THE
CABINET
STATE OF FLORIDA
_____________________________________________________
Representing:
STATE BOARD OF ADMINISTRATION
DIVISION OF BOND FINANCE
DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS' AFFAIRS
STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION
STATE BOARD OF TRUSTEES
The above agencies came to be heard before
THE FLORIDA CABINET, Honorable Governor Bush
presiding, in the City Commission Chambers, City
Hall, 175 Fifth Street North, St. Petersburg,
Florida, on Tuesday, September 24, 2002, commencing
at approximately 9:37 a.m.
Reported
by:
BOBBIE
JO WILLEY
Registered
Professional Reporter
SUNCOAST REPORTING SERVICES, INC.
700
CENTRAL AVENUE, SUITE 404
ST.
PETERSBURG, FL 33701 (727) 823-1878
2
1
APPEARANCES:
2 Representing the Florida Cabinet:
JEB BUSH
3 Governor
4
ROBERT F. MILLIGAN
5 Comptroller
6 CHARLES
H. BRONSON
Commissioner of Agriculture
7
BOB BUTTERWORTH
8 Attorney General
9 TOM
GALLAGHER
Treasurer
10
CHARLIE CRIST
11 Commissioner of Education
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
3
1
I N D E X
2
STATE BOARD OF ADMINISTRATION
3 (Presented by Ben Watkins)
4 ITEM
ACTION PAGE
5 1
Approved 7
6 DIVISION
OF BOND FINANCE
(Presented by Ben Watkins)
7
ITEM ACTION PAGE
8
1 Approved 9
9 2 Approved 9
10 DEPARTMENT
OF VETERANS' AFFAIRS
(Presented by Warren "Rocky" McPherson)
11
ITEM ACTION PAGE
12
1 Approved 11
13 2 Approved 24
14 STATE
BOARD OF EDUCATION
(Presented by Rene Lewis)
15
ITEM ACTION PAGE
16 1 Deferred 55
1 Motion to accept report - Approved 56
17 2-5 Approved 58
6-14 Approved 58
18 15 Approved 59
19 STATE
BOARD OF TRUSTEES
(Presented by David Struhs)
20
ITEM ACTION PAGE
21 1 Approved 60
2 Approved 75
22 3 Approved 76 and 81
4 Approved 83
23
24
25
4
1 P R O C E E D I N G S
2 (The
agenda items commenced at 9:37 a.m.)
3 GOVERNOR
BUSH: The next Cabinet meeting
4 will
be held on October 8, 2002, in
5 Tallahassee.
6 Division
of Bond Finance. Ben, can you
7 please
give us a little bit of a description of
8 what
your operation does?
9 MR.
WATKINS: I'd be happy to.
10 Governor,
if you would, I'm doing double
11 duty
today. With your permission I'm
12 presenting
the State Board of Administration's
13 agenda.
14 GOVERNOR
BUSH: Okay.
15 MR.
WATKINS: For fiscal sufficiency as
16 well
as my normal agenda for the Division of
17 Bond
Finance. So if you don't mind, could we
18 take
the State Board of Administration first
19 with
your permission?
20 GOVERNOR
BUSH: Sure. Do you want to
21 describe
the State Board of Administration
22 first?
23 MR.
WATKINS: Sure. Be happy to. The
24 State
Board of Administration, Governor Bush,
25 Comptroller
Milligan, and Treasurer Gallagher
5
1 serve as the governing board for the State
2 Board
of Administration, and the State Board of
3 Administration's
primary business function
4 within
the state is to manage the assets of the
5 Florida
retirement system on behalf of the
6 650,000
public employees across the state.
7 The
-- the pension fund assets are
8 approximately
$80 billion, and the investment
9 of
those assets is managed in a very
10 sophisticated
way with having various
11 components
of the portfolio; domestic equities,
12 international
equities, real estate, fixed
13 income.
It's a fully diversified portfolio,
14 and
those retirement assets provide the
15 financial
security for the public employees
16 across
the state.
17 The
-- there's been an extraordinary
18 amount
of time, effort and energy spent over
19 the
last two years providing an additional
20 retirement
option for state employees in the
21 form
of a defined contribution plan as opposed
22 to
a defined benefit plan that is a traditional
23 retirement
plan for state employees.
24 It
has been the world's largest pension
25 fund
conversion offering public employees an
6
1 additional retirement option giving them more
2 flexibility
with respect to managing their own
3 individual
retirement accounts, a broader array
4 of
options and greater portability in the sense
5 that
there is a much shorter vesting period,
6 and
there is mobility with respect to the
7 assets
held for that particular public employee
8 within
the state.
9 So
there's been a tremendous amount of
10 time,
effort and energy spent by the State
11 Board
of Administration staff in effecting that
12 planned
conversion and offering now a choice to
13 the
traditional defined benefit system --
14 retirement
system offered by the state.
15 GOVERNOR
BUSH: Can you now translate that
16 into
English for everybody? Never mind. Don't
17 even
try.
18 MR.
WATKINS: What we are doing here today
19 is
to -- an independent review, if you will;
20 determination
of fiscal sufficiency for a bond
21 issue.
22 The
next agenda item will actually be the
23 authorization
for the state to issue bonds, and
24 this
is an independent review performed by the
25 State
Board of Administration assuring that
7
1 there are sufficient resources to repay the
2 debt.
3 And
so with that the only -- the agenda
4 item
is approval of fiscal sufficiency of up to
5 $365
million in Public Education Capital Outlay
6 Refunding
Bonds.
7 TREASURER
GALLAGHER: May I ask, this is
8 State
Board of Administration first?
9 GOVERNOR
BUSH: This is -- we're doing the
10 State
Board first?
11 MR.
WATKINS: Correct.
12 GOVERNOR
BUSH: Commission Gallagher,
13 would
you like to make a motion?
14 TREASURER
GALLAGHER: I'll move Item 1,
15 State
Board of Administration.
16 COMPTROLLER
MILLIGAN: And I will second.
17 GOVERNOR
BUSH: Moved and seconded.
18 Without
objection, the item passes.
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
8
1 GOVERNOR BUSH: Now we'll move to the
2 Division
of Bond Finance.
3 MR.
WATKINS: Division of Bond Finance is
4 what
I do as my normal job rather than double
5 duty
and what we -- our -- our function is to
6 borrow
money on behalf of the state.
7 We
have within the State of Florida a
8 centralized
debt management function and what
9 that
means is the full Governor and Cabinet,
10 all
of the seven individuals that you see here
11 today,
are the governing board of the Division
12 of
Bond Finance who authorizes the issuance of
13 state
bonds.
14 So
whenever any state agency needs to
15 borrow
money, the execution of that
16 transaction,
the way we borrow money is by
17 issuing
tax-free or municipal bonds.
18 So
every -- we administer programs for
19 Department
of Education for providing money for
20 school
construction, programs for the
21 Department
of Environmental Protection, and
22 Secretary
Seibert's agency, DCA, which is to
23 raise
money for the acquisition of the
24 environmentally
sensitive lands in the form of
25 Florida
Forever Bonds or Preservation 2000
9
1 Bonds, and also programs on behalf of the
2 Department
of Transportation to provide for
3 road
construction and bridge construction
4 across
the state.
5 So
that is the function that we perform as
6 the
Division of Bond Finance.
7 GOVERNOR
BUSH: Thank you, Ben.
8 MR.
WATKINS: And this morning we have one
9 agenda
item and that -- well, actually two.
10 The
first agenda item is approval of the
11 minutes
of the September 10th meeting.
12 TREASURER
GALLAGHER: Motion on the
13 minutes.
14 COMMISSIONER
BRONSON: Second.
15 GOVERNOR
BUSH: Moved and seconded.
16 Without
objection, the item passes.
17 MR.
WATKINS: And Item 2 is adoption of a
18 resolution
authorizing the issuance and
19 competitive
sale of up to $365 million in
20 Public
Education Capital Outlay Refunding
21 Bonds.
22 TREASURER
GALLAGHER: Motion on 2.
23 COMMISSIONER
BRONSON: Second.
24 GOVERNOR
BUSH: Moved and seconded.
25 Without
objection, the item passes.
10
1 Thank you, Ben.
2 MR.
WATKINS: Thank you.
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
11
1 GOVERNOR BUSH: Department of Veterans'
2 Affairs.
That's what I thought we were doing
3 before.
4 MR.
McPHERSON: Good morning again, sir.
5 GOVERNOR
BUSH: Good morning, Rocky.
6 MR.
McPHERSON: We have two agenda items
7 this
morning. The first is the minutes of June
8 12th
and June 13th Cabinet -- August 13th
9 Cabinet
meetings. They're both at Attachment 1
10 and
are recommended for acceptance, sir.
11 TREASURER
GALLAGHER: Motion on the
12 minutes.
13 COMMISSIONER
CRIST: Second.
14 GOVERNOR
BUSH: Moved and seconded.
15 Without
objection, the items passes.
16 MR.
McPHERSON: Sir, before I move to our
17 second
item, I would like to take just a
18 moment.
We have here in the audience today two
19 new
members of the Florida Department of
20 Veterans'
Affairs management staff who have
21 just
joined our department.
22 First,
our new director of benefits and
23 assistance.
Barbara, if you would stand,
24 please.
