- 25 of -- after September the 11th, it became ACCURATE
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TO SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 24 2 communities, our mosques, some of our Muslim 3 communities were feeling threatened. 4 And we immediately went to those 5 institutions and those -- those community 6 centers, made contact with -- with people there 7 to reenforce the fact that we were paying 8 attention. 9 And, General Butterworth, to remind me, we 10 do have a strong hate crime law in Florida, and 11 we were not going to be -- we're not going to 12 tolerate any of that kind of action. 13 We did this work in -- jointly with local 14 law enforcement, as you would imagine. And I'm 15 proud of the fact that by the time we got 16 there, in a large percentage of the cases, 17 local law enforcement was already there. 18 And in many cases, they had a marked unit 19 out in front of that mosque, or in front of 20 that community center, restoring a sense of 21 confidence to that part of our population. 22 Let me acknowledge, if I could, a person 23 that many of you know that's a tremendous 24 source of information, and a great help in 25 these kind of matters, and that's ACCURATE
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TO SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 25 2 Governor, I know you've spoken with him. 3 General, I know you have as well. 4 And -- and Art is -- notwithstanding the 5 fact that it was a high Jewish holiday on a lot 6 of the -- during the time we were trying to 7 deal with some of this stuff, he was on post. 8 And he continues to be a great source of -- of 9 information across-the-board. 10 For those of you that may not know, Art is 11 the Southern Area Director of the 12 Antidefamation League, and just a good 13 human being on top of that. 14 Again, we had unprecedented cooperation 15 across the spectrum of everything that -- that 16 we put in place. 17 During the remainder of that first week, we 18 continued to reach out to all the key players 19 and the leaders in our state, at all levels, 20 reenforcing the fact that we had zero credible 21 information that Florida was on anybody's watch 22 list, or target list, all important in terms of 23 making people feel comfortable. 24 We conducted routine conference calls 25 with -- with all levels of law enforcement in ACCURATE
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TO SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 26 2 and other Federal agencies, routinely 3 participating. 4 We conducted conference calls with our 5 university police chiefs, listening to their 6 concerns, helping discuss and lay out some 7 plans and considerations for major sporting 8 events that they were facing -- at least at 9 that time, they were facing in the -- in the 10 coming weekend. 11 And we suggested to them, and they took 12 this good suggestion at the university 13 leadership level, to conduct threat assessments 14 of our universities, because they represent 15 different kinds of potential threats than maybe 16 our average communities. 17 And that's underway now with 18 Secretary Horne's leadership, and 19 Commissioner Crist's help. 20 We joined in with Commissioner Crist, as we 21 had a -- a conference call with all 22 the superintendents across the state of Florida 23 to listen to their concerns and what they were 24 seeing and what they were experiencing. 25 And at the same time to -- to offer advice ACCURATE
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TO SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 27 2 they might want to think about. 3 By the Friday following the attacks on the 4 11th, I think we all had a reasonably good 5 handle on the events in Florida. And we all 6 had a -- a good feeling that, again, we knew 7 what we were doing. And I -- I trust that 8 our -- our citizens did as well. 9 And while we remain on that heightened 10 state of alert, through that week, and to this 11 day, there's some things that -- again, that -- 12 that kicked in place that ought to give the 13 citizens an even greater sense of comfort. 14 On Friday, the 14th, just three short days 15 after the attack, Governor, you'll recall that 16 you ordered the Department of Law Enforcement 17 and the Division of Emergency Management to 18 conduct an assessment of Florida's readiness to 19 deal with any possible terrorist related type 20 attack here in our state. 21 You directed that we closely examine our 22 capability, and our capacity, to prevent or 23 mitigate, and to respond to such attack, and to 24 provide you with a preliminary assessment in 25 10 working days. ACCURATE
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TO SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 28 2 we're making very, very good progress. It's 3 important to note that we're not starting from 4 scratch here in our state. We have a good, 5 solid base from which to move ahead on with our 6 State emergency plan. And that's paying us 7 dividends. 8 We have -- we have engaged not only all of 9 the State agency heads across all branches of 10 government here in Florida, but all of our 11 emergency operation coordinators, our Sheriffs, 12 our Chiefs of Police, our Fire Chiefs, our fire 13 and rescue people, our local government and 14 business leaders, industry leaders as we -- as 15 we -- as we got together to figure out how we 16 were going to approach this task. And all have 17 responded in yeoman fashion. 18 As I said, we're focusing on the prevention 19 and the response, and we're grading out our 20 preparedness in terms of our equipment, our 21 training, our execution protocols, making sure 22 that our capacity to do certain things equals 23 our ability to -- our capability to do those 24 things. 25 In a couple of places we're strong on our ACCURATE
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TO SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 29 2 capacity. The report will help us identify 3 those areas. 4 Now, this assessment is organized 5 principally around five major areas: Around 6 our emergency services, around human services, 7 around our critical infrastructure and key 8 asset protection, around intelligence gathering 9 and information sharing, and around biological 10 and chemical threat in the state of Florida. 11 We have work groups that are formed in 12 these key areas, and our data collection has 13 been completed now across-the-board. 14 And as of Sunday evening, the analysis has 15 been underway and continues to be underway as 16 we examine and begin to compile the results of 17 this assessment. 18 Yesterday we assembled a group of subject 19 matter experts from various places around 20 Florida and around the country to come in 21 across all of those five areas, and start 22 helping us make sense out of the preliminary 23 data that we received, and helping us get our 24 findings in the right -- in the right order, 25 validate what we have found to make sure that ACCURATE
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TO SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 30 2 Thursday we will bring CEOs across the 3 entire enterprise of those five subject areas 4 to come in and help make sure that from their 5 perspective, that we're paying attention to the 6 right things, and that we're covered. 7 This has been a rather huge effort, but 8 it's been a very productive effort. I'm 9 pleased to report again that without exception, 10 everybody's on board. 11 And, Governor, while we can't do anything 12 to change the events of September the 11th, we 13 can, and we are, doing something to help 14 improve our preparedness and our response 15 capability here in the state of Florida. 16 And to that end, we will deliver an 17 assessment report to you by the end of the week 18 that, coupled with your leadership, will begin 19 the process of making our homeland even safer 20 for our citizens, and the people that might 21 want to visit the state of Florida. 22 It's now my pleasure to introduce our 23 partner in a lot of these things, 24 Mr. Craig Fugate, who is the Interim Director 25 of the Division of Emergency Management here in ACCURATE
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TO SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 31 2 Craig. 3 MR. FUGATE: Thank you, Tim. 4 Good morning, Governor, members of the 5 Cabinet. 6 I don't really have a whole lot to add to 7 that, except to give a little bit more 8 information about where we started from. That 9 as Commissioner Moore pointed out, this wasn't 10 just something that it happened, and we had to 11 then think of how we're going to deal with it. 12 As far back as the Oklahoma City bombing, 13 the State government had taken a lot of actions 14 to look at physical security against suicide 15 bombers. 16 In 1999, with money from the 17 Department of Justice, the State of Florida 18 went out and asked the response community -- 19 not the State of Florida, but the responders, 20 the fire departments, the EMS, the fire -- the 21 police chiefs, and the Sheriffs, on if you were 22 to put together a plan on how the 23 State of Florida should be prepared to respond 24 to terrorism, how would you put that plan 25 together? ACCURATE
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TO SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 32 2 never put enough resources in every community 3 for every threat. But we could look at 4 regionalizing our capabilities, building upon 5 the expertise that already existed, and using 6 what Federal and State resources we had to 7 build teams and build capabilities to address 8 threats to Florida. 9 We can never know ahead of time, 10 hopefully -- my worst nightmares won't come 11 true. But after September 11th, I no longer 12 hold that assumption. They do come true, 13 unfortunately. 14 We divide our lives now in emergency 15 management, just like we did after 16 Hurricane Andrew, before and after. 17 Now we're in the after. It's an entirely 18 different world. But we built, and have been 19 building capabilities regionally, and based 20 upon that, we're continuing that process. 21 So what you're seeing is not so much a 22 fresh start, as a review based upon the 23 consequences what we saw on the 11th, where do 24 we have capacity shortfalls, and how we can 25 address those issues. ACCURATE
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TO SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 33 2 that in Florida, we have nationally and 3 internationally recognized expertise that went 4 to the aid of our neighbors in New York, but 5 have been going to the aid of our neighbors 6 well before this incident. 7 I'd like to bring up the Chiefs from -- 8 And, Governor, I hate to correct you, but 9 it's Miami-Dade Fire Rescue, because fire 10 departments do so much more than just fight 11 fires anymore, they do terrorism, they do 12 search and rescue, they do EMS -- 13 GOVERNOR BUSH: All right. All right. 14 All right. 15 MR. FUGATE: Yes, sir. 16 But if the Chiefs could come up. 17 Miami-Dade Fire Rescue has a history in 18 urban search and rescue that stretches back 19 before even the creation of the Federal Urban 20 Search and Rescue teams. In fact, they were 21 the model for that. 22 Many of you remember their trips to 23 Mexico City, and to other countries when 24 disaster hit, their work and their outreach to 25 our -- our brethren in the Americas. ACCURATE
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TO SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 34 2 Chief Castillo to give you a few remarks about 3 what Miami-Dade Fire Rescue's been doing in 4 supporting our friends -- 5 GOVERNOR BUSH: May I correct you? It's 6 not Chief Castillo. 7 MR. FUGATE: Yes, sir. 8 Thank you, sir. 9 GOVERNOR BUSH: Castillo. 10 MR. FUGATE: Castillo. 11 GOVERNOR BUSH: You deserved that after you 12 corrected me. 13 MR. FUGATE: Yes, sir. 14 MR. CASTILLO: Thank you, Governor. 15 I've -- I've heard all the -- all the 16 possible pronunciations. Thank you. 17 Good morning. 18 Governor, and members of the Cabinet, and 19 ladies and gentlemen, I first want to express 20 our -- our gratitude. It's -- it's really an 21 honor to address you all, and to give you a 22 little bit of -- of what we've seen in the last 23 couple of weeks. And -- and today's two weeks 24 from that -- that incident. 25 As -- as Mr. Fugate explained, we've been ACCURATE
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TO SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 35 2 outside the U.S. since 1985 in the Mexico City 3 earthquake. We believe we've come a long way. 4 And following the -- that Mexico City 5 earthquake, we entered into an agreement 6 with -- with the U.S. Foreign Disaster 7 Assistance Office to respond outside the U.S. 8 That helped prepare us -- prepare us to 9 respond to incidents in the -- in the U.S., and 10 especially in Miami-Dade County. 11 Following the -- the earthquake in 12 Soviet Armenia and Hurricane Hugo, FEMA decided 13 and realized that it -- should a major 14 catastrophic earthquake in a major metropolitan 15 area occur here in the U.S., we needed to have 16 the capability to respond. 17 So besides the two teams that respond 18 internationally, which is Miami-Dade and -- and 19 Fairfax County, there are now, to this date, 20 28 teams prepared to respond anywhere in the 21 U.S. 22 Those -- at the end of this response, all 23 of those teams will have responded at least 24 once to this -- this -- these two incidents in 25 the -- the Pentagon and New York, and some even ACCURATE
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TO SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 36 2 this. 3 Chief Almaguer and myself were -- were 4 activated on September 11th, the day of -- of 5 the bombing we received our first page at -- we 6 were on call for the second up. 7 But we received our first page at 8 10:06 a.m. And that was an excellent response 9 from FEMA just to -- to determine our 10 availability as part of the team that basically 11 coordinates and -- and manages the -- the urban 12 search and rescue team. It's called the -- the 13 Incident Support Team. 14 We were -- we were alerted, and because 15 air traffic was suspended, as you know, 16 throughout the country, we -- we drove up. 17 And -- and we made record time from Miami in 18 14 hours to -- to the Pentagon, for us that 19 was. 20 But it was really a long time for us to 21 think and to listen to the -- to the -- 22 We didn't break the speed limit either. 23 TREASURER GALLAGHER: Yeah. I made that 24 trip, and you can't do that. 25 MR. CASTILLO: We didn't stop. ACCURATE