She is the lady who leads our division
25 who
assists veterans with filing claims for
12
1 federal benefits throughout our state.
2 She
is a veteran of the Army and has
3 completed
a full career with the U.S.
4 Department
of Veterans' Affairs. She brings an
5 in-depth
knowledge of the VA and its key
6 personnel
upon whom we depend very much. She's
7 a
strong, positive leader, and she is excited
8 to
join our team in veterans' affairs.
9 GOVERNOR
BUSH: Great, Barbara.
10 MR.
McPHERSON: Barbara.
11 GOVERNOR
BUSH: Barbara, are you based in
12 St.
Petersburg?
13 MS.
HARKER: Yes, I am.
14 GOVERNOR
BUSH: Should have mentioned that
15 since
that's where we are.
16 MR.
McPHERSON: Sir, our other recent
17 addition
to our management staff is Colonel
18 Charlie
Price. Charlie, would you stand,
19 please.
20 Charlie
is currently United States Army
21 retired,
and he has joined our department as
22 the
external affairs director. He will assist
23 with
enhancing the outreach to our state's 37
24 plus
organizations, and those veterans who do
25 not
-- who are not members of any organization;
13
1 and that, sir, is the majority.
2 Colonel
Price is a well-known advocate for
3 veterans'
issues having lobbied hard to pass
4 many
bills that assist veterans in this state,
5 and
he will be a solid addition to our team.
6 Sir,
our second agenda item for today is
7 the
Florida Department of Affairs' Fiscal Year
8 2003
- '04 Legislative Budget Request.
9 The
materials detailing our budget request
10 for
'03 - '04 is at Attachment 2, and I would
11 like
to provide the following comments that
12 highlights
the elements of this submission.
13 One
of the things that we have handed out
14 is
a detailed overview of the accomplishments
15 of
our department since 1999 and it's -- it's
16 provided
because it reflects the service this
17 department
brings to Florida to meet the needs
18 of
our veterans, and I would like to highlight
19 five
areas.
20 First
area is the State Veterans' Nursing
21 Home
Program. The state homes program provides
22 domiciliary
and nursing home care for four,
23 soon
to be six, locations around Florida.
24 This
program is a major factor in the
25 growth
of our LBR, and it will bring to
14
1 fruition the final two nursing homes in Bay and
2 Charlotte
County.
3 Our
request this year is for the funding
4 for
the staffing and the first-year operations
5 for
both of these new homes that will be
6 completed
in the spring of 2003.
7 Upon
completion Florida will have six
8 facilities
and 750 beds to provide long-term
9 health
care services to Florida veterans.
10 Second
area I would like to highlight is
11 what
we call state legislative advocacy. Our
12 overview
document lists many of the additional
13 state
legislative advocacy efforts that the
14 department
has performed to enhance the quality
15 of
life for our veterans.
16 New
state laws that improve small but
17 important
items are numerous and important and
18 a
few of them are as follows: The legislature
19 has
approved and the Governor has signed into
20 law
the following types of legislative
21 initiatives:
Raising the disabled veterans'
22 homeowners'
exemption from 500 to 5,000
23 dollars;
easing procedures for obtaining
24 handicap
parking passes; ensuring that
25 departed,
unclaimed veterans are given proper
15
1 burials; protection of the privacy of military
2 discharge
papers; the high school diploma
3 program;
the Overseas Voter Protection Act;
4 safeguarding
military veterans' discharge
5 documents;
and health insurance and safety
6 guarantees
for activated reservists and guard
7 personnel.
8 All
of these are among the many causes
9 that
FDVA advocacy has assisted to bring to
10 completion
through the leadership of
11 legislative
sponsors and the signing of these
12 bills
into law by Governor Bush.
13 This
year the continuation elements of our
14 budget
will allow continued advocacy of this
15 type
for more improvements to continue to
16 improve
the quality of life for Florida's
17 veterans.
18 Our
third item that I'd like to highlight
19 is
national legislative advocacy. Advocacy
20 with
Governor Bush, his Washington office, the
21 Florida
Congressional Delegation all continue
22 to
address the many significant issues that the
23 U.S.
Department of Veterans' Affairs policies
24 that
affect Florida's veterans.
25 These
issues include among the following
16
1 things: Direct communication through a recent
2 letter
from the Governor to Secretary Principi
3 offering
to work with him and our congressional
4 delegation
in dealing with the increasingly
5 frustrating
issue of long waiting lists, over
6 35,000,
for initial access to VA health care
7 services.
8 Governor
Bush has offered to host a
9 federal
VA congressional delegation, state VA,
10 and
veterans' organizations conference to
11 explore
new ideas pointed towards innovative
12 solutions
for re-allocation of resources to
13 meet
this critical problem; additionally, since
14 1891
being required to offset retirement pay to
15 receive
disability payments has long
16 disadvantaged
disabled military retirees.
17 Governor
Bush has recently announced his
18 support
for concurrent receipt of these
19 benefits
and for the house version of the
20 ongoing
conference issue that is currently
21 being
considered in congress.
22 Many
of Florida's military retirees who
23 are
disabled may soon enjoy this long overdue
24 benefit
should congress complete this action on
25 this
issue this year.
17
1 A fourth category is national veterans'
2 cemeteries.
Continuing strong advocacy has
3 resulted
in national cemetery expansions and
4 additions
and most recently the VA purchase of
5 313
acres in south Florida for the new national
6 cemetery
in West Palm Beach. Efforts to bring
7 additional
needed national cemeteries to
8 Florida
continue as a high priority issue.
9 And
a final item that is highlighted in
10 our
budget is memorials and tributes. Under
11 Governor
Bush's leadership, the FDVA has
12 completed
a number of memorials including the
13 Florida
Korean War Memorial and the permanent
14 Medal
of Honor tribute in the state capital.
15 We've
also commenced the design, planning
16 and
fund-raising to create a Florida World War
17 II
Veterans' Memorial.
18 The
FDVA '03 - '04 Legislative Budget
19 Request
identifies the requests for $200,000 in
20 matching
funds to complete the purchase and
21 replacement
of the monument portion of this
22 concept
of a Florida World War II Veterans'
23 Memorial,
and the museum portion of that
24 memorial
was already in being in a wing of the
25 Florida
Museum of History in Tallahassee.
18
1 For the superior efforts of the Department
2 of
State, it was dedicated on December 7th,
3 2001,
the 50th anniversary of the attack on
4 Pearl
Harbor and will remain in place as a
5 terrific
educational asset to teach today's
6 youth
about the sacrifices earlier generations
7 made
to secure the liberties of this nation.
8 The
Florida Statute Directed Memorial
9 allows
the department to request matching funds
10 to
compliment the almost $200,000 that has been
11 raised
by the department today primarily
12 through
veterans and corporate contributions.
13 Our
department will continue fund-raising
14 so
as to enable the earliest possible
15 completion
of the monument portion of the
16 Florida
World War II Memorial, and the other
17 elements
of the overall project will be
18 completed
as funds become available.
19 Finally,
sir, our budget this year
20 contains
several small other elements to
21 continue
to enable us to meet our statutory and
22 mandated
missions and to continue and
23 reprove
-- improve and refine our internal
24 operations.
25 Your
Department of Veterans' Affairs needs
19
1 the resources that the LBR will deliver, and
2 our
team will strive to continue to enhance the
3 services
and advocacy that we have shown we
4 deliver
to Florida's veterans.
5 I
recommend acceptance of our LBR for 2003
6 and
'04 and would like to entertain any
7 questions.
8 TREASURER
GALLAGHER: Motion to approve
9 the
budget request.
10 COMMISSIONER
CRIST: Second.
11 GOVERNOR
BUSH: There's a motion and a
12 second.
Any discussion?
13 General.
14 COMPTROLLER
MILLIGAN: Let me just make a
15 quick
comment really to thank Governor Bush for
16 his
efforts in promoting veterans' support.
17 It
has been long overdue, a lot of these
18 things,
including cemetery which is in dire
19 need
in this state and the -- the other
20 programs
and particularly the compensation for
21 those
that have been disabled and have not been
22 receiving
their full compensation, and I thank
23 you
for that.
24 GOVERNOR
BUSH: Thank you, General. Yes.
25 COMMISSIONER
BRONSON: I did have a
20
1 question, and I do appreciate while I was in
2 the
senate, Charlie Price came to me a number
3 of
times on some of the issues, especially on
4 the
cemetery where we were running out of space
5 at
the current cemetery needing the other
6 locations
which we helped -- helped him do
7 that.
8 My
concern right now is -- is the -- is
9 the
problem that we're having with the elderly
10 aspect
of our World War II veterans. My dad,
11 had
he lived today, would be 84 as a World War
12 II
veteran, and I know that there are many
13 complications
from not only battle wounds, but
14 other
problems; the older one gets, builds up a
15 big
problem with their physical and mental
16 stability.
17 Are
we in the right position right now to
18 handle
the influx of the more elderly of the
19 veterans
that we can handle them in our
20 facilities
between the federal and what we're
21 doing
at the state level?
22 MR.
McPHERSON: Sir, that's a difficult
23 question.
As you know, veterans continue to
24 come
to Florida and that has not ceased, and
25 consequently
the burden that the federal VA has
21
1 from that continued influx really doesn't
2 lessen
the load.
3 The
key solution to this is for the
4 federal
government to provide additional fiscal
5 resources
to allow more services to more
6 veterans
and the conference that the Governor
7 has
proposed to lead towards new solution for
8 that
and the continuing work that we do with
9 the
federal VA to try and redistribute
10 resources
from states that are losing veterans
11 are
vital portions of that solution.
12 Certainly
we do not have and the VA does
13 not
have all the services needed yet, and it is
14 a
problem that's in the front plate, sir.
15 COMMISSIONER
BRONSON: Well, Governor, I
16 mean,
if states who are losing populations are
17 losing
members of congress that represent that
18 population,
then we should be working with the
19 federal
government to say if we are gaining a
20 big
majority of retired veterans in the State
21 of
Florida, that that compensation should come
22 with
them so that we can take care of them
23 properly.
24 GOVERNOR
BUSH: Absolutely.
25 COMMISSIONER
BRONSON: And so I think
22
1 that's an issue we ought to be pushing heavily,
2 and
I'm sure you probably are.
3 GOVERNOR
BUSH: Well, and we actually -- I
4 don't
remember if it was a year ago or a couple
5 years
ago. We had some success in the funding
6 formula
that dealt with this, but we've had --
7 you
know, a lot of these formulas for veterans'
8 programs
and housing and other things are based
9 on
early 1990 census numbers. And so, you
10 know,
if you have a 300,000 person increase in
11 the
number of veterans and you already started
12 behind,
it creates -- it creates a shortfall.
13 So
we've gotten part of it taken care of,
14 and
I want to personally thank Bill Young
15 for
-- not only for this but just about for
16 everything.
17 We're
so fortunate to have him as -- you
18 all
are lucky in St. Petersburg to have him as
19 your
congressman, but in Florida we're truly
20 blessed
because he understands these issues
21 very
well and helps with the appropriations on
22 all
sorts of things. But this one was one
23 where
both Congressman Bilirakis and Young
24 helped
us, and we've still got more to do.
25 MR.
McPHERSON: Yes, sir.
23
1 GOVERNOR BUSH: And the bigger issue is
2 the
one related to the veterans; just the
3 process
that the federal veterans'
4 administration
has that is so cumbersome and so
5 difficult
to access.
6 I
mean, that's the one thing that I hear
7 from
veterans across the state is just the
8 complete
frustration, and our office is their
9 advocate,
and I know we do a good job but
10 it's
-- they need -- they need to change their
11 delivery
system of just getting into the
12 system.
13 That's
what this forum hopefully will be
14 about
is to come up with good business
15 practices
that -- and if they want to use us as
16 a
pilot down in the St. Petersburg office,
17 we're
more than happy to -- to do it a new way
18 for
-- for our vets, so we're going to work
19 hard
on it.
20 MR.
McPHERSON: Thank you, sir.
21 GOVERNOR
BUSH: Any questions on the
22 budget?
23 There's
a motion and a second. I'm
24 abstaining
from voting on this item as I always
25 do
with these Cabinet meetings to make my own
24
1 budget recommendations, but my own
2 recommendations
will be pretty darn close to
3 yours,
Rocky.
4 MR.
McPHERSON: Thank you, sir.
5 GOVERNOR
BUSH: Without objection, the
6 item
passes, except for the one abstention.
7 MR.
McPHERSON: Thank you, sir.
8 GOVERNOR
BUSH: Thank you. Thank you for
9 the
great presentation.
10 I
want to recognize the State Veterans'
11 Planning
Group that is here, and y'all are
12 having
a meeting, I guess, at ten o'clock to
13 twelve
o'clock.
14 Can
y'all please stand. These are the
15 veterans'
organizations that represent the 1.8
16 million
veterans of our state.
17 See
you downstairs after we finish.
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
25
1 GOVERNOR BUSH: State Board of Education.
2 MS.
LEWIS: Governor, Members of the
3 Cabinet,
Item No. 1 is the Volusia County
4 Charter
District Year 2 Progress Report, and
5 here
with us today for the presentation is
6 Superintendent
Bill Hall, Deputy Superintendent
7 Tim
Huth, and Assistant Superintendent Chris
8 Colwell.
9 GOVERNOR
BUSH: Welcome.
10 MR.
HUTH: Thank you very much. Mr. Hall,
11 our
superintendent, will be taking over.
12 TREASURER
GALLAGHER: It might be
13 worthwhile,
Governor, to have someone explain
14 what
we're doing here with Volusia County
15 because
this is an unusual situation, and maybe
16 y'all
might give a little background on why
17 you're
here and how it all got started so that
18 our
audience has an idea really what we're
19 doing.
20 MR.
HUTH: Thank you, Tom.
21 GOVERNOR
BUSH: Can I tell you how it got
22 started?
23 TREASURER
GALLAGHER: Well, yeah. Sure.
24 GOVERNOR
BUSH: I was with Earl Leonard
25 walking
through a school, and we started
26
1 talking about how there were too many rules
2 imposed
by the Department of Education and from
3 that
came a conversation -- well, because what
4 we
found is that a lot of these rules you can
5 do
-- you can eliminate with waivers and things
6 but
to provide total flexibility, the idea was
7 to
create a charter school district, and I
8 guess
now we have three.
9 This
is the second county, and this is
10 their
annual review of what they've done
11 because
in return for the freedom, there are
12 some
set performance standards that are totally
13 embedded
by the community.
14 What
we liked about the Volusia plan -- at
15 least
what I liked about it was the fact that
16 it
was a bottom-up plan; that there was
17 significant
input from classroom teachers and
18 parents,
school-based, and that worked its way
19 up
to -- to the superintendent and they came
20 and
negotiated with us.
21 So
this is just an annual review of what
22 they've
done.
23 MR.
HALL: Thank you, Governor Bush,
24 distinguished
Members of the Cabinet. I am
25 Bill
Hall, superintendent of schools of Volusia
27
1 County school system. Excuse me. I have a
2 cold
today.
3 It
is our honor and privilege to present
4 to
you year two of the charter district status
5 for
Volusia County. This is an assessment
6 performed
by the Southern Association of
7 Colleges
and Schools, and we will be sharing
8 some
data with you.
9 But
before we do that, I want to share
10 with
you and with the audience just a few facts
11 about
Volusia County. First, we're the ninth
12 largest
school district in the State of
13 Florida.
14 GOVERNOR
BUSH: We'll see if we can get
15 someone
to answer that cell phone.
16 MR.
HALL: That's not mine.
17 GOVERNOR
BUSH: Or is it an alarm? Okay.
18 Good.
Thank you.
19 MR.
HALL: Let me start again. We're the
20 ninth
largest district in the State of Florida;
21 the
48th largest out of 16,000 school districts
22 in
the country. We currently have 63,000
23 students,
8,000 employees.
24 Last
Thursday evening our school board
25 adopted
a general operating budget of $350
28
1 million, an overall budget including capital
2 improvement
of $715 million.
3 We
have 68 schools K through 12, three
4 charter
schools, and on October 10th of 2001,
5 our
citizens passed a one-half cent sales tax
6 for
a ten-year ability program to the tune of
7 $500
million which will add nine new schools,
8 renovate
35 schools that are 35 years of age or
9 older;
and we were told that we could not do
10 it,
particularly after 9-11, but that vote
11 passed
with a 57 percent margin of victory, and
12 we
are well on our way to catching up to our
13 building
needs.
14 And,
Governor, with your plan that you
15 brought
out at the Chamber of Commerce
16 breakfast
in Daytona Beach last week, whatever
17 additional
help that we can receive, we are
18 more
than happy to receive it.
19 GOVERNOR
BUSH: Surprise.
20 MR.
HALL: Four years ago, two years after
21 my
first two years as superintendent, we
22 decided
that we needed to raise the bar, and we
23 began
to concentrate on four areas of focus.
24 One
was increasing and accelerating
25 student
achievement. The second was improving
29
1 student discipline. The third was increasing
2 our
business partnerships and our community
3 partnerships.
And the fourth was to bring all
4 stakeholders
to the table.
5 I
think that when you read through this
6 report
and listen to the staff give the
7 reports,
you will see that we have accomplished
8 many
of our goals.
9 And,
Governor, we have used one of your
10 comments
from last year at the end of our first
11 year
of evaluation, the comment that you wished
12 that
many districts in the State of Florida
13 would
be like Volusia County. We've used that
14 in
some of our literature. Thank you.
15 At
this time I would like to introduce the
16 staff
that's with me. On the far side is
17 Mr.
Rich Skisma, our staff attorney. He is
18 here
to keep us all straight. He's also our
19 chief
negotiator and our chief policy writer.
20 Presenting
most of the presentation today
21 will
be Tim Huth, our deputy superintendent,
22 our
chief legislative liaison, my right arm and
23 my
left arm, and the man who does anything I
24 ask
him to do almost; and Chris Colwell,
25 Dr.
Chris Colwell, assistant superintendent for
30
1 curriculum school improvement, who is, in my
2 opinion,
the best curriculum person in the
3 United
States of America.
4 And
now I'm going to turn it over to Tim.
5 MR.
HUTH: Thank you very much. I know
6 that
each of the Cabinet Members have the
7 booklet,
and we'll be referring to various
8 pages
as we go through the presentation but not
9 every
single page.