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TO SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 37 2 us a lot of time to -- to listen to what was 3 going on. We received some unfortunate reports 4 that from one Ray Downey, a -- a dear friend of 5 ours who we had met and had been involved in 6 this -- in the development of this process had 7 one -- been one of the ones who was -- had lost 8 his life in that -- that incident. 9 And we're hearing a lot of -- of accounts 10 of what's happened in New York and -- and the 11 Pentagon and -- and the heroic accounts. 12 But probably the most heroic accounts we'll 13 never hear, because those -- those people 14 didn't survive. And I think a lot of that 15 has -- has come out, and just the -- the 16 sacrifice of personal -- the ultimate sacrifice 17 that many firefighters made, made it more 18 personal for us as we were responding. 19 When we arrived Wednesday morning about 20 7:00 a.m. on -- on Wednesday morning, as we 21 were crossing the bridge on 395, you could see 22 the column of smoke still burning. They had 23 fought a -- a very difficult fire in that 24 building. And for us, just the symbolism of 25 that building being attacked, and what we saw ACCURATE
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TO SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 38 2 We worked -- there were five teams working 3 from the -- the National Urban Search and 4 Rescue Response System. Our main mission, and 5 primary mission, was search and rescue, to -- 6 to find live victims, and -- and provide 7 advanced medical care to them, and then 8 extricate them from -- from the rubble. 9 Unfortunately, there -- there were no live 10 victims to be found by that time. Although we 11 always keep a -- a certain degree of hope, 12 and -- and there's not a black and white 13 transition from rescue to -- to recovery, but 14 we knew deep down that -- that it wasn't -- it 15 wasn't going to be a reality that time. 16 We became -- as -- as we were stabilizing 17 the building to -- to be able to continue the 18 search and rescue operations, as we shifted to 19 recovery, our mission became one to support 20 the -- the Federal agencies, primarily the FBI 21 in their investigation, making the -- the 22 structure safe enough -- relatively safe enough 23 for them to -- to enter to begin to remove 24 the -- the debris, begin their investigation, 25 as well as -- as to recover some of the ACCURATE
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TO SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 39 2 that -- that stayed trapped in there. 3 And it -- again, I stress, there were no 4 live victims pulled out after -- unfortunately 5 with incidents like this, and we saw this after 6 the Oklahoma City bombing, and some of the 7 other responses that we've had, people either 8 die or they survive. There are very few 9 that -- that -- numbers that -- that are people 10 that are injured with any -- any significance. 11 We worked there for 11 days. Once we -- it 12 was determined that the building was -- was 13 safe enough, and we -- and that involved 14 stabilizing a lot of the remaining structure. 15 A lot of the -- the -- the columns that were 16 compromised when this -- this aircraft pretty 17 much wiped out the first floor, the ensuing 18 explosion from the -- and fire from the 19 jet fuel, the smoke, and -- and the dust, and 20 the -- the following collapse really -- really 21 cut down the chances of anyone surviving. 22 Once it was made safe enough for the FBI to 23 continue, Chief Almaguer and myself drove up 24 to -- to New York City. There are two teams 25 from Florida, the south Florida Urban -- ACCURATE
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TO SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 40 2 had been working New York for several nights. 3 Saturday night we went up and saw them. 4 And as we drove up and arrived at -- at the 5 site, it was -- it was eerily surreal. The -- 6 the truth is, it looked like a -- a movie set. 7 When you stand there, the -- the video and the 8 photos you see just don't do it justice. 9 Knowing that -- that each footprint of 10 those -- those twin towers was an acre in dia-- 11 an acre of footprint, knowing that there were 12 110 stories, reduced to a pile of rubble of 13 about three stories above ground, knowing that 14 it was mostly steel we -- you know, part of 15 what we train for is to remove people that may 16 be trapped in voids. When a -- a building 17 collapsed, has a lean-to that we call, there -- 18 there's always some voids and always some hope. 19 In this case, it was pretty much 20 pulverized. All that was left was the -- the 21 structural steel, the structural members 22 that -- that remained, and -- and it's going to 23 be a difficult task. 24 And what you see aboveground is, like I 25 said, about three stories, and that's -- ACCURATE
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TO SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 41 2 removing that. But the truth is, there are 3 several floors underground that still need to 4 be worked on. That's going to be at least a -- 5 an eight- to ten-month process. 6 And unfortunately as -- as it's -- that's 7 happening, there are more and more bodies 8 are -- are being found, and remains are being 9 removed from -- from the structure. 10 Every time that a police officer or a 11 firefighter is removed, part of the work stops, 12 and -- and people are just standing at 13 attention. And it's really -- the one thing I 14 think that -- that struck us as well is that, 15 it's very quiet. You know, usually all -- 16 you'll hear the -- the hum of the generators 17 and -- and the heavy machinery. 18 But it's really -- everyone's -- it's in a 19 somber mood, and everyone's quietly working. 20 Different from other disasters we've been to 21 where -- where there's always some activity. 22 But it's -- it's just the fact that this 23 was -- wasn't a natural disaster, and it was -- 24 it was caused by man makes it even worse for 25 us. ACCURATE
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TO SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 42 2 shifts. They're -- they're doing well. 3 I believe they're going to be demobilized 4 today, and -- and perhaps head back to -- to 5 south Florida to -- to Miami and to Miami-Dade. 6 Luckily none of them have -- have had any 7 serious injuries. And -- and that's the one 8 thing that's important for us. 9 But, again, it was -- it was difficult to 10 make that transition there as well. I -- I 11 spoke on a conference call to the Deputy Fire 12 Commissioner, and he was looking for some 13 advice on how to switch from -- from rescue to 14 recovery, and -- and how to tell his 15 firefighters who are among -- worldly respected 16 as -- as the best in the world, a large force 17 of -- of over 14,000 people who -- who -- and 18 one thing he told me was, he said -- and 19 because of the dedication, this occurred at 20 shift change for them, the -- there's one 21 station across the street with 11 people, they 22 all responded. 23 Not only the 11 who were on duty, but the 24 11 who stayed on, because they saw that this 25 was -- this was the big one, as they say. ACCURATE
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TO SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 43 2 the -- in the incident. And many more. The -- 3 the Commissioner feels there may be up to 4 400 people that -- that have lost their lives. 5 I -- again, I -- I want to thank you for -- 6 for giving us this opportunity to address you, 7 and to stress that both with the Oklahoma City 8 bombing, and the New York, and -- and the 9 Pentagon incidents, that it's difficult for 10 people to survive things like that. 11 The best, most effective way to deal with 12 them is -- is through prevention, I believe 13 preparedness and -- and training. 14 I -- I know the State's taking a lot of -- 15 of steps in that direction. I -- and I applaud 16 that, Governor, and -- and -- and members of 17 the Cabinet. 18 We need to do more of it and more -- more 19 training, because the truth is, the fire and 20 rescue, EMS, and police are -- are the first 21 line of defense, and -- and will be there 22 when -- when the thing happens. And hopefully 23 it won't happen again. 24 Thank you. 25 GOVERNOR BUSH: Thank you, Chief. ACCURATE
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TO SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 44 2 that have made a great sacrifice. But you -- 3 this is something that y'all do on a regular 4 basis whenever called -- 5 MR. CASTILLO: Yes, sir. 6 GOVERNOR BUSH: -- and we're just very 7 proud of the fact the State provides some 8 support, and -- and I consider you the best 9 in -- in a very difficult -- difficult trade. 10 What I'd like to do -- if -- if you all -- 11 I hope you're not leaving, because we're 12 worried about -- we need to alert the 13 Highway Patrol if you're taking off going back 14 to Miami. Let us know -- 15 ATTORNEY GENERAL BUTTERWORTH: Two hours to 16 get back to Miami? 17 GOVERNOR BUSH: Yeah. Maybe -- trying 18 to -- trying to promote air travel, but you 19 just promote flying -- flying with you in the 20 car back in time. 21 But Commissioner Bronson has -- 22 TREASURER GALLAGHER: -- the numbers. 23 GOVERNOR BUSH: -- to take off, and I 24 thought it might be appropriate for him to give 25 us a briefing on -- on his activities. ACCURATE
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TO SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 45 2 on, as -- as is the normal course of events in 3 the Department of Agriculture. 4 I don't think Commissioner Bronson knew 5 that his job covered so many different darn 6 things. 7 COMMISSIONER BRONSON: I'm learning it real 8 quick. 9 No. Actually, I -- I was -- I was aware of 10 some of the potentials above and beyond what we 11 were working on. 12 As you know, we're working on plant 13 diseases and -- and encephalitis when all of 14 this happened. And this put us in another -- 15 another set of circumstances. 16 On September the 11th, during the -- during 17 the last Cabinet meeting when I heard what was 18 going on, I put all 212 of our law enforcement 19 officers on a higher state of alert while at 20 the Cabinet meeting, set up a -- set up a 21 command post at one of our other facilities, 22 and we brought in all of our Division Directors 23 and Deputy Commissioners. 24 Assistant Commissioner Rhodes met me over 25 there, and we set up our command posts before ACCURATE
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TO SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 46 2 We put all of our building mail and 3 facility security in place with our 4 law enforcement officers and others to watch 5 all mails and packages coming into the 6 facilities. We put law enforcement officers at 7 our buildings in Live Oak, Kissimmee, 8 Winter Haven, Miami, Tampa, and all the 9 farmers markets immediately. 10 We locked down all of the other buildings, 11 and let some go home that day that -- that were 12 not essential personnel while the emergency was 13 in place on September the 11th. 14 We were securing all of our e-mail 15 communications throughout our computer systems 16 as of that date. 17 We made contacts on the 11th with all the 18 fertilizer companies on the fertilizer and 19 chemicals because of biological contamination 20 problems that we thought might exist -- or 21 could exist. And they were on that right away. 22 We -- we contacted all of the industries 23 that we were concerned with above and beyond 24 the fertilizer and chemical industries, we 25 contacted all of the food service ACCURATE
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TO SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 47 2 ask them to put their own security up for 3 verification for anybody that might contaminate 4 the food supply within their stores. 5 We did a number of press releases on price 6 gouging that day, that afternoon, and -- and 7 worked with the Attorney General on -- on -- on 8 asking -- sending out some subpoenas to some 9 34 businesses that were trying to find out just 10 what their price was that morning before the 11 prices went up so abruptly. 12 We, of course, are continuing with that 13 price gouging investigation. 14 All divisions responded excellent. We -- 15 we had -- we doubled up the road guard 16 stations, we put two people on each road guard 17 station 24 hours a day, and they're still on 18 two per road guard station. 19 And as of 4:00 o'clock that afternoon, we 20 were taking pictures of the individuals driving 21 the vehicles, and the tags of anybody hauling 22 ammonium nitrate in the state of Florida had to 23 come through our stations, and we had a picture 24 and a tag on every one of those by that night. 25 We have worked with the USDA as of ACCURATE
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TO SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 48 2 to ground all of our agricultural planes. And 3 we are now at this time this morning finishing 4 a rule with the Department that would set up 5 for the first time ever a protocol with U-- 6 with FAA and NORAD to get our planes up in the 7 air when we need them to spray. 8 Because, Governor, if we don't have spray 9 planes up in the air, we could lose up to 10 30 percent of our crops that have to take 11 aerial application. And in a time of a 12 potential war situation, you want more food, 13 not less food. 14 At the same time, while -- while protecting 15 our sky and protecting -- 16 GOVERNOR BUSH: Does this impact the 17 West Nile virus spraying, too, or not? 18 COMMISSIONER BRONSON: This did, yes. 19 Our -- our planes were grounded for the 20 mosquito spraying. They are back up as well as 21 of this morning. 22 So we're setting that protocol up. We're 23 probably the only state in the country that's 24 actually come up with a protocol with FAA and 25 NORAD, assuming they will accept our -- which, ACCURATE
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TO SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 49 2 spraying material can be in the air in the 3 state of Florida without a registration number 4 with our Department. 5 If they're spraying without a registration 6 number, they're spraying illegally in the state 7 of Florida. 8 So what we're going to do is take the pilot 9 and crosscheck them with their registration 10 number with the Department of Agriculture and 11 the tail number on their airplane; and the 12 material they're spraying; and the township, 13 range, and section that they're going to be 14 spraying in so that we can crosscheck that with 15 FAA, so they'll know it's our people. They're 16 going -- going to a certain location, they're 17 coming back down to a certain location. 18 So we're setting that protocol up as we 19 speak. 20 We did a number of releases that went out 21 as of that day with phone calls to the 22 farm bureaus, the fruit and vegetable 23 association, all of the major organizations to 24 get their people in the field to call us if 25 they see anybody in their fields that normally ACCURATE