10 As
the superintendent has recalled, we
11 entered
into a contract with this board and the
12 Volusia
County School Board on July the 11th of
13 2000,
and it was effective to expire on June
14 the
30th of 2003 as a pilot program, but the
15 contract
is also subject to annual review, may
16 be
modified, terminated or renewed by mutual
17 consent.
18 And
then, likewise, we are here today
19 because
in our contract it talks about an
20 annual
report, and today we are giving this
21 annual
report to the State Board of Education
22 on
year two.
23 Important
for everyone to recognize is
24 that
embedded within this contract was the
25 realization
of performance goals and that was
31
1 very important. Student achievement is
2 measured
by the Florida Comprehensive
3 Achievement
Test, FCAT, and school
4 accountability
as determined by school grades
5 assigned
pursuant to Section 229.57 of the
6 Florida
Statute serve as the primary evaluation
7 of
the effectiveness of this contract.
8 FCAT
scores, grading of schools are the
9 primary
performance goals on this three-year
10 pilot
program and with that we'd like to cover
11 some
of our effort in year two, and Dr. Colwell
12 will
get into those points at this time.
13 DR.
COLWELL: Thank you, Mr. Huth.
14 Governor,
Members of the Cabinet, good morning.
15 If
you look in the notebook under the
16 internal
review tab -- and, again, we'll just
17 hit
a couple of pages -- but as the contract
18 calls
for and we are in full support of, the
19 primary
evaluative tool should be the
20 performance
of schools and students as measured
21 by
the A Plus Accountability Plan.
22 On
Page 1 you see the four-year history
23 for
all schools in Volusia County for that
24 plan.
Our goal -- and it is a goal we remain
25 committed
to -- is 100 percent of all of the
32
1 schools in Volusia County will receive a grade
2 of
A or B under an accountability plan that is
3 in
place and we are working hard to implement.
4 We're
pleased to report that we are 70
5 percent
of the way there and in particular that
6 we
have moved from 25 percent of our schools at
7 A
or B status in the first year of the program
8 to
a full 70 percent this year.
9 And
I think it's a good example of what
10 I've
heard the Governor say on many occasions
11 and
that is when you raise the bar and raise
12 expectations,
that has to precede increased
13 achievement
and performance because over this
14 four-year
trend, the expectations of the plan
15 have
gone up as well and the results are not a
16 decrease
in student performance but an increase
17 in
student performance.
18 We
also have reduced from 18 percent, as
19 you
can see on that report on Page 1, to three
20 percent
those schools receiving a grade of D
21 and
F; and, of course, that needs to go to
22 zero.
23 Last
week at the staff meeting the staff
24 asked
us to submit a four-year history for
25 Title
1 schools. As you know, Title 1 schools
33
1 are those schools that have a high poverty
2 rate.
3 On
Page 3 of your plan, in addition, I
4 know
staff did provide you earlier this week
5 the
four-year history for Title 1 schools, and
6 I
was very pleased that you asked for that
7 because
as can you see, I think this is another
8 very,
very positive indicator of what can
9 happen
when you put high expectations from the
10 state
along with a real cooperative atmosphere
11 with
the Department of Education; high
12 accountability
standards with local control.
13 In
the four years that this program has
14 been
in place, you can see in year one 6
15 percent
of our high-poverty schools received an
16 A
or B. This year that is up to 63 percent.
17 Our
goal for those schools: 100 percent.
18 In
year one 32 percent of the Title 1
19 schools
in Volusia County had a grade of D or
20 F.
That was obviously not acceptable to
21 anyone.
We're pleased to report that this year
22 that
is down to three percent.
23 So,
again, a very positive trend, not only
24 for
all schools, but for high-poverty schools
25 as
well. It can and is being done in Volusia
34
1 County as well as so many other places in the
2 State
of Florida.
3 GOVERNOR
BUSH: Have you -- have you given
4 out
this data to national groups that are
5 looking
at high-poverty schools to show --
6 DR.
COLWELL: We're -- we are -- we had
7 looked
at the data as part of the report which
8 is
on Page 3 of your notebook. We're just
9 looking
at this year's report and at the
10 request
of the Department of Education staff,
11 we
went back and obviously disaggregated and
12 looked
at the four-year. Did that on Friday
13 and
sent that to Mrs. Lewis and her staff.
14 And
the answer to your question is yes,
15 we're
beginning to do that right now beginning
16 with
the report tonight to our school board to
17 let
them share in what we think is a very
18 positive
indicator that not only does charter
19 district
work, but the expectations of this
20 state
are very reasonable and can be reached.
21 I
would also -- at this time I'm going to
22 turn
over to Page 5 in the notebook and just
23 mention
that during the two years that we have
24 had
charter district status, we have had 97
25 local
school waivers approved.
35
1 And as the Governor mentioned, one of the
2 things
we've committed to was a ground-up
3 approach
in which school parents, school
4 teachers,
school communities look at the rules,
5 not
only that might be at the state level, but
6 also
at the local district level so that that
7 flexibility
can be done. And you can see that
8 we
have had a total of 97 waivers.
9 I
want to commend the Department of
10 Education.
Their staff has been incredibly
11 cooperative
with us. Communication has been
12 timely
and very professional so we appreciate
13 that.
And we have since passed 100 waivers
14 with
another batch of waivers headed to school
15 board
review this evening.
16 At
this time I'm going to ask Mr. Huth to
17 review
beginning on Page 9.
18 MR.
HUTH: A good question that people ask
19 are
what are some of the content area that the
20 waivers
have fallen under? And on Page 9 we
21 identify
several of these things.
22 And
without going through each one, a
23 couple
of key ones for both the school and the
24 district
is the use of categorical funds and
25 the
ability that we have to waive the use of
36
1 categorical funds and spend them on things that
2 the
schools would like to spend and, likewise,
3 too,
what the district would like to spend and
4 that
gives us flexibility which is very
5 important.
A little bit later I'll cover the
6 fiscal
page and show you a little bit about how
7 we
utilize the waivers.
8 Also
we have individual schools who their
9 teachers
may identify something that they
10 believe
in that's going to work for their
11 children
and their community.
12 We
had a particular school say we want to
13 try
a different math series than the district
14 is
utilizing. And that's the one in the very
15 middle
of the page called the use of the Saxton
16 Math
Series. And this came from ground-up at a
17 particular
school, and they wanted to select
18 their
own series.
19 Now,
we are always cautious at the
20 district
because we select it as a district so
21 that
we can identify and collect data on a
22 district-wide
series and make sure that the
23 benefits
of the data are equal across the
24 entire
district. And they went out on their
25 own
and we allowed them.
37
1 We're always cautious of creating 68
2 individual
school districts within Volusia
3 County,
but we wanted to give this team of
4 teachers
the flexibility to try something, and
5 their
math scores have continued to increase.
6 They're
a school-wide Title 1 program, and they
7 have
been an A school, I believe, the last --
8 TREASURER
GALLAGHER: Three years.
9 MR.
HUTH: -- three years and so they
10 believe
in something and we gave them that
11 flexibility.
12 Also
important are the last four bullets.
13 And
on that page in this content area what's
14 worthy
of note is that each of these items
15 required
a waiver of the teacher contract.
16 We
have now in our teachers' contract
17 language
-- and it's actual language identified
18 on
Page 11, the next page. This is lifted from
19 their
teacher contract -- that an individual
20 school
can come forward and say we want to do
21 something
different beyond what we are
22 restrained
from our teachers' contract.
23 One
of the schools on an accelerated day
24 agreed
to teach beyond the 300 minutes of
25 instruction
within the teachers' contract.
38
1 They waived that language and they're teaching
2 more
than 300 minutes. They waived the
3 contract
by 97 percent to three percent to
4 exclude
themselves from that requirement of the
5 contract.
6 And
we felt that that was very positive
7 because
it was something, once again, that they
8 saw
in the -- what they called closing the gap
9 effort;
their initiative locally that they felt
10 would
meet the needs of their high school
11 students
-- this was a high school -- to help
12 their
particular teachers and students.
13 Another
one was a performance pay
14 component.
That is brand new for one of our
15 middle
schools, and we think this is going to
16 expand.
In fact, it will expand. And on Page
17 14
it gives the -- the synopsis of how this
18 will
work.
19 At
a particular middle school a teacher
20 can
earn up to $75 per student for the
21 individual
that had scored at last year's level
22 one
in reading and they make a learning gain to
23 level
two or higher.
24 For
each one of those students that they
25 work
with between now and the end of the
39
1 testing period and they see that gain model
2 that's
-- that we now have in place and they
3 move
from level one to a higher level, they'll
4 receive
$75 per student.
5 And
we know that this is something that
6 other
schools have seen. In fact, we have a
7 second
waiver that's come in that is going to
8 be
of similar nature with a performance pay
9 opportunity
for a school.
10 GOVERNOR
BUSH: Don't you also pay $25 an
11 hour
for after-school -- I mean --
12 MR.
HUTH: Tutorial?
13 GOVERNOR
BUSH: Yeah. The performance
14 orientation
requires the work that the teachers
15 are
getting paid for in addition to the 75.
16 MR.
HUTH: Correct. That's exactly right.
17 GOVERNOR
BUSH: Each teacher is getting
18 paid
$25 per hour?
19 MR.
HUTH: $25 per hour for tutorial
20 afterschool
effort.
21 GOVERNOR
BUSH: And what is Terrier?
22 What's
the Terrier part? Is that the name of
23 the
school?
24 MR.
HUTH: Terrier. That's their mascot.
25 GOVERNOR
BUSH: Okay. I thought so.
40
1 MR. HUTH: Yes. Once again, unique to
2 that
school. They are the Deland Middle
3 Terriers,
and so they have their Terrier
4 program.
5 And
they're excited. They've allocated
6 $40,500
aside for this program and at the end
7 of
this year, once again, we'll report those
8 results;
and we expect some real positive,
9 continued
improvement at this particular
10 school.
11 TREASURER
GALLAGHER: Title 1 school?
12 MR.
HUTH: Title 1.
13 DR.
COLWELL: On Page 17, again, still in
14 the
internal review section, I know the
15 Governor
will recall in our initial application
16 two
and a half years ago some discussion about
17 29
goals and whether there -- we should be
18 reconsidering
looking at an area of focus
19 there.
And the year one Southern Association
20 report
agreed with the Governor's
21 recommendation
that we come in with an area of
22 focus
on goals, and I'll speak to that for just
23 a
moment.
24 At
the same time we felt the commitment to
25 continue
to track more than 200 indicators of
41
1 success over the life of the history of this
2 opportunity
to be a charter district status.
3 One
of the things I would report to you is
4 that
we believe in high expectations, and we
5 have
deliberately set our goals to very high
6 levels.
We knew that it was more important --
7 more
important for children and that we would
8 have
better opportunities for the boys and
9 girls
of Volusia County to set very high
10 standards,
perhaps not reach them, than to set
11 standards
we knew we might reach anyway.
12 In
addition, we have set each standard to
13 benchmark.
In other words, whatever our score
14 is
this year, it needs to be higher the
15 following
year; continuous improvement.
16 I
would point out to you that it is very
17 common
as we have so many standards that are
18 being
measured by the Department of Education
19 and
staff that at any given time we will have
20 data
elements that are not in yet that are
21 coming
in.
22 As
a matter of fact, a year ago when we
23 were
before the Cabinet, the 2001 status had
24 some
-- some N/A's that you can see have now
25 been
filled in as we move in October and
42
1 November and get graduation data, dropout data,
2 and
other sorts of data.
3 We're
pleased to see that as we continue
4 to
raise the bar under our current number of
5 data
elements that are in, we're in the 77
6 percent
success rate with a very high standard.
7 Our
expectation is 100 percent success rate,
8 but
I will tell you that we will not do that at
9 the
expense of lowering the standard.
10 If
you will turn to the strategic plan tab
11 and
go to Page 4. I'm not going to spend any
12 time
on this but wanted to show on Page 4 a
13 matrix
in which we have worked and taken the
14 recommendation
of the Governor's office as well
15 as
the Southern Association of Colleges and
16 Schools
and have completed a yearlong strategic
17 planning
process that has been endorsed by the
18 Southern
Association, Florida School Board
19 Association,
we believe very much aligns with
20 Secretary
Horne's strategic comparatives and
21 have
taken all of those goals and in effect we
22 have
put them, Governor, into 12 specific areas
23 of
focus. And you see those 12, what we refer
24 to
as best practices.
25 In
addition to this area, we have a fifth
43
1 area of focus which is safe and orderly. We
2 have
been working with the state to completely
3 accredit
all of our schools in a safe and
4 orderly
process.
5 The
only reason you don't see it in this
6 notebook
is this was a response to a Southern
7 Association
recommendation to take the charter
8 district
goals and condense them down into a
9 more
focused area.
10 We
have academic excellence, access and
11 equity,
high-performing staff and involve
12 family
with 12, what we refer to as best
13 practices.
Really they are goals and there's a
14 very
good and strong alignment for that.
15 And
with that I'd like for Deputy
16 Superintendent
Huth to discuss briefly the
17 external
review by the Southern Association.
18 MR.
HUTH: Very important to our
19 credibility
was to have an external team to
20 come
in not associated with Volusia County to
21 come
forward that has a history of reviewing
22 programs,
particularly education programs.
23 And
so we had contracted two years ago
24 with
the Southern Association of Colleges and
25 Schools
out of Decatur, Georgia, and with that
44
1 on Page 2 you'll see the names of the external
2 review
committee everywhere from Pensacola;
3 Green
Cove Springs; Tampa, Florida; and
4 Decatur,
Georgia.
5 So
we've got a variety of individuals that
6 came
in to have different sets of eyes on top
7 of
our efforts that have taken place and look
8 over
year one accomplishments and then also
9 evaluate
year two.
10 What
this group of members did was they
11 brought
in parents, teachers, school
12 principals,
our school board members, had
13 individual
conferences with focus groups so
14 that
they can glean from them the information
15 that
they have included in their findings.
16 On
Page 4 the bulletin items that you see
17 on
the bottom left are those items from the
18 first
year's annual report that we've
19 accomplished.
And this is something that they
20 went
back, took a look at, reviewed those items
21 and
felt that we have gone on our way to
22 meeting
these first-year recommendations; and
23 then,
likewise, for this year we have new
24 commendations
and recommendations and they
25 begin
on Page 7.
45
1 Under the commendations, one of the items
2 through
their surveys and discussions with
3 parents,
teachers and administrators at the
4 school-base
level, the very first one talks
5 about
empowering the stakeholder system-wide.
6 Through
the comments that they received,
7 they
felt that this was very noticeable and the
8 very
first item that they wanted to reflect
9 upon
on a commendation because of this ground
10 roots
effort to come up, that it's still being
11 maintained,
the effort is still being -- moving
12 forward.
13 The
second one is an official -- efficient
14 waiver
process. A concern that we had in year
15 one
was here's a process you start in August
16 with
an identified waiver and it becomes the
17 life
in maybe May. Well, that's no good.
18 We
have a process place -- a waiver
19 process
in place that will start in August, and
20 it
can be completed in four to six weeks if
21 they
want to go ahead and move through this
22 effort
with the comments from district staff
23 working
with the individual schools. And the
24 schools
appreciated this efficient feedback and
25 the
ability to have a waiver come to light in a
46
1 timely fashion.
2 The
third item is the strategic planning
3 framework
that has been identified by
4 Dr.
Colwell on that previous matrix that you
5 have
seen, and they know that this is going to
6 be
beneficial for us in the future.
7 The
fourth item on Page 8 is that the
8 management
skills that they have seen at the
9 school
base and district have been enhanced
10 through
the flexibility of these waivers, and
11 we'll
cover some of these items in a moment.
12 And
then number five is the use of our
13 online
services and communication devices
14 throughout
the entire district to help us in
15 disseminating
waiver information.
16 Everything
we have is on our web site.
17 Any
parent, stakeholder, teacher, administrator
18 can
go to the web site, pull up existing
19 waivers
and get a status and analysis of those
20 particular
waivers.
21 Now,
the recommendations for year two --
22 and
we take these very seriously as we did in
23 year
one, and we're going to continue to work
24 on
these for year two. The first
25 recommendation
is that the district agreement
47
1 should be extended for five years. We've seen
2 great
progress take place, and we know that
3 this
initiated with a pilot three years in the
4 contract
the state has. As I said earlier, it
5 also
states that it can be modified and
6 extended.
7 One
of the things that we have seen with
8 100
waivers is the potential that if coming
9 next
year it's not renewed, then we got to
10 start
gearing down this March, April and May on
11 things
that might be contractual in nature or
12 that
there's going to be a system or process
13 change
that we have to prepare for the
14 following
year to get us back to where we were
15 three
years ago.
16 Number
two, train all stakeholders on the
17 new
strategic plan effort. This next year 23
18 out
of our 68 schools and three charter schools
19 will
be using a strategic plan model. The
20 following
year all of our schools will move to
21 that.
22 We
wanted it to be an option year this
23 year
because, once again, we're looking for
24 buy-in.
We're looking for them to commit the
25 time
and energy to change, and this first group
48
1 of 23 will do that. The following year we'll
2 have
the rest of the schools come on board.
3 And
then, number three, to integrate those
4 best
practices that we've been working on and
5 identified
in our strategic plan and then
6 working
on professional staff development
7 activities,
especially centered around
8 disaggregated
subgroups and low performing
9 schools.
10 Get
the data on those that are common and
11 then
we have developed and hit our strategies
12 and
goals to improve those particular areas;
13 and
then, of course, to evaluate the strategies
14 of
the decisions that we made in the programs
15 for
all of our schools.
16 Number
four is the technological
17 infrastructure
to support the development and
18 maintenance
of these new strategic plans. And
19 as
you know, technology's always developing;
20 yet
we in Volusia County, we believe is the
21 number
one county as far as technology use for
22 educational
enhancement and support at the
23 school
base and district.
24 You
may recall that out of our 4,500
25 teachers,
every one of them has their computer
49
1 workstation. We're all networked. We're all
2 wired.
We're all retrofitted. All of our
3 schools
have multiple labs in them. Multimedia
4 activities
can take place.