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TO SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 50 2 They also were asked to lock up and -- and 3 keep a -- an accurate count of any 4 ammonium nitrate or pesticides that they -- 5 that could be dangerous to the public 6 immediately. And we sent a letter out the next 7 day on the 12th to verify that. 8 We have had some interaction with the 9 fertilizer companies. CSX Railroad has offered 10 for us to be able to contact all of their 11 shipments, where they are at any one time on 12 the rails. 13 So we're -- we feel like the Department and 14 our employees have -- have absolutely taken 15 this on as a task. 16 We have contacted, just so you will know, 17 counting all the letters that have gone out to 18 the veterinarians for any -- any unusual animal 19 disturbances where there might be a disease or 20 any reaction among any types of animals for 21 human consumption especially. 22 We have contacted all the bottled water 23 plants which we're responsible for to protect 24 their water supplies; the seafood industry; 25 canning plants. ACCURATE
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TO SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 51 2 we're responsible for to secure their 3 facilities as of that day so that they're on 4 top of that. 5 And I think in all, there are some -- 6 167,407 people that have been contacted by our 7 Department and/or those that we contacted 8 within three days of the incident that are 9 aware of all these stepped up procedures. 10 So I -- I'm really proud of the 11 Department of Agriculture employees. They've 12 stepped up to the task, and have done a -- a 13 great job. 14 SECRETARY HARRIS: Commissioner. 15 COMMISSIONER BRONSON: That's my report. 16 GOVERNOR BUSH: Secretary. 17 SECRETARY HARRIS: Commissioner, that's 18 impressive. 19 What about those who are officially 20 registered in their protocols, the crop 21 dusters, for example. Are there ways to ensure 22 that what they are spraying haven't become 23 contaminated somehow by those reports? 24 We've heard -- the -- they were being 25 visited by perhaps some of the terrorists. ACCURATE
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TO SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 52 2 will be distributing in terms of the crop 3 dusting, that it hasn't been contaminated 4 without their knowledge? 5 COMMISSIONER BRONSON: Yes. 6 We have -- we have told all of our facil-- 7 facilities, and all of our fertilizer and 8 chemical companies to recheck all of their 9 stocks. 10 Anything that appears to have been opened 11 or gotten into, they're supposed to -- they're 12 supposed to call us immediately so we can have 13 that checked out. 14 We have on standby all of our food safety 15 inspectors and all of our facilities to -- to 16 take samples of, and to chemically test any 17 potential problems that we have during this 18 time period. 19 And they're standing on standby now. We've 20 been in touch with the CDC so that we are in 21 full -- full contact with the Center for 22 Disease Control for any unusual activities 23 above us, and -- and to the north, or that they 24 know of in our state that we either have not 25 picked up on, or that we need to be working ACCURATE
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TO SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 53 2 So biological terrorism is one thing that I 3 knew as of Monday -- or Tuesday of that day was 4 a potential problem, and our -- our Department 5 has been on it from day one. 6 And we have shut down many avenues for them 7 to -- to attack in different areas, and we're 8 working on procedures right now that we won't 9 go into to even strengthen the ones we've 10 implemented. 11 GOVERNOR BUSH: I feel a lot better knowing 12 that you're on the case, Commissioner. 13 TREASURER GALLAGHER: Yeah. 14 COMMISSIONER BRONSON: The Department's on 15 the case. 16 GOVERNOR BUSH: Yeah. 17 That's very impressive. And -- and I think 18 it's important -- and, Commissioner, you may 19 want to come back up, Commissioner Moore -- 20 because we want to have a little -- there may 21 be some questions of you. 22 And this does point out the depth and 23 breadth of how the State is responding to this. 24 The cliche that we have said in the past really 25 isn't a cliche. Life has started anew, and ACCURATE
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TO SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 54 2 Psychologically the country, I think, is 3 rebounding. 4 But things are going to be different from 5 September 11th on. And part of it is just a 6 heightened sensitivity to the fact that the way 7 we did business in the past needs -- every 8 aspect needs to be looked at. 9 We're in a new world now. And I know we'll 10 meet the challenge. 11 But the -- you know, the Commissioner's 12 briefing here does point out the -- the real 13 depth to which we have to evaluate things. 14 And with that, I -- anybody that might have 15 questions or comments about 16 Commissioner Moore's efforts, or what you all 17 are doing in your own areas of responsibility, 18 we're -- we're working hard to make this report 19 come back to the Legislature and come back 20 to -- to you all early next week. 21 It's still a work in progress, and it will 22 be a work in progress even after next week. 23 But your expertise in these areas is really 24 valuable and important. And any advice you can 25 give the Commissioner, I know he will have it. ACCURATE
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TO SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 55 2 Governor, just one thing. 3 Commissioner Bronson, a great job for a 4 freshman. I mean, that's fantastic. Really. 5 But I think what -- what 6 Commissioner Bronson has shown us very, very 7 excellently is that whenever we have a -- a 8 disaster or a tragedy here in the state of 9 Florida, that -- that we will act immediately. 10 And we're -- the Department of Agriculture 11 has so many responsibilities that affect our 12 food, our travel, our chemicals, gasoline, 13 everything that could be a problem, it is not 14 that we wait for something to happen, he -- he 15 responds immediately. 16 And just as -- as all of us during 17 Hurricane Andrew, those of us that were here, 18 the -- each Cabinet officer had -- had a 19 responsibility, and we immediately went and 20 provided for our particular roles. 21 And the same thing that happened -- that 22 happened here. 23 So that -- I think that -- as an example, 24 Commissioner Bronson's report should probably 25 be -- be put on the Internet and delivered to ACCURATE
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TO SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 56 2 it makes you feel better as a Floridian to know 3 that immediately upon something happening, 4 somebody is out there actually protecting the 5 public, protecting the water, protecting the 6 food, protecting absolutely -- or immediately. 7 I think that sends a very, very strong 8 signal. 9 And also we know full well that you're -- 10 you're continuing to monitor through 11 intelligence and -- and all that, to make sure 12 that -- that things will still be all right. 13 COMMISSIONER BRONSON: Thank you. 14 GOVERNOR BUSH: Commissioner? 15 TREASURER GALLAGHER: Governor, because 16 there has been a -- a new day since Tuesday, 17 the 11th, many things have changed in the 18 insurance industry, and probably will continue 19 to do so. 20 There are those people that believe, if 21 left alone, this country would probably destroy 22 itself. But I -- obviously we weren't left 23 alone, and I really am very proud and -- and 24 feel good to be an American, and realize what 25 this country can do when, in fact, threatened. ACCURATE
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TO SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 57 2 together, families back together, church 3 attendance up, it's just -- it just -- 4 you know, it's a terrible way to have -- to 5 have those kind of things happen. 6 But I really feel good about being here in 7 this country, and being a part of it. 8 In regards to the insurance industry, 9 although many insured -- insureds will be 10 significantly affected by the attacks -- 11 (Commissioner Bronson exited the room.) 12 TREASURER GALLAGHER: -- in New York and 13 Washington, the industry still remains strong. 14 Most of the insurers have publicly stated 15 that they'll be able to pay their claims 16 without threatening their solvency. 17 None of our Florida domiciled insurers will 18 have significant and direct exposures as a 19 result of the attacks. But many of the larger 20 insurers who have significant exposure have 21 been providing reinsurance to some of our 22 Florida domestics. 23 And we expect to see a disruption in the 24 reinsurance market that, in turn, could have an 25 impact on our companies writing insurance in ACCURATE
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TO SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 58 2 GOVERNOR BUSH: Tom, can I -- can I ask you 3 a question about that? 4 TREASURER GALLAGHER: Sure. 5 GOVERNOR BUSH: Because that impacts 6 homeowners? 7 TREASURER GALLAGHER: Yes, it does. Very 8 much. 9 GOVERNOR BUSH: The catastrophic coverage 10 that could have an impact on that. 11 And also I was getting a briefing on the 12 nursing home bill that -- reform bill that 13 passed, a comprehensive piece of legislation to 14 see how we were doing in terms of 15 implementation. 16 And it dawned on me that there's another 17 area where reinsurance might -- might be 18 impacted as well in a very fragile, thin 19 market. 20 Is that -- have you looked at that? 21 TREASURER GALLAGHER: I haven't looked at 22 that specific one. But I can just tell you 23 that the only insurance that has been out there 24 recently for nursing homes has been in the 25 surplus lines market. ACCURATE
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TO SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 59 2 is led by a -- a company, and used a lot of 3 reinsurance treaties to supply those -- those 4 products. 5 And so with that in mind, I think the 6 surplus lines market will be affected. And 7 that's been pretty much the market that's 8 providing nursing home -- 9 So as I say, we expect to see a -- a little 10 disruption -- in fact, it could be a lot of 11 disruption in the reinsurance market. 12 One of the problems that happens there is 13 that most of the reinsurance agreements for 14 homeowners take place in -- in January, March. 15 There are some that are other times, but those 16 are the major times. 17 So we'll really know more in December when 18 the negotiations start with the insurance. 19 The -- Florida law allows the reinsurance 20 costs to be a direct task to the -- to the 21 homeowners. So we are somewhat concerned about 22 what can happen in regards to homeowners when 23 covered by that catastrophic coverage. 24 The -- all insurers that are involved in 25 the claims that exist for both New York and -- ACCURATE
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TO SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 60 2 will not invoke an act of war, slash, terrorism 3 exclusions in the policy, and they will pay the 4 claims incurred in these attacks. 5 GOVERNOR BUSH: Good. 6 TREASURER GALLAGHER: At this point, 7 insurers are actively paying the claims, and no 8 significant complaints have been received by 9 the New York Department of Insurance. 10 While the exposure to the Lloyds of London 11 syndicates could be as high as 1.75 billion, 12 Lloyds has indicated to us at the NAIC that 13 their losses will be manageable. 14 I want to touch a little bit on what is 15 being done to help the insurance industry. 16 The National Association for Insurance 17 Commissioners, in conjunction with all the 18 states, is in the process of identifying and 19 surveying the insurance companies, reinsurers, 20 Lloyds syndicates to quantify their actual 21 exposures. And they must be quantified before 22 we can determine if any affected companies will 23 require assistance of any kind. 24 The NAIC is developing task forces to 25 establish a national disaster fund for ACCURATE
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TO SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 61 2 The Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund and 3 the United Kingdom Terrorism Fund will be used 4 as models for the establishment of this new 5 national terrorism disaster fund. 6 And actually, the NAIC has been asked by 7 the White House to provide some of these -- 8 some of these, and some other recommendations 9 I think today. Didn't get a lot of notice, but 10 they're responding pretty quick. But everybody 11 is, and that's a -- that's a good thing. 12 The NAIC is also -- in conjunction with 13 Allstate, is determining which insurers have 14 business operations in the Wall Street 15 District, and determine how their operations 16 have been affected by the attacks. 17 And -- and we're reporting back to the -- 18 to individual states how that is going. 19 And just a little bit on what the 20 Department of Insurance is doing here in 21 Florida. 22 We've contacted obviously the New York 23 Department, and offered our assistance. We've 24 contacted our domestic insurers to determine if 25 they have any exposure. And as I said, ACCURATE
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TO SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 62 2 For those companies that have been 3 displaced from their offices as a result of 4 these attacks, we've obtained alternative 5 addresses and phone numbers for our consumer 6 services staff to be able to pass on to 7 policyholders. 8 We've provided the New York Department of 9 Insurance a copy of our disaster plan and 10 emergency rule orders that they can use as a 11 template for the disaster in New York. Those 12 are the ones that we did during 13 Hurricane Andrew. 14 Florida has been a lead state on the 15 task force to establish a nat-- a national 16 terrorism disaster fund. 17 We have been instrumental in trying to get 18 a natural disaster fund started in Washington. 19 We haven't been too successful with that. 20 Maybe we'll get the terrorism one taken care 21 of. 22 We are also participating in a national 23 claims protocol task force to ensure prompt and 24 proper payment of the claims that are taking 25 place up in Washington. ACCURATE