5 We're
the, I believe, only district that
6 has
the entire district on the voice override
7 P-technology.
That's the internet protocol
8 that
has voice, video and data all over our
9 technology
system, our wide area network and
10 that
has been a real boom for us on
11 communication
between all of our schools
12 because
actually in Volusia County, we have
13 three
different area codes because of the way
14 we
were carved up.
15 And
to communicate, if you're at New
16 Smyrna
High, you may have to use one area code.
17 You
go over to Deltona High, you're in Orlando
18 area
and go to a different lattice; and Daytona
19 Beach,
you're in a different area code. And so
20 just
by being in our own system, we've been
21 able
to efficiently and effectively improve our
22 communication.
23 And
then, of course, the last
24 recommendation
is to network with the other
25 charter
districts; Orange County, Hillsborough
50
1 County. We have done that. We are presenting
2 in
October at a conference called Three
3 Districts
Together, and we have ongoing
4 meetings
that will be taking place to support
5 us.
6 Under
the fiscal tab, fiscal flexibility,
7 under
year two at the bottom of that page, this
8 is
where we had the categorical flexibility
9 from
the district that we were able to move
10 these
amount of dollars to classroom, teacher,
11 media
supplements at the individual schools and
12 to
supply the individual teachers with needed
13 materials.
We've move 280,000 from the
14 instructional
materials media budget.
15 Now,
that's after every student has the
16 required
state-adopted textbook. So all of our
17 students
have the textbooks. When we had money
18 left
over, we now moved it into other classroom
19 supplies
expenses.
20 We
had dollars left over from the Teacher
21 Recruitment
and Retention Fund, once again, in
22 using
it for classroom supplies for the
23 teachers,
we move that 225,000 over.
24 The
educational technology dollars,
25 categorical,
the 650,000 -- it says MIS staff
51
1 but I want to clarify that.
2 What
we have done is we listen to the 68
3 schools,
and they said with all this technology
4 out
there and all of our labs, we need to have
5 tech
people to help us because there's
6 troubleshooting
that needs to take place or
7 they
need certain things identified, fixed, new
8 software
loaded. They don't need to spend the
9 time.
10 So
we moved that 650,000 to hire tech
11 support
groups at the school. So they're not
12 at
the district office. They're actually
13 housed
at the schools. And then the teacher
14 training
dollars that we had left over, once
15 again,
focus back into the classrooms for their
16 supplies,
equipment, materials that they may
17 need.
18 And
that gives you an example of year two
19 our
1.4 million that we moved from the district
20 level.
And then schools have additional
21 flexibility
at the school level with their
22 school
improvement dollars, their school
23 recognition
funds, etc., and they're utilizing
24 those
at this time.
25 Dr.
Colwell.
52
1 DR. COLWELL: Finally, before the
2 superintendent
brings closing comments, the tab
3 detailed
accountability report is -- should be
4 a
complete alignment of all of the schools in
5 the
district. They're alphabetical by level;
6 elementary,
then middle, and high. So those
7 are
your 68 school grades.
8 That
is a complete match from the report
9 card
issued by the Department of Education.
10 Then
we know that it is important that our
11 information
completely match and follow the
12 information
reported by the state.
13 And
using the template that we've received
14 from
the Department of Education, we've
15 completed
this report and sharing it with all
16 of
our stakeholders. So it lets schools see
17 very
particular where their areas of strength
18 are
and their areas of weakness.
19 With
that, Superintendent Hall.
20 MR.
HALL: Thank you, Tim. Governor Bush,
21 Members
of the Cabinet, State Board of
22 Education
on behalf of the school board of
23 Volusia
County, we would like to request that
24 the
State Board of Education consistent with
25 the
recommendations of the Southern Association
53
1 of Colleges and Schools agree to renew the
2 existing
charter district agreement between the
3 State
Board of Education and the school board
4 of
Volusia County for an additional five-year
5 period.
6 We
would further request that this be
7 agendaed
for your October 8th state board
8 meeting,
and we're open to any questions and
9 answers.
10 GOVERNOR
BUSH: Any questions?
11 TREASURER
GALLAGHER: Well, I'd just like
12 to
congratulate you all on what you've done. I
13 was
very involved when you first got it started
14 and
you weren't where the idea was to have a
15 charter
school, but you got on it real quick,
16 took
advantage of it better than any other
17 district
has done in my personal opinion and
18 you've
ran with it, and you've really done a
19 great
job for the students.
20 And
the great thing is your teachers have
21 bought
into it. Your parents have bought into
22 it.
Your whole community's bought into it and,
23 you
know, the proof's here. I mean, this is
24 some
great statistics.
25 MR.
HALL: Yes, it is. Thank you.
54
1 TREASURER GALLAGHER: And your goals are
2 still
high and continue to stay up there.
3 And
no school below a B, that's a pretty
4 strong
set of goals. And the neat thing is
5 that
you're moving toward it real quick, and I
6 just
want to congratulate you on it.
7 And
I'm supportive of you being able to
8 continue
it, and we probably have to do it at
9 another
date, but I appreciate your report.
10 MR.
HALL: Well, thank you very much. You
11 see
the three of us wearing Team Volusia pins.
12 This
represents all of the Volusia County
13 employees
and the Volusia County community.
14 Without
all of us working together, we would
15 not
be here today before you.
16 TREASURER
GALLAGHER: Well, it's exciting
17 what
you've done, and I really look forward to
18 other
districts looking at what you've set as
19 goals
and the way that you, you know,
20 accomplish
those goals and, you know, it's
21 something
-- you know, may have come from a
22 discussion
that was had in a different county
23 but
you sure have taken advantage of that
24 discussion,
and I do want to congratulate you
25 on
that.
55
1 MR. HALL: Thank you.
2 GOVERNOR
BUSH: Any questions or comments?
3 COMMISSIONER
CRIST: Motion.
4 GOVERNOR
BUSH: Yes.
5 COMMISSIONER
CRIST: Thank you, Governor.
6 I
would move to -- excuse me -- defer action on
7 the
renewal of Volusia County's charter school
8 district
contract until October 8th meeting,
9 but
we support you and it's just for the
10 audience
benefit.
11 Just
a notice thing. We just have to have
12 enough
time for everybody to see it, look at
13 it,
examine it, and by October 8th that will be
14 the
case.
15 Thank
you, Governor.
16 GENERAL
BUTTERWORTH: Second.
17 GOVERNOR
BUSH: There's a motion to defer
18 until
October 8th and a second. Without
19 objection,
the item is deferred.
20 And
we look forward to seeing you. May
21 not
have to bring the whole team up, but I
22 think
we're in pretty good shape here.
23 MR.
HALL: I think I will come up, but we
24 would
like to stay for the rest of your
25 meeting,
but we do have a school board meeting
56
1 at four p.m. back in Daytona Beach so we're
2 going
to head out.
3 GOVERNOR
BUSH: Watch out for the
4 construction
on I-4. We're trying to widen it
5 as
fast as we can.
6 MR.
HALL: Thank you very much.
7 GOVERNOR
BUSH: Thank you very much and
8 congratulations
on all the progress.
9 TREASURER
GALLAGHER: Let me do this: We
10 should
accept the report that they've given us,
11 and
I'd like to move to do that.
12 COMMISSIONER
CRIST: Second.
13 COMMISSIONER
BRONSON: Second.
14 GOVERNOR
BUSH: Moved and seconded.
15 Without
objection, the report is accepted.
16 COMMISSIONER
BRONSON: Governor, since
17 we're
still on education, I'd like to announce
18 something
that's going to take place actually
19 right
here in Pinellas County tomorrow. It's
20 also
going to -- it's taking place in
21 Hillsborough,
in Broward, and Palm Beach
22 Counties.
23 In
conjunction with USDA, the Department
24 of
Agriculture here in the State of Florida is
25 opening
up salad bars in four counties, four
57
1 school districts, to push the Five-A-Day
2 Program
for nutrition.
3 Since
our children are listed as becoming
4 obese
because of lack of activity, we're trying
5 to
make sure they understand that eating five
6 fruits
and vegetables a day is much healthier
7 than
eating pizzas all the time or hamburgers
8 all
the time or some of the other foods that
9 they
tend to like to eat all the time.
10 And
we're going to give nutritional
11 information.
We're going to find out if our
12 school
children are willing to try the fruits
13 and
vegetables in those four counties in the
14 school
system, and we're hoping that this will
15 be
something that we can do in a broader scope
16 next
year.
17 TREASURER
GALLAGHER: You're not speaking
18 out
against beef, are you?
19 COMMISSIONER
BRONSON: Oh, no. No, no.
20 No,
no. I -- I am --
21 TREASURER
GALLAGHER: I didn't want to
22 read
that headline: Agriculture Commissioner
23 against
beef.
24 COMMISSIONER
BRONSON: But while they're
25 eating
their beef, they need to have fruits and
58
1 vegetables to go with it.
2 COMMISSIONER
CRIST: And lots of oranges.
3 GOVERNOR
BUSH: Item 2.
4 MS.
LEWIS: Items 2 through 5 are
5 reappointments
and appointments to the
6 Education
Practices Commission.
7 TREASURER
GALLAGHER: Move 2 through 5.
8 COMMISSIONER
CRIST: Second.
9 COMMISSIONER
BRONSON: Second.