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TO SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 63 2 it, an industry reported losses as of 3 September 20th, which pretty much lists the 4 country of the reinsurers across the world 5 actually that have -- have a piece of the 6 action there. 7 We also have a -- we've put together, and 8 continue to put together, a loss estimate by a 9 company for the -- the hijackings. And when 10 they gave us a range, we used the highest 11 number in that range. And we still have some 12 companies that we have not gotten information 13 from. 14 At this point it -- although you've heard 15 numbers of 100 to 150 billion and all these 16 other things, the truth of the matter is, it's 17 very much like Hurricane Andrew. Everybody 18 wants to throw out numbers, but we're quite a 19 ways before anybody's going to know what the 20 real numbers are. And most of the numbers that 21 are thrown out don't have a lot of real good 22 basis for them. 23 With that, without all the companies' 24 research and everything else, we -- we see 25 about 17.5 billion in round numbers. And the ACCURATE
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TO SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 64 2 be able to handle that, because most of this 3 reinsurance -- you know, it was all over the 4 world, Bermuda, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, 5 Netherlands, Japan, Spain, pretty much 6 reinsurers all over the world have a piece of 7 this business. 8 And we believe that they should be able to 9 handle it. And, of course, the one that we 10 watch closest, and want to make sure they can 11 handle theirs is Lloyds, who a few years ago 12 had some problems in meeting some of their 13 obligations. And hopefully they're back up and 14 healthy, and we're monitoring that pretty 15 closely. 16 And that's where we are. 17 The biggest problem is the reinsurance, two 18 ways: One, companies in Florida that have 19 reinsurance with some of these companies that 20 are going to have some major hits; as well as 21 what's going to happen in the reinsurance 22 market in the next few months in order to get 23 coverage. 24 And we'll be monitoring that very closely. 25 GOVERNOR BUSH: Thank you. ACCURATE
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TO SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 65 2 COMPTROLLER MILLIGAN: As you're aware, 3 Governor, and Commissioner Moore's aware, there 4 was considerable concern on the -- the 5 11th of September with -- whether or not banks 6 had problems with cash management nationally. 7 As it turned out, it was not a problem here 8 in Florida. We did have four banks that 9 closed. Three of them closed because they were 10 in high-rise buildings, and essentially the 11 buildings had been vacated, and had no 12 business. 13 The banking industry is safe and sound. 14 And I can say that unequivocally. 15 The securities industry, on the other hand, 16 has suffered a not unexpected turndown, 17 although we did rebound a little bit yesterday. 18 I don't know what's happening today. 19 Again, I think the same comment that was 20 made by many, many people, it's a time to be 21 patient and trust the strongest economy in the 22 world. We will be safe and sound in the 23 securities industry also. 24 More at home here in the Department, by 25 chance, we had just wickered up our -- what was ACCURATE
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TO SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 66 2 educate consumers on -- on a financial fraud. 3 And, you know, economic -- or financial 4 terrorism is also a concern, and one that I 5 know Tim is concerned about, and -- and being 6 addressed aggressively. It can be as 7 devastating in terms of terrorism as 8 practically anything that we might be 9 confronted with. 10 We also back up our accounting information 11 nightly off-site. And so I'm comfortable that 12 if we had a problem, we could recover, and we 13 do train to that. 14 I will also say that based on this 15 resolution this morning, that I will send a 16 letter to all of the industries that the 17 Department is responsible for, encouraging them 18 to follow a similar course of action, and 19 provide some financial relief, where required, 20 to make a protocol to the -- 21 And, finally, we've had in the Department a 22 very strong security program in place. And we 23 just have continued to maintain that level of 24 security and control, and will continue to do 25 so into the future. ACCURATE
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TO SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 67 2 the accounting and auditing responsibilities 3 are -- are safe and sound; and banking is safe 4 and sound; and securities, as safe and sound as 5 it can be under the circumstances. 6 GOVERNOR BUSH: Secretary Harris? 7 SECRETARY HARRIS: Thank you, Governor. 8 Of course, we do all the normal procedures 9 of ingress and egress and technology issues 10 immediately. 11 But one of the things we've had to address 12 as well are the licensing -- the Division of 13 Licensing where we license and regulate 14 security officers. We have about 15 75,000 private officers in -- that are security 16 in the -- in the licensed security officers 17 throughout the state. 18 There's careful screening, and it helps to 19 ensure that our citizens and out-of-state 20 visitors are served by qualified, knowledgeable 21 security officers. Many are armed, of course, 22 and we have about a 2 to 1 ratio of these 23 licensed security officers in the private 24 sector to law enforcement, which we think goes 25 a long way to ensuring the security that people ACCURATE
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TO SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 68 2 security officers prior to seeing a -- an 3 actual law enforcement officer. 4 And in times certainly of crisis or 5 economic downturn, it's really important that 6 the private sector has the opportunity to 7 participate and grow in that arena as well. 8 Many of these private security officers are 9 performing duties that traditionally have been 10 assigned to law enforcement personnel, like 11 patrolling public streets or providing security 12 in courthouses and other facilities, carrying 13 out certain aspects of investigation. 14 And because -- because of the recent 15 concerns, even in some parts, State 16 security officers are being employed by the 17 military to -- to provide services at 18 National Guard Armories, things like that. 19 We -- we've also invoked emergency 20 authority to allow licensed security agencies 21 here in Florida to secure licensed personnel 22 that are out of state, and careful screening 23 process in that. 24 The nature and extent of such emergencies 25 could possibly limit law enforcement to provide ACCURATE
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TO SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 69 2 for example, we're already employing some of 3 these -- these security personnel at 4 Cape Canaveral, Air Force, and Kennedy Space 5 Center to -- to make up for -- for the 6 shortfall. 7 GOVERNOR BUSH: Thank you. 8 Charlie -- 9 SECRETARY HARRIS: Oh, I have one other. 10 GOVERNOR BUSH: Oh, I'm sorry. 11 SECRETARY HARRIS: And, you know, I just 12 have one other issue. 13 In terms of libraries, we also received 14 reports of some of these suspects perhaps 15 working on chat rooms. 16 So we're instituting new protocols in terms 17 of sign-in procedures, as well as working with 18 the privacy laws that secure the list of who 19 checks out which books. Because there have 20 been some -- some keen issues of -- of some of 21 these people that have checked out specific 22 books. 23 And so we had to -- to go through those 24 procedures as well. 25 COMMISSIONER CRIST: Governor. Thank you. ACCURATE
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TO SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 70 2 Commissioner Moore. 3 You know, two weeks ago today was a pretty 4 incredible experience to be in a Cabinet 5 meeting, and a reporter mentioned to you right 6 before we sat down that they had heard two 7 planes had crashed into the World Trade Center. 8 And obviously then we proceeded on, not 9 knowing exactly what that was that had 10 happened. 11 And then going over to the Emergency 12 Operations Center with you, Governor, and your 13 leadership I think and your -- your courage, 14 your calming words, as Commissioner Moore 15 indicated earlier, were very important to our 16 people. 17 And I didn't realize it at the time, but I 18 had a brother-in-law and sister that were 19 supposed to be on one of the two flights out of 20 Boston that morning. 21 And, you know, you just don't realize how 22 those things touch an awful lot of people in a 23 big way. 24 But the reassurance is, one of the most 25 important things, that I think we can ACCURATE
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TO SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 71 2 As Commissioner Moore indicated earlier, we 3 decided to evacuate Turlington that day as well 4 in an abundance of caution. And some people 5 may have thought it was an overreaction, but 6 I'd rather err on that side. 7 Also FDLE has provided security for that 8 building, too. 9 And appreciate that very much, 10 Commissioner. 11 On September 12th, our staff surveyed all 12 67 Districts in the state via telephone to 13 determine what tragedy related actions have 14 been taken in the wake of the events of the 15 previous day. 16 We also disseminated research based 17 information to each District to help students 18 cope with the tragedy. And that's probably the 19 area that we're most concerned with, obviously 20 is the impact on children. 21 And we have distributed a letter from 22 First Lady Laura Bush, as well as 23 U.S. Secretary Rod Paige in regard to that. 24 And in conversation with 25 Commissioner Moore, we've talked about how ACCURATE
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TO SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 72 2 discrimination, that the diversity of our state 3 is one of our strengths. Certainly it's one of 4 the great strengths of our country as well, and 5 that it's important not to blame some for the 6 acts of a few. 7 And so we've encouraged and disseminated 8 that message to all of our Districts. 9 I have visited a number of schools, just 10 unannounced, to talk to principals, talk to 11 teachers, and students; high schools, 12 middle schools -- actually went to a 13 high school football game last Friday night. 14 And the team that we went to won. So they were 15 happy. 16 But normalcy is starting to be restored, 17 Governor, and I think that's important. 18 On September 17th, a letter was distributed 19 to all School Districts and Superintendents 20 encouraging unity among our diverse cultures, 21 and encouraging the continued implementation of 22 action plans throughout the state. 23 And then on September 18th, with 24 Commissioner Moore, we conducted a conference 25 call with all of our superintendents throughout ACCURATE
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TO SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 73 2 questions or comments or ways of -- within 3 which either our Department or the FDLE could 4 be of assistance, to make sure that things were 5 as secure as they could possibly be. 6 I'm just real proud of the people at our 7 Department. They are dedicated, hardworking 8 public servants, and they serve the people 9 well. 10 And thank you, again, Governor; thank you, 11 Commissioner Moore. 12 GOVERNOR BUSH: Thank you. 13 General Butterworth? 14 ATTORNEY GENERAL BUTTERWORTH: Thank you, 15 Governor. 16 As well as the State, I'm also very proud 17 of all the men and women working in our agency, 18 as well as those in the emergency services for 19 the very, very quick response. 20 The Attorney General's Office has various 21 roles also to play in this area. One of them 22 is our Victims Program where we do work with 23 the national organization of victim assistance, 24 where we do the victims compensation with the 25 grieving and the people who -- in Florida ACCURATE
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TO SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 74 2 lives or were injured or missing. We are 3 dealing with those. 4 Also we are sending people to New York and 5 New Jersey who still, to date, has over 6 2,000 people missing in the World Trade Center 7 towers. 8 And as Commissioner Moore stated, we also 9 deal very much with -- with hate crimes. And 10 we went right on immediately with protecting 11 the people of Muslim states from people who 12 would want to take terrorist acts against them. 13 And we certainly appreciate the -- the 14 rapidness with which all local law enforcement 15 was able to -- to be there in order to protect 16 those that -- that had to be protected. 17 Also we're working with the three 18 U.S. Attorneys at the request of the 19 U.S. Attorney General so far as with their 20 coordinating the -- the task forces. 21 And we'll be offering our Statewide 22 Prosecutors, and other lawyers, to be able to 23 handle a number of their cases in 24 Federal Court, since a lot of their particular 25 work will be dealt with with doing this. ACCURATE
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TO SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 75 2 I believe has, what, 10,000 agents worldwide, 3 Commissioner Moore? 4 MR. MOORE: (Nodding head.) 5 ATTORNEY GENERAL BUTTERWORTH: And there's 6 150,000 leads. That -- we must understand, 7 even though the FBI plays a primary role here, 8 the FBI cannot do it alone. There is just no 9 two ways about it. 10 What's ended up happening is I -- I believe 11 that -- and Commissioner Moore is in charge of 12 this, that I believe a lot of these leads can 13 be handled locally, as they will be. And that 14 even though now we have our -- our hands around 15 the problem, we're putting in intervention, the 16 next particular aspect is intelligence 17 gathering -- 18 GOVERNOR BUSH: Uh-hum. 19 ATTORNEY GENERAL BUTTERWORTH: -- and 20 intelligence sharing. 21 This is, I think so important right now, 22 and we cannot rely upon just the FBI, just the 23 CIA to do this. 24 And we find that virtually, for a whole lot 25 of our particular intelligence, especially in ACCURATE