10 GOVERNOR
BUSH: Moved and seconded.
11 Without
objection, the item passes.
12 MS.
LEWIS: Items 6 through 14 are
13 appointments
and reappointments to various
14 community
college District Board of Trustees.
15 TREASURER
GALLAGHER: Motion on 6 through
16 14.
17 COMMISSION
BRONSON: Second.
18 GOVERNOR
BUSH: There's a motion on 6
19 through
14. Without objection -- there's a
20 second.
Without objection, the item passes.
21 MS.
LEWIS: Item 15 is the adoption of
22 resolutions
authorizing the issuance and
23 competitive
sale of not exceeding $365 million
24 PECO
Refunding Bonds.
25 TREASURER
GALLAGHER: Motion on 15.
59
1 COMMISSIONER BRONSON: Second.
2 GOVERNOR
BUSH: Moved and seconded.
3 Without
objection, the item passes.
4 Thank
you.
5 MS.
LEWIS: Thank you.
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
60
1 GOVERNOR BUSH: Board of Trustees.
2 TREASURER
GALLAGHER: Motion on the
3 minutes.
4 COMMISSIONER
BRONSON: Second.
5 GOVERNOR
BUSH: Let's find somebody here
6 first
to speak on behalf of the Board of
7 Trustees.
8 Colleen,
where are you? There he is.
9 There's
a motion and a second on the
10 minutes.
The item passes without objection.
11 Item
2.
12 MR.
STRUHS: Good morning, Your Honor.
13 GOVERNOR
BUSH: Good morning.
14 MR.
STRUHS: I was enjoying a good meeting
15 this
morning with Mayor Baker; working a lot in
16 environmental
issues.
17 GOVERNOR
BUSH: Great. Glad you could
18 make
it.
19 MR.
STRUHS: Would you like to go right
20 into
Item 2?
21 GOVERNOR
BUSH: Yes. I think that'd be a
22 good
idea.
23 MR.
STRUHS: Item 2 is a proposal for an
24 option
agreement from McClure Properties,
25 Limited.
This is a Florida Forever Project.
61
1 It's 2,255 acres. Helps preserve the
2 Twelvemile
Slough.
3 GOVERNOR
BUSH: That's Item 3.
4 TREASURER
GALLAGHER: We're on Acquisition
5 Item
2.
6 MR.
STRUHS: I'm sorry.
7 TREASURER
GALLAGHER: By the way, David,
8 you
might want to explain what this -- the name
9 of
the group that we're --
10 GOVERNOR
BUSH: Exactly. Why don't we
11 start
--
12 TREASURER
GALLAGHER: We sit as different
13 things,
and right now we're sitting as the
14 Board
of Trustees of the Internal Improvement
15 Trust
Fund.
16 You
want to explain to everybody what that
17 is?
18 MR.
STRUHS: Yes. We at the Department of
19 Environmental
Protection have a lot of
20 different
responsibilities. One of them is
21 serving
as staff to the Board of Trustees; the
22 Board
of Trustees obviously being the Governor
23 of
the Cabinet who are the trustees for all the
24 publicly-owned
lands in the State of Florida.
25 The
responsibilities include coming up
62
1 with strategies to acquire lands for a variety
2 of
purposes, including water resource
3 development
and conservation for recreation and
4 wildlife
habitat and the like. It also on
5 occasion
requires decisions surplusing land.
6 The
Board of Trustees in June of '99
7 recognized
that one of the things that we were
8 not
doing a particularly good job of in the
9 state
was operating like a business and being
10 efficient
in terms of these transactions.
11 The
fact is we were taking 445 days on
12 average
to acquire a parcel of land for the
13 State
of Florida, and obviously time is money.
14 We
were operating more like a government and
15 less
like a business, but we were working in a
16 market
environment.
17 And
the Governor and the Cabinet directed
18 the
department, among other things, to examine
19 means
of becoming more efficient. And this is
20 probably
a good segue in the next agenda item.
21 We
have successfully and pleased to report
22 today
--
23 GOVERNOR
BUSH: You want to -- you want to
24 just
briefly describe what the Board of
25 Trustees'
responsibilities are? Just, I mean,
63
1 why it's a unique, one-of-a-kind.
2 There's
no state in the country that has
3 where
we have seven statewide elected
4 officials
-- we won't have that either soon --
5 but
seven statewide officials to be four
6 officials
that preside over the public lands,
7 and
in our Cabinet Meeting every two weeks we
8 have
-- we have an agenda that is full of
9 purchases
of that land and other issues related
10 to
the public lands and that's -- that's how
11 we're
gathered here today.
12 Commissioner
Gallagher, would you like to
13 add
--
14 TREASURER
GALLAGHER: Yeah. Well, I had a
15 couple
things and that is that it does take
16 five
members of this board to approve the
17 purchase
or sale of public lands, and that was
18 done
way back in order to protect the state
19 from
one individual making the decisions on
20 what
was bought or what was sold.
21 Initially
I think that individual was
22 probably
appointed by the federal government at
23 the
time who was our governor and the other
24 elected
cabinet members didn't like him handing
25 out
land to his friends I guess, but anyway
64
1 that's past history.
2 But
today it requires five members of the
3 Cabinet
to agree on a -- on a purchase or sale
4 of
state land so that it does require that
5 extraordinary
vote, and it's one of the only
6 things
that does require that vote. And there
7 are
times when there's only four votes and when
8 that
happens, there isn't an acquisition or a
9 sale.
10 GOVERNOR
BUSH: We go back to the drawing
11 board.
12 TREASURER
GALLAGHER: We've got to come up
13 with
a new plan.
14 GOVERNOR
BUSH: Okay, David. Item 2.
15 MR.
STRUHS: And Item 2, again, it just
16 picks
right up from there because the
17 instructions
that Governor Bush and the Cabinet
18 gave
to the department back in June of 1999,
19 early
in the Governor's tenure, was to say how
20 can
we be more efficient in making these
21 transactions
occur?
22 Obviously
the benefits of being more
23 efficient
is we save time. We save money. We
24 are
more effective in getting the properties
25 that
we want.
65
1 We can be more selective, more strategic;
2 and
by saving money, it also leaves more money
3 in
our account to, in fact, buy more
4 conservation
land. Smart money management in
5 this
context equals good environmental
6 management.
7 We
took that direction to heart and here
8 we
are a couple of years later and with a
9 concerted
effort have cut the average time to
10 acquire
a piece of property in the State of
11 Florida
by half.
12 We
were operating previously at about 440
13 days
on average. We're happy to report that it
14 now
takes us about 240 days on average to
15 acquire
a piece of property.
16 We
have done some calculations in terms of
17 how
much money that has saved the State of
18 Florida.
Over the last three years with this
19 new
direction, we have saved $1,150,000. That
20 is
an extra million dollars that now remains in
21 our
accounts to go out and by more conservation
22 land.
23 So,
again, I think it was excellent
24 instructions
from the Governor and Cabinet to
25 suggest
that better money management would also
66
1 equal better environmental management.
2 TREASURER
GALLAGHER: Now, David, we're
3 not
happy with 244 days yet, are we?
4 MR.
STRUHS: Well, no, sir, because --
5 TREASURER
GALLAGHER: Okay.
6 MR.
STRUHS: -- we're always looking for
7 continuous
improvement. We believe that we may
8 have
some additional ideas that could continue
9 this
trend.
10 We
want to make sure, though, that as we
11 go
forward that, number one, if we are going
12 to,
for example, bring in private assistance to
13 help
with these transactions that, number one,
14 it
meets a cost benefit. That's -- and we can
15 clearly
demonstrate that to you and to the
16 public;
and, secondly, we want to make sure
17 that
we've maintained the integrity of the
18 process.
19 Getting
back to your comments,
20 Commissioner
Gallagher, the reason you have the
21 Board
of Trustees here is because we want the
22 highest
level of integrity in all these land
23 purchases,
and we would only propose something
24 if,
in fact, it met that test.
25 And
that's why before we would proceed
67
1 with any additional work we would want to come
2 back
to the Cabinet and make sure that you all
3 agree
that, number one, it was cost
4 effective
-- we could make that case with a
5 spreadsheet
-- and, secondly, that we would
6 maintain
the integrity of the underlying
7 system.
8 But
we will pursue those ideas, and we'll
9 come
back to you. But today we really wanted
10 to
celebrate the fact that we've got an extra
11 million
dollars of land conservation thanks to
12 the
instructions you gave us at the beginning
13 of
your terms. So we're real pleased with
14 that,
and with that we just request your
15 acknowledgment
or receipt of this report.
16 We
did -- if you would care to learn more
17 either
now or later, we did prepare a chart.
18 I'm
not sure we can project that, but we could
19 certainly
hand it out.
20 It
shows specifically where the savings
21 were
made in terms of these improved
22 deficiencies;
the appraisal process, we've
23 saved
time in negotiation process, the closing
24 process.
25 So
in doing all three steps in land
68
1 acquisition we've been able to save time and
2 that's
how we got the cumulative fact of
3 cutting
it in half, almost in half, from 440 to
4 244.
5 TREASURER
GALLAGHER: Well, I think you
6 ought
to give some of the numbers. You have
7 the
appraisals took a 135 days; they're down
8 71.