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TO SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 76 2 there locally in the law enforcement 3 communities. 4 But this particular aspect will go beyond 5 just traditional law enforcement. And it will 6 take a -- persons I believe involved in 7 banking; involved in -- in securities; people 8 that are security officers, armed security 9 officers, unarmed officers; perhaps school 10 teachers. 11 This will -- this literally will take 12 virtually all of us who -- who are up here to 13 have persons that we deal with daily to 14 understand what their role might be in 15 intelligence gathering, and get that particular 16 information shared. 17 With that though we do have problems 18 insofar as what is our public records law in 19 the State of Florida. And we are working with 20 the various entities to see how law enforcement 21 agencies make sure that that which should not 22 be released will not be released. 23 Also many agencies are wishing to -- maybe, 24 let's say, the Department of Highway Safety, 25 Fred will give us a report on ACCURATE
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TO SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 77 2 The Department of Highway Safety in Florida 3 does a tremendous job on -- on 4 driver's licenses. But obviously everything 5 can be improved. 6 What improvements will take legislative 7 action, which improvements can actually be done 8 by rule, without having to take legislative 9 action. 10 But there are a number of things we're 11 looking at. We now have looked at it from the 12 standpoint of initial reaction will be, as 13 we're seeing on the Federal level, the 14 U.S. Attorney General is asking for -- for 15 certain authorities and powers. And some 16 people say, wait a minute, that's -- I'm going 17 to write -- saying, wait a minute, maybe that's 18 taking away too many of our personal -- 19 personal rights. 20 So we'll be doing the same thing here 21 insofar as making sure that whatever actions we 22 take are not going to be overreaction to where 23 our -- 24 MR. MOORE: Uh-hum. 25 ATTORNEY GENERAL BUTTERWORTH: -- well ACCURATE
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TO SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 78 2 violated. 3 And this is a role where obviously the 4 Department of Legal Affairs, and the 5 Attorney General's Office has -- has to work 6 very closely with the Legislature, and everyone 7 else in law enforcement to make sure that we 8 just do what we have to do, and not -- not go 9 too far. 10 A lot of that's going to be in a wiretap 11 arena, which Florida pretty much is in the lead 12 nationally. But still we may have more ideas 13 than we might want to put on the table, that 14 type of thing. 15 GOVERNOR BUSH: Thank you. 16 I want to -- if it's all right, maybe we 17 ought to move on to the Cabinet agenda. 18 But I wanted to personally thank 19 Commissioner Moore for his 24-hour, seven day a 20 week commitment to this. 21 It has been impressive beyond belief to -- 22 to -- this is a huge undertaking. Just the 23 briefings from -- from the Department -- from 24 your areas of responsibility show how 25 comprehensive this is. ACCURATE
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TO SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 79 2 operations activities that Craig is responsible 3 for, and Craig continues to -- in the middle of 4 this terrorist attack, we had a tropical storm 5 go right through the middle of our state, and 6 these guys didn't miss a beat out there. 7 And the Florida Department of Law 8 Enforcement has done the exact same thing. And 9 you really measure, I think, people when times 10 are -- are difficult and tough, and how they 11 rise to the challenge. 12 And, Tim, you and your team have done just 13 that, and we're very proud of you. And we 14 thank you for your hard work. 15 And going forward, I guess it might be 16 appropriate to come and -- and brief us on 17 where we stand with this. 18 One of the things we didn't talk about is 19 the -- the State Capitol. 20 General, your recommendations that were 21 made a few years ago, the new paradigm, has 22 created a -- a new thinking I think in that 23 regard. 24 There's an openness by the Legislature to 25 accept the recommendations now, and so we're ACCURATE
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TO SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 80 2 recommendations, and very good recommendations 3 you made. 4 Including the Capitol Police being placed 5 under the auspices of the Florida Department of 6 Law Enforcement, which I wholeheartedly 7 support. 8 There will be a special session at some 9 point, date yet to be defined, for anybody 10 interested. 11 But one of the subjects that I believe will 12 probably be dealt with is to make that transfer 13 happen. 14 The security around here is going to be 15 higher, but the convenience of being able to 16 come to the people's building when the 17 Legislature deliberates will be -- will -- 18 we'll -- we'll find that balance, and we will 19 make sure that people aren't restricted access, 20 but just that we use common sense as it relates 21 to security measures going forward. 22 So, Tim, you've done a great job. 23 MR. MOORE: Well, thank you, sir. 24 You -- you've got a lot to be proud of on 25 that dais, too, the men and woman that work for ACCURATE
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TO SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 81 2 the State of Florida. They do -- they're doing 3 the work, and they're doing a darn good job. 4 I'm real proud of that. 5 This is a first cut. We will have more 6 work to do. 7 But in talking to my counterparts around 8 the country, I can tell you that without 9 contradiction, your state of Florida is in the 10 lead in terms of what's going on across the 11 state of Florida to -- to deal with this issue. 12 And I think that's being recognized far and 13 wide. 14 And I thank you for those kind words, but 15 they belong to the men and women doing the job. 16 GOVERNOR BUSH: Chiefs, can you come up 17 here and get a picture? Because I know -- I 18 know you've got to head back. 19 But I wanted -- before you leave, I'd be 20 honored to have a picture with you all. I 21 don't know if you want one of us. 22 But -- 23 (Discussion off the record.) 24 TREASURER GALLAGHER: I think 25 Commissioner Moore needs to still be here so we ACCURATE
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TO SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 82 2 And I'd like to -- 3 GOVERNOR BUSH: Well, can we first say, the 4 next Cabinet meeting will be held Tuesday, 5 October 16th, in this very room. 6 (The Summary of the Action Subsequent to 7 September 11, 2001, Agenda was concluded.) 8 * * * 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 ACCURATE
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DEPARTMENT OF LAW ENFORCEMENT 83 2 Enforcement. 3 TREASURER GALLAGHER: I would like to make 4 a motion on the minutes. 5 COMMISSIONER CRIST: Second. 6 GOVERNOR BUSH: Moved and seconded. 7 Without objection, it's approved. 8 Item 2. 9 MR. MOORE: Governor, Item 2 is a rule that 10 will put in place a bill that was passed this 11 past session, building on some successes we've 12 had in combating violent crime. 13 We had a violent crime council in the state 14 of Florida that really aggregated and focused 15 the interest of State and local 16 law enforcement. 17 But we're doing something about violent 18 crime over the last several years. And as the 19 data shows, we've made some progress. 20 And then taking and building on that good 21 effort, we're -- we suggested, and the 22 Legislature passed a bill -- actually then 23 Senator, now Commissioner Bronson, sponsored it 24 in the Senate, that would take the violent 25 crime and expand it and become Florida's ACCURATE
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DEPARTMENT OF LAW ENFORCEMENT 84 2 It would give us a venue and a mechanism 3 to -- to integrate the effort, and to focus the 4 effort of all law enforcement in Florida 5 against the major drug traffickers in Florida, 6 in support of our goal of reducing the illegal 7 supply of drugs by 33 percent by 2005, which is 8 central to -- to our state's drug control 9 strategy. 10 This bill -- this rule implements that 11 bill. There was 2 million dollars appropriated 12 to help support that effort, to match and cause 13 shared local government investments, as long as 14 they're working on the kind of organizations 15 that -- that we're saying are bringing in the 16 majority of the poison into our state. 17 And the bill also adds General Milligan 18 to -- to the Council as well because of the 19 money laundering, financial interests that 20 are -- unfortunately is associated with the 21 drug trade. 22 So the rule does that, Governor. 23 TREASURER GALLAGHER: Motion on 2. 24 COMMISSIONER CRIST: Second. 25 GOVERNOR BUSH: Moved and seconded. ACCURATE
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DEPARTMENT OF LAW ENFORCEMENT 85 2 Thank you, Tim. 3 MR. MOORE: Thank you. 4 (The Florida Department of Law Enforcement 5 Agenda was concluded.) 6 * * * 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 ACCURATE
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SAFETY AND MOTOR VEHICLES 86 2 Highway Safety. 3 TREASURER GALLAGHER: Motion on the 4 minutes. 5 COMMISSIONER CRIST: Second. 6 GOVERNOR BUSH: Moved and seconded. 7 Without objection, it's approved. 8 Item 2. 9 MR. DICKINSON: Governor, Item 2 is the 10 submission of the Department's Legislative 11 Budget Request for 2002-2003 for the purpose 12 of -- 13 TREASURER GALLAGHER: Motion on 2. 14 ATTORNEY GENERAL BUTTERWORTH: Second. 15 GOVERNOR BUSH: Moved and seconded. 16 I'm abstaining from this vote in order to 17 make my own budget recommendations. 18 Any objections? 19 The item is approved. 20 Excuse me. I lose another vote. 21 Four nothing to one. 22 ATTORNEY GENERAL BUTTERWORTH: No. I'm in 23 favor of -- 24 GOVERNOR BUSH: Oh, you are. You're -- oh, 25 good. ACCURATE
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SAFETY AND MOTOR VEHICLES 87 2 supporting the budget request. 3 ATTORNEY GENERAL BUTTERWORTH: I was 4 helping you with -- 5 TREASURER GALLAGHER: It was five to 6 nothing. 7 GOVERNOR BUSH: No, I'm not voting on it, 8 particularly now. 9 ATTORNEY GENERAL BUTTERWORTH: All right. 10 MR. DICKINSON: Obviously, we are also 11 participating in the 5 percent reduction. And 12 so this is -- 13 GOVERNOR BUSH: Yeah. 14 MR. DICKINSON: -- a little change in the 15 game plan. But -- 16 GOVERNOR BUSH: There will be -- a lot of 17 it depends I -- my budget obviously is going to 18 depend on what happens in October, because when 19 we submit -- 20 TREASURER GALLAGHER: What date was that in 21 October, Governor? 22 GOVERNOR BUSH: Don't know yet. 23 TREASURER GALLAGHER: Good. 24 MR. DICKINSON: Item 3 is submission of the 25 Department's 2002 legislative package. ACCURATE
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SAFETY AND MOTOR VEHICLES 88 2 COMMISSIONER CRIST: Second. 3 GOVERNOR BUSH: Moved and seconded. 4 Without objection, it's approved. 5 TREASURER GALLAGHER: You're not voting on 6 that, are you? 7 GOVERNOR BUSH: Yeah, I'm voting on that. 8 I can vote on the legislative package. 9 MR. DICKINSON: Governor, if I might. 10 We've been working with the 11 Attorney General's Office, and we'll be having 12 some recommendations forthcoming to you with 13 regard to the driver license side of this -- 14 this whole effort. Long-term, short-term, some 15 require some legislative attention, some don't. 16 You know, there's -- there's a little 17 hysteria going on right now, and I think the 18 dust probably needs to settle. 19 We have some ideas of -- of how to tighten 20 up. There's always ways, as the General 21 mentioned, for us to do our job a little 22 better. 23 I'm pleased there haven't really been too 24 many reports of any fraud, per se -- 25 GOVERNOR BUSH: Right. ACCURATE
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SAFETY AND MOTOR VEHICLES 89 2 and women that perpetrated all this stuff came 3 through Florida and -- and -- and had 4 documentation. 5 GOVERNOR BUSH: And one of the things that 6 I saw that -- that could be adjusted is the 7 timing of the driver's license -- how long 8 someone gets a driver's license, making it 9 concurrent with how long someone legally can be 10 in the country would be a good start. 11 I mean, the whole INS is out of our -- 12 above our paygrade. But just enforcement of 13 immigration laws and tightening up those -- 14 those issues are going to be clearly part of 15 this new -- new life I think we're going to 16 live in our country. And -- and we probably 17 need to make some adjustments in that regard as 18 well. 19 ATTORNEY GENERAL BUTTERWORTH: Well, 20 Governor, I think that -- that's correct. 21 And -- and -- and here -- 22 GOVERNOR BUSH: That was on? 23 ATTORNEY GENERAL BUTTERWORTH: It's a 24 conspiracy, since I'm the only person with D 25 behind my name, I'm -- ACCURATE
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SAFETY AND MOTOR VEHICLES 90 2 sensitive. 3 TREASURER GALLAGHER: It's not on. 4 COMMISSIONER CRIST: You just turned it 5 off, General. 6 TREASURER GALLAGHER: There you go. 7 COMMISSIONER CRIST: You're the 8 conspirator. 9 TREASURER GALLAGHER: Obviously -- 10 GOVERNOR BUSH: We'll get you -- 11 ATTORNEY GENERAL BUTTERWORTH: Well, we 12 have one of the -- one of the artists I like 13 here. 14 I like it a little different. 15 Florida basically, obviously, is the 16 number one tourist area destination in the 17 country. And just for that reason, if anybody 18 comes here for other reasons, they -- they'd 19 much rather be in Florida climate than probably 20 be in Fargo, North Dakota, where they only get 21 outside for 60 days out of the whole year. 22 But Florida historically has taken a lead 23 on driver's license fraud nationally, and has 24 been recognized for that. 25 Fred's department has already been able ACCURATE
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SAFETY AND MOTOR VEHICLES 91 2 applicant, people that are wanted by the FBI's 3 top ten list. 4 I mean, so they've done a wonderful job, 5 you know, looking forward, I mean, to 6 Department of Highway Safety again leading the 7 nation insofar as the driver's license. 8 And I have full faith -- 9 GOVERNOR BUSH: Absolutely. 10 (Commissioner Crist exited the room.) 11 GOVERNOR BUSH: Does that -- 12 TREASURER GALLAGHER: That's it? 13 GOVERNOR BUSH: That's it. Thank you, 14 Tim -- excuse me -- Fred. 15 You finished? 16 MR. DICKINSON: Can I have one further 17 item? 18 I -- I do believe on our legislative 19 package, there will be a change forthcoming 20 that we've worked with the Controller's Office 21 on. And I've just been alerted to that. 22 We have no problem with the change, and 23 it's coming down the pike. But -- 24 GOVERNOR BUSH: Very good. 25 MR. DICKINSON: Thank you, sir. ACCURATE
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OF REVENUE 92 2 Vehicles Agenda was concluded.) 3 * * * 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 ACCURATE
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OF REVENUE 93 2 TREASURER GALLAGHER: Motion on the 3 minutes. 4 SECRETARY HARRIS: Second. 5 GOVERNOR BUSH: Moved and seconded. 6 Without objection, Item 1 is approved. 7 How's the -- how's the Revenue look, Jim? 8 DR. ZINGALE: Well, two quick highlights I 9 was going to give you. 10 One, we obviously have a -- a strong 11 interest in trying to figure out weekly instead 12 of at the end of the following month of what's 13 going on and how economic activity translates 14 into taxes. 15 Quick highlight on sales tax. 16 Some good news from the standpoint that 17 about 45 percent of sales tax is paid from only 18 1100 taxpayers. Okay? 19 And these people file electronically. And 20 a good chunk of them submit their returns 21 earlier than the end of the filing period 22 electronically. 23 So we have started to get into developing 24 weekly types of activity. 25 If you looked at the six sectors that the ACCURATE
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OF REVENUE 94 2 large ones: Building construction and business 3 investment, we'll want to sample them, too. 4 Not just tourism. We want to be able to look 5 at those sectors to see what's going on in 6 those areas. 7 And obviously the interest rate does set 8 a -- a climate for those sectors to rebound 9 well. 10 On -- on the consumer side, auto sales and 11 durable good sales, our other two very large 12 sectors out there also. Very sensitive to 13 interest rates. 14 You see substantial ads everywhere, 15 interest free for 12 months, interest free for 16 24 months as inducing things that are out 17 there. 18 Mall sales, the clothing side, the jewelry 19 side are our largest sector. And we obviously 20 have to get some -- some of those in our sample 21 to try to figure out what's going on. 22 And tourism -- at least the big category, 23 tourism also has the recreational side of that 24 that we tend to forget. 25 As a matter of fact, as large a component ACCURATE
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OF REVENUE 95 2 to the movies, those kind of recreational 3 activities that are built in that sector. 4 Obviously tourism in the immediate impact 5 has taken a huge hit. But you start seeing 6 signs, there were lines at Disney, other -- 7 other sites like that across the country have 8 started to rebound back. 9 But what we do need, you need to kind of 10 understand how the money flows in. The 11 economic activity for sales in September 12 doesn't translate into taxes until late 13 October. 14 So we're trying to be able to tap into the 15 data we have coming in, try to get early 16 indicators in early October. And then maybe to 17 have an outreach preserving confidentiality of 18 taxpayers' data, but a direct outreach to at 19 least the group that are in this thousand to 20 try to get some barometer on a weekly basis, 21 put that in place, and then keep that going all 22 the way through, not only this special session 23 coming up, but the regular session, and all the 24 way through the end of the year, probably a 25 part of our permanent process is going to have ACCURATE
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OF REVENUE 96 2 more realistic data immediately. 3 I caution everybody to think about all the 4 sectors, not just the ones that make the 5 headlines every day. It's a very robust, broad 6 economy. It's not just the things that we see 7 the shock value in the paper every day, because 8 those are immediate things you can see in terms 9 of lines. 10 An awful lot of our tax base comes in on 11 the investment side, on the construction side, 12 on the auto and durable good side, things where 13 the fundamentals really haven't changed all 14 that much, except for consumer confidence. 15 So we're working hard. It's a lot of 16 computer programming. 17 We may have to ask people to help us 18 coordinate if we get to a phone outreach. We 19 have talked with associated industries, and 20 we've got to balance the confidentiality versus 21 the need to know. 22 Any questions about that effort before we 23 go into our agenda? 24 GOVERNOR BUSH: Appreciate you doing it -- 25 DR. ZINGALE: Okay. ACCURATE
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OF REVENUE 97 2 DR. ZINGALE: One last heads up. 3 Telecommunications is coming up in five days, 4 and so far everything is great. We're happy. 5 There'll be a little outfall after this in 6 terms of how the rates all come out. 7 But so far, that's -- 8 GOVERNOR BUSH: People actually see how 9 much they pay in taxes, that'll get going -- 10 that'll get some juices going. 11 It's all been hidden up to now. 12 DR. ZINGALE: Our basic agenda for today is 13 our legislative package under tabs 2, our 14 legislative concept. 15 We actually have 12 items that are things 16 we submitted last session, things that you 17 approved last year. 18 (Commissioner Crist entered the room.) 19 DR. ZINGALE: The 12 items that are here on 20 the top shaded in the gray passed both houses 21 of the -- 22 (Secretary Harris exited the room.) 23 DR. ZINGALE: -- legislature. They just 24 didn't get to the Governor. They were in a 25 bill that had a few other things that weren't ACCURATE
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OF REVENUE 98 2 GOVERNOR BUSH: Which one was it -- 3 DR. ZINGALE: Beyond that. 4 GOVERNOR BUSH: Which one did I veto? 5 MS. ECHEVERRI: No, you -- 6 DR. ZINGALE: No, no, no. You didn't veto 7 it. It never got to you. 8 It had a few other things that had tracked 9 it along the way that caused the Legislature 10 not to want to send the whole bill over. 11 But each of these provisions passed either 12 house at one time or other. 13 GOVERNOR BUSH: Oh, I'm sorry. 14 DR. ZINGALE: In terms of our child support 15 package coming forward, we have a major concept 16 that deals with administrative establishment 17 that we want to continue to study. 18 GOVERNOR BUSH: Is there a motion on the -- 19 TREASURER GALLAGHER: Motion on 2. 20 ATTORNEY GENERAL BUTTERWORTH: Second. 21 DR. ZINGALE: Motion on 2. 22 COMPTROLLER MILLIGAN: Second. 23 GOVERNOR BUSH: Any discussion? 24 Moved and seconded. 25 Without objection, it's approved. ACCURATE
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OF REVENUE 99 2 DR. ZINGALE: Thank you very much. 3 (The Department of Revenue Agenda was 4 concluded.) 5 * * * 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 ACCURATE
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OF EDUCATION 100 2 TREASURER GALLAGHER: Motion on the 3 minutes. 4 ATTORNEY GENERAL BUTTERWORTH: Second. 5 GOVERNOR BUSH: Moved and seconded. 6 Without objection, it's approved. 7 Item 2. 8 MR. PIERSON: Item 2 is a report by 9 Volusia County on their progress during their 10 first year as a charter school district. 11 Have Deputy Superintendent, Tim Huth; and 12 Assistant Superintendent, Chris Colwell, to 13 make the presentation. 14 GOVERNOR BUSH: Welcome. 15 MR. HUTH: Welcome. 16 Good to see you again. 17 GOVERNOR BUSH: Good seeing you all. 18 MR. HUTH: As you recall, a year ago, on 19 July the 11th, 2000, we entered in a contract 20 between the State Board and Volusia County 21 Schools to give us the ability to waive State 22 statute, DOE regs, and the School Board rules 23 and regulations to help us become more 24 effective, efficient, and accelerate its 25 student learning. ACCURATE
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OF EDUCATION 101 2 today, because on this day, too, he has -- we 3 have our first School Board meeting since the 4 November the 11th (sic) terrorist attack, and 5 there are certain programs going on in our 6 District that he needed to attend to. 7 Each of you hopefully have received the 8 annual report. We will point out a couple of 9 the pages in there. 10 It is divided into four sections. And one 11 of the things that we have recognized is that 12 through this first year's effort, we have seen 13 an increase in the involvement of our parents, 14 our school advisory councils in their schools, 15 recognizing that they truly have from a 16 grassroots, ground effort, an ability to enact 17 change. 18 In the section that's identified as 19 Internal Reviews, if you look at page 2, it's 20 a -- a chart. And in that chart, it's showing 21 that 87 percent of the waivers that have come 22 through this year, which are 48 waivers that 23 have been approved by our School Board, have 24 come from school-based decisions. 25 That means the school advisory councils, ACCURATE
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OF EDUCATION 102 2 signed off on it, recognizing that they wanted 3 to have certain amounts of freedom. 4 We also found that one of our charter 5 schools submitted a waiver. And they, too, 6 enjoy some of the benefits of being in a 7 charter district. 8 And -- and another interesting by-product 9 was that in the negotiations with our teachers' 10 union last year, that we added a component that 11 will waive the collective bargaining agreement 12 so that we can -- 13 GOVERNOR BUSH: What -- 14 MR. HUTH: -- do some things that are 15 different at an individual school, and not be 16 handcuffed by some of the collective bargaining 17 agreements. 18 And, in fact, in this upcoming year, we 19 have in the developmental stage, one of our 20 schools is wanting to lengthen the school days 21 at the elementary. Instead of it being for 22 8:00 to 2:00, add more time, half hour, hour, 23 so that we can go ahead and provide more 24 educational instruction, and go beyond the 25 teacher's contract. ACCURATE
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OF EDUCATION 103 2 is a positive by-product of its environment. 3 GOVERNOR BUSH: So that -- that collective 4 bargaining agreement would prohibit that -- 5 your getting a waiver, and then the school -- 6 the teachers at the school would approve 7 that -- 8 MR. HUTH: That is correct. 9 TREASURER GALLAGHER: They vote on it at 10 the school? 11 MR. HUTH: They vote on it at the school, 12 and it has to have an 80 percent approval. 13 GOVERNOR BUSH: So it's kind of like taking 14 the charter district down to the charter 15 school -- 16 MR. HUTH: Right. 17 TREASURER GALLAGHER: Downsize. 18 MR. HUTH: Absolutely. Absolutely. 19 TREASURER GALLAGHER: That's good stuff. 20 MR. HUTH: Go right ahead. 21 GOVERNOR BUSH: Can I -- are you -- 22 I'm sorry. 23 MR. HUTH: Go right ahead. 24 GOVERNOR BUSH: Well, I -- the school 25 recognition dollars, you're seeking a waiver ACCURATE
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OF EDUCATION 104 2 I've always found the school recognition 3 rules to be so vague that I don't know what you 4 would waive. 5 MR. HUTH: Sure. 6 TREASURER GALLAGHER: They give -- they 7 want the lump sum for them, and they want to 8 hand it out their own way, is that what -- 9 GOVERNOR BUSH: Basically, that's what -- 10 that's what it is right now. 11 TREASURER GALLAGHER: Well, no. We -- we 12 do it by school per student. And they want to 13 do it some other way. I don't know what -- 14 DR. COLWELL: Good morning, Governor, 15 Cabinet. 16 The -- you bring up a good point. That 17 language is very open for schools. And what we 18 found, we had a series of waivers that came 19 forward asking for flexibility of use of those 20 dollars. 21 These waivers come out -- each of the 22 waivers you see from our parent advisory group 23 and our teacher groups. And actually when we 24 looked at what they did with them, they would 25 have been able to do that under the statute ACCURATE
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OF EDUCATION 105 2 GOVERNOR BUSH: But you're not taking -- 3 DR. COLWELL: -- provided. 4 GOVERNOR BUSH: -- $100 per student to 5 other schools. 6 MR. HUTH: No. 7 DR. COLWELL: No. Not at all. That stays 8 within the school. 9 What they wanted is they were -- in their 10 deliberative process was the ability to make 11 decisions without having to worry about, would 12 this -- for example, if a -- if a school -- and 13 one of the schools actually leased a portable, 14 which I -- I think was the only area where they 15 would have fallen outside those regulations. 16 GOVERNOR BUSH: Yeah. Recurring things 17 probably aren't -- 18 MR. HUTH: Right. 19 GOVERNOR BUSH: -- appropriate. But -- 20 TREASURER GALLAGHER: Yeah. We -- 21 GOVERNOR BUSH: -- everything else, trips 22 to Brazil, everything else -- 23 TREASURER GALLAGHER: Yeah. 24 The concern was that if -- if they take the 25 nonrecurring dollars, and hire people -- ACCURATE
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OF EDUCATION 106 2 TREASURER GALLAGHER: -- then the next 3 year, they're going to be coming to you, and 4 saying -- 5 MR. HUTH: Correct. 6 TREASURER GALLAGHER: -- we've got these 7 people you funded -- 8 MR. HUTH: Right. 9 TREASURER GALLAGHER: -- and you're going 10 to be coming to us and saying -- 11 MR. HUTH: -- we need to have that funding 12 increased. 13 TREASURER GALLAGHER: -- you need it 14 funded. And that just didn't seem like a good 15 idea all the way across -- 16 DR. COLWELL: Exactly. 17 GOVERNOR BUSH: Can I -- the other question 18 I had related to your -- your performance -- 19 your goals. 20 The last time I remember we talked about 21 29 goals in the rule -- 22 MR. HUTH: Yes. 23 GOVERNOR BUSH: -- being a little -- little 24 long. But you've done really well on them. 25 The only one -- I can't -- I can't -- with ACCURATE
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OF EDUCATION 107 2 goal was. Goal number 21? 3 DR. COLWELL: Yes, sir. That's the goal 4 that dealt with a number of referrals. 5 And we set some very aggressive target 6 goals to reduce the number of students that 7 were receiving the referrals, working with our 8 Values Education Program and our guidance 9 programs to do that. 10 And that -- that was probably our weakest 11 goal in terms of individual schools meeting 12 their targets. We only had 28 of our 13 63 schools that met that target. 14 The Superintendent and Board's position is 15 that those targets need to -- to be maintained 16 at a very high level, because we have a strong 17 commitment to a safe and orderly campus. And 18 with Commissioner Crist's leadership, the whole 19 issue of student safety and we believe student 20 behavior are very much tied in with each other. 21 TREASURER GALLAGHER: It's a goal that you 22 certainly don't want to hurt the saf-- 23 school safety by not reaching. 24 DR. COLWELL: That's correct. 25 And -- ACCURATE
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OF EDUCATION 108 2 DR. COLWELL: That's correct. And our 3 Superintendent has made -- 4 (Secretary Harris entered the room.) 5 DR. COLWELL: -- it very clear that we will 6 maintain a safe and early campus, and we are 7 not going to water down our expectations with 8 that goal. 9 So we have very mixed feelings about that 10 as well. 11 GOVERNOR BUSH: That's good. 12 TREASURER GALLAGHER: Teachers still, by 13 law -- and you didn't get that law waived -- 14 DR. COLWELL: Nor would we want to. 15 TREASURER GALLAGHER: Right. 16 -- have the responsibility for the safety 17 in the classroom, along with principals of the 18 school -- 19 MR. HUTH: Absolutely. 20 TREASURER GALLAGHER: -- and -- 21 MR. HUTH: Absolutely. 22 TREASURER GALLAGHER: -- their -- their 23 thoughts are -- let's say their requests are 24 taken seriously. 25 DR. COLWELL: One of the things that you ACCURATE
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OF EDUCATION 109 2 Southern Association, Governor, actually 3 reflected and echoed your sentiments last year. 4 One of their recommendations -- and 5 Mr. Huth will talk about it in a moment -- is 6 that we really need to look at streamlining 7 those goals. 8 And as -- as the Southern Association 9 looked at it, that they're -- they're very 10 measurable, which they appreciate, and they're 11 very -- set very high standards. But there 12 are, frankly, just too many of them. 13 So that's something you're going to see us 14 dialoguing with you, and -- and the Cabinet to 15 see if we can do a little better job on that. 16 Speaking of tab 2, which is the external 17 review, let me just mention briefly that we're 18 very proud to have entered into an exclusive 19 contract with the Southern Association of 20 Colleges and Schools. It's a three-year 21 contract. 22 And each year that we -- that 23 Volusia County presents its annual report, you 24 will get a separate report from the 25 Southern Association. ACCURATE
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OF EDUCATION 110 2 enough to send both of their Associate 3 Executive Directors directly to Volusia County 4 for the week. They interviewed many, many 5 teachers, principals, and parents. 6 And you can see that they really focused in 7 particular from a point of view of 8 commendations with the leadership in the 9 District. And, of course, that starts with our 10 Board and Superintendent. 11 But in particular, they were apprec-- 12 appreciated the leadership of the principals, 13 the teachers, and our parents. The structure 14 that we've established that allows, Governor, 15 as you said, that local flexibility to go not 16 only to the District, but down to the schools. 17 Many of these waivers are waivers of 18 School Board policy and procedure; and, 19 finally, the high expectations that are set. 20 And with that, I'm going to ask the 21 Deputy Superintendent to highlight a couple of 22 their recommendations for improvement. 23 MR. HUTH: It does help us to have 24 objective eyes come in and take a look at what 25 we're doing, because when you're so close to ACCURATE
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OF EDUCATION 111 2 And one of the things that the Association 3 said, that this is a major change -- a major 4 effort. And three years is not enough, because 5 five years, or more, is a window of time that 6 you can go ahead and enact effective change, 7 monitor it, and then report back on its 8 successes or -- or needs for change. 9 And to give you an example is extending the 10 school year that that one school wants to do in 11 extending a school day. They're in the 12 developmental stage. That individual school is 13 developing that right now in year 2. 14 And now they will hope to bring it forward 15 to the School Board sometime during this year 16 for enactment the following year, which would 17 be the third and last year of the pilot 18 possibly. 19 And we would -- you know, they see such a 20 major change, they would like to see that be 21 able to be identified and monitored for several 22 years to bring back results. 23 So one of the recommendations that the 24 SACS committee did was to work with the Board 25 and the Department of Ed in seeing about that ACCURATE
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OF EDUCATION 112 2 that effort. That would be something that 3 we'll get into discussions about. 4 Another very important point for all of us 5 is you need goals. As Dr. Colwell said, we see 6 different goals that we have established so 7 many of them in this charter district. 8 But what the SACS saw was we have District 9 approved goals, superintendent goals, school 10 goals, and charter district goals. And many of 11 those goals overlapped. You need to have a 12 common focus. One set that we're all driving 13 together to reach. 14 And so we're going to be working hard this 15 year to combine these into one goal statement 16 for the entire District. And those will be 17 something that we are -- knowing we can 18 accomplish and we'll be bringing that back in 19 year 2. 20 Another area that we saw this year was that 21 we hope that this coming legislative session, 22 that we don't seek proviso language or new 23 State statutes that single out the charter 24 districts so that we cannot be excluded from a 25 particular event. ACCURATE
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OF EDUCATION 113 2 there was $850 allocated to the teachers for 3 the bonus. And in the proviso language, it 4 says: The two charter school districts, 5 Hillsborough and Volusia, cannot exempt 6 themselves from this. 7 Well, that's the whole idea that we had was 8 for us to make decisions locally. And we're 9 hoping that in this next upcoming session, 10 we'll work with the lawmakers and decision 11 makers if something like this comes up again. 12 GOVERNOR BUSH: Ha hah. Excuse me. 13 What do you think of the idea that we're 14 analyzing, and Senator Pruitt has proposed 15 publicly, and others have in the past, 16 including myself in kind of a -- not -- not a 17 specific nature yet, but just the idea of a 18 lump sum -- the collapsing of all categoricals 19 into one -- 20 TREASURER GALLAGHER: They love it. 21 GOVERNOR BUSH: -- line. 22 Well, I -- I don't know. 23 I've had some mixed feelings -- mixed 24 reviews about this. 25 -- where you have to comply with Federal ACCURATE
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OF EDUCATION 114 2 whatever laws are left standing still that -- 3 that we haven't waived, would you -- would you 4 all feel comfortable with that? 5 MR. HUTH: We would. We recognize that 6 there are some over-- difficulties to overcome. 7 If we get a lump sum, then we are going to 8 allocate it based on the need of the individual 9 district. 10 One of the things the State has done that 11 has made us more comfortable about wanting to 12 go that direction, is we have accountability 13 standards that are very clear. 14 And our community recognizes a grade of a 15 school. It recognizes the data that we are 16 being provided is whether we're successful in 17 SAT scores, dropout rate, graduation rate. 18 So we're going to be accountable, and we 19 see the dollars coming to us in one lump sum, 20 then the outcome should be that we're reaching 21 these goals that the community expects. 22 So we would like that. But there are 23 problems with that. 24 You know, if we get all of the textbook 25 dollars in and we lose the history of how much ACCURATE
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OF EDUCATION 115 2 folks that might want to bargain that money 3 into salary increases. 4 Well, we need to allocate those -- 5 GOVERNOR BUSH: Yeah. Right. You want -- 6 MR. HUTH: -- things for technology or 7 textbooks. 8 GOVERNOR BUSH: -- we -- 9 MR. HUTH: And so, you know, we recognize 10 that we would have a couple of challenges 11 there. 12 GOVERNOR BUSH: But that's -- that's kind 13 of the point. I mean, that's the -- the -- 14 TREASURER GALLAGHER: It's -- 15 GOVERNOR BUSH: -- the flexibility along 16 with it comes additional responsibilities. And 17 you have to negotiate collectively -- 18 MR. HUTH: Absolutely. 19 GOVERNOR BUSH: -- on a way that protected 20 the other responsibilities. That's -- 21 MR. HUTH: But that -- that would drive all 22 of the Dis-- 23 GOVERNOR BUSH: -- couldn't blame the 24 Legislature or the mean old Governor, too. Not 25 that you've done it personally -- ACCURATE
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OF EDUCATION 116 2 TREASURER GALLAGHER: And the -- 3 MR. HUTH: As you know, Volusia County's 4 been fully supportive of this effort. 5 GOVERNOR BUSH: I know you have. I know. 6 MR. HUTH: And we're continuing. 7 One of the things, too, that the SACS 8 recommended that I've mentioned is that, if we 9 can align our goals and our whole community 10 understands what our goals are, then we get the 11 dollars and assign it to reaching those goals. 12 And that all makes sense. 13 GOVERNOR BUSH: I really commend -- this -- 14 we've -- you know, the three counties that have 15 gone about this, and each has done it 16 differently. One didn't make it. 17 MR. HUTH: Right. 18 GOVERNOR BUSH: They kind of stopped in 19 midstream. 20 And both have done a great job. But the -- 21 Volusia County has really done an extraordinary 22 job of making this a bottom-up process, which 23 is wonderful. I mean, it -- 24 MR. HUTH: Thank you. 25 GOVERNOR BUSH: -- it is the point of it. ACCURATE
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OF EDUCATION 117 2 creative ideas emerged from that kind of 3 process and patiently hearing from people in -- 4 in the classroom, and in -- you know, kitchen 5 tables. 6 I think it's -- it's been a great process, 7 and -- and we should be encouraging, and in -- 8 providing whatever support we can. 9 So you're going to -- you're in -- you're 10 in the process now of looking at renegotiating 11 or adding elements or changing some of the 12 elements of the contract. 13 MR. HUTH: Absolutely. 14 TREASURER GALLAGHER: Let me just -- 15 GOVERNOR BUSH: Yes. 16 TREASURER GALLAGHER: -- mention a couple 17 of things. 18 I -- they've used their flexibility I think 19 to create a new elementary school, which they 20 would not have been able to do otherwise, which 21 is -- 22 MR. HUTH: Right. 23 TREASURER GALLAGHER: -- they'd have been 24 fixing portables, instead of building schools, 25 which is -- moving in the right direction. I'm ACCURATE
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OF EDUCATION 118 2 saying, boy, I wish I could do that. 3 MR. HUTH: They definitely are. 4 TREASURER GALLAGHER: The other thing that 5 I want to point out is that when you said 6 bottom up, if you look at the back of the 7 report that they've submitted, they've done a 8 per school evaluation, which obviously the 9 principals and teachers have bought into, the 10 District's bought into, and it's certainly 11 available to us. 12 And everybody knows what the accountability 13 system is on every single item in there. And 14 that's what accountability's all about. 15 And congratulations on that. 16 MR. HUTH: We appreciate that. 17 And -- and Dr. Colwell will go into that 18 just in a little bit more detail. 19 The first year fiscal flexibility that we 20 saw -- and this is something that's attractive 21 to other districts, and you're going to be 22 seeing, I believe, proposals coming in from 23 several other large districts. 24 One of the things that we were able to 25 waive in that first 18 waivers that we've ACCURATE
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OF EDUCATION 119 2 having to do covered walkways to portable 3 classrooms. 4 And this actually came from a parent from 5 the town meetings that we held prior to this 6 approval. The parent says, I'm at Silver Sands 7 Middle, we have 2200 students. 8 Next year, Creekside is opening -- which it 9 opened this year. We are going to lose all 10 four of these portables. Why have sidewalks 11 and coverways to nowhere? Why don't you fundle 12 those monies back into your capital program. 13 That one event, 6.8 million dollars went 14 back into our capital program because of our 15 ability to waive that requirement that was 16 there. 17 GOVERNOR BUSH: Wow. 18 MR. HUTH: In other districts, we've talked 19 to Dade, Palm Beach, Orange, Polk, and Lee, 20 they see that as a -- as one of the attractive 21 components of being a charter, and one of the 22 things that's very much understood by the 23 parents in the community of ways of saving 24 dollars, and something that makes sense. 25 So that's -- that was a very positive ACCURATE
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OF EDUCATION 120 2 And at this time, if Chris could go ahead 3 and -- 4 GOVERNOR BUSH: That point and other 5 points -- 6 MR. HUTH: And other points. 7 GOVERNOR BUSH: -- like that -- 8 MR. HUTH: Yeah. 9 GOVERNOR BUSH: -- many of the ideas that 10 are being generated because you all are -- are 11 taking the time to ask and listening, which is 12 the great part of this I think. 13 These suggestions also can be dealt with 14 with the school code rewrite. And I hope that 15 you all are actively involved in -- 16 MR. HUTH: We have -- 17 GOVERNOR BUSH: -- providing -- 18 MR. HUTH: -- a member in our -- in our 19 District that's on that committee. 20 GOVERNOR BUSH: Because I mean, things like 21 that, you shouldn't have to go through the 22 charter district process. If it makes sense, 23 we should -- 24 TREASURER GALLAGHER: One -- one of the 25 good things about fighting that -- this is as ACCURATE
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OF EDUCATION 121 2 it was outside the box, inside you didn't 3 really think about it because it's a mandate, 4 you've got to do it, and, okay, we change. 5 When the other districts see this, they can 6 request a waiver from the Department in order 7 to do the same thing if it makes sense. 8 MR. HUTH: Yeah. 9 TREASURER GALLAGHER: And so they don't 10 have to be a charter district to wait to go 11 through that process -- 12 GOVERNOR BUSH: Right. 13 TREASURER GALLAGHER: -- but the waiver's 14 available if, in fact, it makes as much sense 15 as the one that you -- 16 MR. HUTH: Sure. 17 TREASURER GALLAGHER: -- took place, and 18 you found that'll work well, and now the 19 districts that I'm sure have talked to you, and 20 said, wow, whoa, if we'd have been able to do 21 that, we'd have two new elementary schools. 22 MR. HUTH: Exactly. 23 TREASURER GALLAGHER: And so -- 24 GOVERNOR BUSH: Top ten student -- 25 TREASURER GALLAGHER: -- I encourage the ACCURATE
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OF EDUCATION 122 2 GOVERNOR BUSH: -- rule list would be 3 great. 4 MR. HUTH: Uh-hum. 5 TREASURER GALLAGHER: What was that again? 6 GOVERNOR BUSH: The top ten student rule 7 list would be great. We could use -- 8 TREASURER GALLAGHER: Oh, they could come 9 up with more than ten, I guarantee you. 10 COMMISSIONER CRIST: Governor, I think that 11 you will also find in the report -- 12 And it's an excellent report. I want to 13 commend you for it. 14 DR. COLWELL: Thank you. 15 COMMISSIONER CRIST: At least another area 16 where you saved over 2 million dollars, if I 17 can remember correctly, that went directly to 18 teacher salary increases. 19 And those kinds of ideas just by, as you 20 said earlier, listening to the citizens, get 21 some great ideas. 22 MR. HUTH: Okay. 23 COMMISSIONER CRIST: And as the Governor 24 mentioned, the bottom up approach is so 25 important to coming up with those ideas that ACCURATE
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OF EDUCATION 123 2 them, that are common sense. 3 So -- 4 DR. COLWELL: We -- the -- the District had 5 a firm commitment to every single waiver, every 6 single recommendation that came forward would 7 have a parent signature on it. That parent 8 would be the leader of the School Advisory 9 Council. Our Board will not entertain waivers 10 that do not have parent support. 11 The final section, just very briefly, 12 because I know you've had a busy morning, and 13 we certainly appreciate the opportunity to just 14 spend a few minutes with you. 15 The section on Detailed Accountability 16 Report -- and I appreciate the Commissioner's 17 comments on that -- really grew again out of a 18 request from parents to have some disaggregated 19 data. 20 Volusia County has had a serious commitment 21 to breaking down data and looking at the 22 subcomponents of our data, whether it's an SAT 23 or graduation rate, or in the accountability 24 program which we do support. 25 And what you have in that document, as ACCURATE
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OF EDUCATION 124 2 report for each and every school, not only of 3 all of the criteria that make up the grades of 4 schools, but also the NRT data so that we can 5 compare ourselves against the nation in reading 6 and writing and mathematics. 7 There is one little accomplishment box in 8 there. We couldn't resist a little brag box 9 for each school community to -- to mention some 10 of things they do. 11 But it -- for just a moment, if you will go 12 to the last two pages, which are Spruce Creek 13 High School and Taylor High School, just to 14 sort of point out what we see as -- as the 15 strengths of this kind of disaggregated report. 16 Spruce Creek High School is the next to the 17 last page. And what we have done is take the 18 eight criteria that the Department has used 19 over the last several years to come up with a 20 school grade, and reported that criteria and 21 what would be the highest level of achievement 22 based on each of those criteria. 23 It does two very positive things for us in 24 terms of working with parents and teachers. 25 The first is, it very clearly identifies the ACCURATE
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OF EDUCATION 125 2 You can see with this school, this school 3 is one of the top ten international 4 baccalaureate schools in the world, literally, 5 and they looked at themselves, and say, what -- 6 where are areas we need to improve, and what 7 are the areas we're doing well. 8 And you can see on that schooling, reading, 9 writing, and mathematics, tremendously high 10 performance. 11 But they did have an issue with lower 12 quartile performance and students working at 13 the lower quartile. They need to know that, 14 they need to be able to see that, recognize and 15 respond. 16 So this allowed that community to feel 17 proud of their accomplishments, but also to 18 focus. As we meet with each and every 19 principal, we use this report card to help them 20 understand their areas that need improvement. 21 Yes, Governor. 22 GOVERNOR BUSH: Just one -- one possible 23 disagreement with -- with this concept. 24 Although the -- the full range of what you're 25 describing is excellent. ACCURATE
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OF EDUCATION 126 2 system's not fair, because we focus on the 3 bottom 25 percentile would add weight to that, 4 because that's where our greatest challenge is. 5 In other words, we take all of the 6 subcomponents, and then you average them to get 7 a grade, rather than the way that the school 8 grading system works, I think it does -- it -- 9 it creates a conflict that's not necessary, 10 number one. 11 And it does an injustice to the fact that 12 we have made great strides in this one area -- 13 this school right here would be an A school -- 14 DR. COLWELL: Uh-hum. 15 GOVERNOR BUSH: -- were it for -- were it 16 not for the fact that they did not do as good a 17 job on showing some gains amongst the kids that 18 are being slowly left behind. 19 And I don't feel ashamed that we have a 20 grading system that puts a high premium on 21 that. 22 I'm very proud of that, because I think 23 what we've found is that, ironically, strangely 24 enough, those are the kids that are showing the 25 greatest gains right now in the state. And ACCURATE
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OF EDUCATION 127 2 road than ignoring that issue. 3 So I -- just a small little footnote of 4 concern that if a parent says, well, it's not 5 really fair that -- that we're a C, because, 6 look, if we do it this way, we're an A -- 7 DR. COLWELL: Uh-hum. 8 GOVERNOR BUSH: -- or we're a B plus, 9 I think it may send the wrong signal. 10 And the other part of this that -- that 11 will change this now, and I hope that y'all are 12 actively involved in the -- this process is the 13 annual student learning gains -- 14 DR. COLWELL: Yes, sir. 15 MR. HUTH: Absolutely. 16 GOVERNOR BUSH: Probably make what I just 17 said less -- less important. But -- 18 DR. COLWELL: And we are very supportive of 19 all to the subcriteria that you're mentioning, 20 and take very seriously these lower quartile 21 issues, and also are very supportive of the 22 work the Department is doing with the 23 Gaines model, and believe that that is the next 24 appropriate step in -- 25 GOVERNOR BUSH: Are you involved in that -- ACCURATE
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OF EDUCATION 128 2 MR. HUTH: We understand it's going to be 3 five committee meetings -- or meetings around 4 the state that are -- is going to ask for 5 input. 6 And so when we get that information about 7 when they are, we want to be actively involved 8 in that. 9 GOVERNOR BUSH: Because you've got a lot -- 10 you've done a lot more work than other 11 Districts on this. It would be really helpful. 12 TREASURER GALLAGHER: Let me just say, 13 Governor, that I know this is a -- an example 14 that you're not the only District that likes to 15 point out. 16 Everybody knew going in that it was there. 17 Everybody knew that our emphasis has been on, 18 what are we doing with the lower quartile. 19 And when you have the kind of performance 20 that exists in a school like this, you have an 21 opportunity to have some true achievers go help 22 those that aren't in a student-to-student 23 basis. That doesn't look like it's happening 24 here. 25 And it -- it is -- although it's a shame ACCURATE
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OF EDUCATION 129 2 matter is, everybody knew that it drops -- 3 concentrates resources and people on those -- 4 on that lower quartile and give them the 5 opportunities that they will have later on if 6 they're up to grade level. 7 DR. COLWELL: There are some districts -- a 8 few that have come in and tried to come up with 9 an internal grading system that was different 10 from the system with the State. 11 Volusia County did not believe that was 12 appropriate. We had no interest in doing that. 13 TREASURER GALLAGHER: Well, we didn't -- 14 DR. COLWELL: I will -- I will -- 15 TREASURER GALLAGHER: -- pay any attention 16 to them anyways. 17 DR. COLWELL: -- tell you that our 18 principals and our teachers who have to make 19 that movement in the classroom each and every 20 day to take care of these issues, we think 21 benefit from breaking this down and having them 22 understand very clearly what they need to focus 23 on. 24 GOVERNOR BUSH: And we're going to. 25 DR. COLWELL: And it helps that community ACCURATE
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OF EDUCATION 130 2 GOVERNOR BUSH: We're going to have a rule 3 come to this Cabinet in December related to the 4 changes in the grading system that will also 5 provide more consumer information, break up -- 6 breaking that down by grade, because we go 7 3 through 10. 8 And -- and it'll be a little more consumer 9 friendly as well. So we're going to follow 10 your lead in that regard. Because I do think 11 that the -- it -- it does provide additional 12 information for both the teachers and 13 principals. 14 And also parents. I mean, moms and dads 15 need to be the -- the leaders in high 16 expectations. They -- if they're -- if they 17 drive it, everybody else will follow. 18 I mean -- 19 TREASURER GALLAGHER: I think -- 20 GOVERNOR BUSH: -- as you know. 21 TREASURER GALLAGHER: -- this is the one 22 issue that Districts have tried to use to make 23 it look like that it's not a fair grading 24 system, how terrible it is, because you can 25 have all these As and have one C. ACCURATE
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OF EDUCATION 131 2 strong, as has the Department, on bottom 3 quartile, bottom quartile, bottom quartile. 4 Whether it's in a school itself, or in a 5 District, especially in some of the schools 6 that themselves are almost all in the bottom 7 quartile. 8 And I think this is a great example to show 9 the community that we were very serious about 10 the bottom quartile. I don't look at it as an 11 embarrassment at all. I think it's one of 12 those things that that's what -- that's what we 13 wanted people to concentrate on. 14 MR. HUTH: Well, when we agree that we -- 15 we need to look at the weight of each of these 16 different criteria, and that's something in the 17 new system that will come out. 18 And also if you go to the -- 19 GOVERNOR BUSH: A lot more. 20 MR. HUTH: -- very last one, which is a 21 D high school right behind it. 22 One of the things that this school sees is 23 that reading, they got a D. 24 So now what are we going to do? We're 25 going to take our resources that we maybe were ACCURATE
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OF EDUCATION 132 2 reassign it to the reading component so that we 3 can go ahead and bring that skill level up for 4 our students in that particular area. 5 That's the example of why we broke it down 6 so that it's not just the thing of, hey, this 7 isn't fair. That wasn't what we were doing. 8 TREASURER GALLAGHER: Right. 9 MR. HUTH: Because we've had three years of 10 disaggregating data. 11 GOVERNOR BUSH: You've got three years of 12 people saying it's not fair. So you -- 13 MR. HUTH: Yeah. So we're past that -- 14 TREASURER GALLAGHER: Three years of 15 data -- 16 MR. HUTH: Why -- 17 TREASURER GALLAGHER: -- why it's not fair. 18 And what you do is say, guys, it may not be 19 fair in your mind, but this is the way it's 20 going to -- is, and here's why it is, fix the 21 way it is. 22 MR. HUTH: Yeah. So -- 23 GOVERNOR BUSH: I hope the Department looks 24 at the marketing guys and gals that are looking 25 at this. The -- the format that you all have ACCURATE
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OF EDUCATION 133 2 TREASURER GALLAGHER: Very good. 3 GOVERNOR BUSH: -- is very good. And it's 4 significantly better than what we have right 5 now at the State level. 6 And I -- this is complicated, it's easily 7 attacked, because it's not put in a simple 8 form. And y'all have made it easy to 9 understand. 10 And maybe we can steal some of the -- 11 MR. HUTH: We appreciate that. 12 GOVERNOR BUSH: -- some of the work y'all 13 have done in that regard. 14 TREASURER GALLAGHER: Gerry's back there 15 taking notes -- 16 COMMISSIONER CRIST: Governor -- 17 GOVERNOR BUSH: Gerry's not in charge of 18 the marketing. 19 TREASURER GALLAGHER: He's looking at how 20 to figure it all. 21 COMMISSIONER CRIST: Governor, I can assure 22 you that this model is -- is one that certainly 23 we will use as -- as an example. 24 And the comments that you and 25 Commissioner Gallagher were talking about about ACCURATE
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OF EDUCATION 134 2 no child behind. I mean, that's what that 3 point is all about. 4 MR. HUTH: Absolutely. 5 COMMISSIONER CRIST: And -- and, you know, 6 and being able to look at this chart and how 7 you break it down, your example about the 8 reading with -- with Taylor High School, gives 9 you a proper diagnosis -- 10 MR. HUTH: Yes. 11 COMMISSIONER CRIST: -- so we know how 12 to -- 13 MR. HUTH: Right. 14 COMMISSIONER CRIST: -- what's happening. 15 So it -- 16 GOVERNOR BUSH: We appreciate you coming 17 and giving us -- 18 MR. HUTH: Thank you. 19 And usually the question we have from the 20 other counties is, would you do it again, go 21 through this effort and become a charter 22 district? 23 Absolutely. It's been very beneficial for 24 us. 25 We appreciate that. ACCURATE
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OF EDUCATION 135 2 TREASURER GALLAGHER: Did a great job. 3 MR. HUTH: Thank you. 4 DR. COLWELL: Thank you. 5 GOVERNOR BUSH: Item 3. 6 MR. PIERSON: Items 3 -- 7 TREASURER GALLAGHER: Move Items 3 through 8 13, Governor. 9 COMMISSIONER CRIST: Second. 10 GOVERNOR BUSH: The Items 3 through 13 11 are -- 12 MR. PIERSON: They're all appointments to 13 the Community College District Boards of 14 Trustees. 15 TREASURER GALLAGHER: I'd like to -- 16 GOVERNOR BUSH: Moved and seconded. 17 TREASURER GALLAGHER: -- defer Item 14. 18 GOVERNOR BUSH: Without objection, it's 19 approved. 20 Excuse me, Commissioner. Did you -- 21 TREASURER GALLAGHER: No. Go ahead and -- 22 GOVERNOR BUSH: I just did. 23 TREASURER GALLAGHER: And I defer Items 14 24 through 18. 25 GOVERNOR BUSH: These the approval -- ACCURATE
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OF EDUCATION 136 2 feel useless? 3 GOVERNOR BUSH: Deferral 14 to 18, and a 4 second. 5 Without objection, the item is deferred. 6 Thank you. 7 MR. PIERSON: Thank you, sir. 8 (The State Board of Education Agenda was 9 concluded.) 10 * * * 11 (The Cabinet meeting was concluded at 12 11:32 a.m.) 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 ACCURATE
STENOTYPE REPORTERS, INC. 137 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 136 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 7TH day of OCTOBER, 2001. 18 19 ACCURATE STENOTYPE REPORTERS, INC. |
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