9 MR.
STRUHS: Yes, sir.
10 TREASURER
GALLAGHER: Negotiations have
11 cut
10 days or 15 from 105 to 90, and the
12 closings
which used to take 200 days are now at
13 83.
So I can tell you from an efficiency
14 standpoint,
the buyer and the seller appreciate
15 it.
16 MR.
STRUHS: Yes, sir.
17 TREASURER
GALLAGHER: Especially the
18 seller.
If you have a voluntary seller who's
19 willing
to sell us their land at an agreed
20 price
and it takes them 440 days to do it, they
21 probably
wish they hadn't agreed. At least
22 I've
talked with some that wish they hadn't
23 agreed.
24 MR.
STRUHS: And you and I have both, sir.
25 We
used to get a number of phone calls from
69
1 sellers who really thought they were on the one
2 end
obviously being fairly treated but --
3 because
they got -- they got a fair price but
4 then
felt like they wished they had sold it to
5 somebody
else because by the end of the process
6 they
felt that we were ineffective,
7 inefficient,
slow moving, bureaucratic to the
8 point
where the frustration became well-known
9 in
the marketplace.
10 TREASURER
GALLAGHER: Well, they end
11 up
paying -- they pay property taxes on it
12 another
year and -- and a half.
13 MR.
STRUHS: Right.
14 TREASURER
GALLAGHER: Which, you know, we
15 don't
do. And if they have any mortgages, they
16 got
to continue paying those and if they don't,
17 they
have certainly loss of revenue that they
18 think
they're going to get before 440 days.
19 MR.
STRUHS: That's correct. And the good
20 news
is this is anecdotal. I mean, these are
21 real
statistics here. Anecdotally I can tell
22 you
it has been quite a while since we've
23 received
any complaints from sellers that we've
24 taken
too long. That used to be the norm, and
25 we
don't get that anymore.
70
1 TREASURER GALLAGHER: With an average of
2 244,
how about giving me an example of what
3 we
-- what's the quickest that we've been able
4 to
handle the total process.
5 MR.
STRUHS: You know, it's silly for me
6 to
stand here and take all the credit for this
7 because
--
8 GOVERNOR
BUSH: Very silly.
9 MR.
STRUHS: -- Rob Lovern here who works
10 in
our Division of State Lands really deserves
11 an
enormous amount of credit and thanks for
12 getting
us to this point, and I'd like to share
13 the
limelight with Rob and let him give you
14 some
examples.
15 MR.
LOVERN: Good morning.
16 GOVERNOR
BUSH: Good morning.
17 MR.
LOVERN: I'm Rob Lovern, assistant
18 director
of state lands. I think the shortest
19 example
is probably three days we had --
20 GOVERNOR
BUSH: That's pretty short.
21 MR.
LOVERN: -- most recently with a
22 Mr.
Andy Mishatta. It was a joint acquisition
23 with
the water management district, and we
24 actually
did all of the due diligence and leg
25 work
up front.
71
1 I take that back. It was probably five
2 days
because after they asked for your
3 approval,
we asked for a warrant and we were
4 able
to close it five days later. So that's
5 the
best example for a short period.
6 What
we're doing is putting a lot of our
7 due
diligence up front, anticipating your
8 approval
where we already have high levels of
9 products
to begin with so we're not taking a
10 lot
of risk but just enough to sometimes cut
11 the
process in half.
12 TREASURER
GALLAGHER: Oh, I was looking
13 for
willing seller, we're an interested buyer,
14 from
that point to -- to a closing.
15 MR.
LOVERN: The -- I think probably 180
16 days.
That's our target at this point.
17 The
Governor did ask the Cabinet
18 collectively
for a target of no more than six
19 months
in the process and we've met that.
20 Probably
120 days I would think, Mr. Gallagher.
21 The
-- it's not the routine, but we're
22 learning
from those where we do that how to put
23 those
processes in place and also do it more
24 often
and bring the numbers down, but we are at
25 the
target of 180 days.
72
1 TREASURER GALLAGHER: That's great. And
2 four
months is certainly better than six.
3 MR.
LOVERN: Yes, sir.
4 COMMISSIONER
BRONSON: Governor, I'm
5 hoping
that while we're saving this money on
6 acquisition
to be used later that we can also
7 somehow
find a way to put some money into this
8 for
the management of all these properties that
9 we're
getting. That is one of the most
10 critical
things we need to be doing.
11 So
anyplace and anywhere we can find money
12 to
actually manage the properties is one of the
13 issues
that I'm still going to harp on until
14 the
day I leave state government that we --
15 TREASURER
GALLAGHER: Who manages most of
16 that
property?
17 COMMISSIONER
BRONSON: Well, there's a
18 number
of people who manage; depend on who owns
19 the
land, of course, whether it's water
20 management
district, Department of Agriculture
21 and
so forth.
22 Our
Forestry Division does an excellent
23 job,
but they're limited on the monies that
24 they
have for management but --
25 TREASURER
GALLAGHER: They manage most of
73
1 it, do they?
2 COMMISSIONER
BRONSON: The other lands
3 have
very little management monies other than
4 those
that the water management districts put
5 their
management money in which is not adequate
6 either
right now.
7 So
to do the proper job we need to find
8 management
money. So there's my little harp
9 for
the day.
10 GOVERNOR
BUSH: You want to engage the
11 Agriculture
Commissioner on the subject?
12 MR.
STRUHS: When Commissioner Bronson was
13 a
senator and was working hard, Governor, to
14 pass
your Florida Forever Bill which allows us
15 to
do all this, he made the point -- he made
16 the
point then and he continues to make it, and
17 it's
a good point, that you can't own land --
18 the
public can't own land if we're not going to
19 manage
it well.
20 And
thanks to the senator's -- former
21 senator's
good work on your bill, Governor, we
22 have
more money dedicated for land management
23 in
Florida Forever than we ever did in the old
24 program,
Preservation 2000, and we're starting
25 to
see some good results too in terms of soda
74
1 apples and Brazilian pepper removal, Melaleuca.
2 So
it's a hard task, but I think we're
3 starting
to make some real progress. At a
4 future
meeting we could come back and maybe
5 give
you a report on how those dollars are
6 being
spent, what we're buying for -- for them.
7 GOVERNOR
BUSH: Very good.
8 MR.
STRUHS: And if I could, just one more
9 point,
particularly since we're in a close city
10 here
outside of Tallahassee is recognize that
11 while
the discussion here is focused on smart
12 money
management, good government, good policy,
13 making
things more efficient, we don't want to
14 lose
sight of the lasting benefits of this
15 program.
16 And,
again, thanks to the Florida Forever
17 Bill
that the Governor introduced and the
18 senator
helped pass and this Cabinet has helped
19 realize
in the last couple of years, we've been
20 able
to open over the last four years seven new
21 state
parks; seven new state parks, almost
22 2,500
acres of new green space and trails for
23 urban
users, 88,000 acres for wildlife
24 management,
and over 90,000 acres for new state
25 forests.
75
1 So those are really the lasting legacy
2 items
that this Governor and this Cabinet will
3 deserve
the credit for.
4 TREASURER
GALLAGHER: Governor, I move
5 that
we accept the report, Item 2.
6 COMMISSIONER
CRIST: Second.
7 GOVERNOR
BUSH: There is a motion to
8 accept
the report and a second. Any other
9 discussion?
Without objection, the item is
10 accepted.
11 I'm
not quite sure what we do with it once
12 we
accept it but --
13 TREASURER
GALLAGHER: We officially accept
14 it.
15 GOVERNOR
BUSH: Item -- Substitute Item 3.
16 MR.
STRUHS: Yes. Item 3 I sort of
17 prematurely
set up for you earlier. The item
18 is
before you as presented. We recommend
19 approval
of it. This is the McClure Property.
20 TREASURER
GALLAGHER: Motion on 3.
21 GOVERNOR
BUSH: Is there a second?
22 COMMISSIONER
BRONSON: Second.
23 GOVERNOR
BUSH: Moved and seconded.
24 Without
objection --
25 COMMISSIONER
CRIST: This --
76
1 GOVERNOR BUSH: -- the item passes.
2 COMMISSIONER
CRIST: If I may?
3 GOVERNOR
BUSH: Yes.
4 COMMISSIONER
CRIST: This relates to
5 helping
the panthers?
6 MR.
STRUHS: Yes, it does. Thank you.
7 COMMISSIONER
CRIST: You're welcome.
8 MR.
STRUHS: It's important.
9 COMMISSIONER
CRIST: Well, there's an
10 article
in the paper today that talks about
11 proliferation
thereof and so this I think will
12 augment
that.
13 MR.
STRUHS: I tell you one of -- I'm so
14 glad
you asked.
15 COMMISSIONER
CRIST: You're welcome.
16 MR.
STRUHS: Completely unrehearsed,
17 really.
18 COMMISSIONER
CRIST: It's good stuff.
19 MR.
STRUHS: I tell you, if you look just
20 in
the last couple of years, we have probably
21 done
more to preserve panther habitat than in
22 any
other point in Florida's history.
23 And,
again, this Cabinet deserves the
24 credit
because we can't move without their
25 approval.
I mean, they've been very supportive
77
1 of our efforts.
2 I
actually have a map here -- I hope I can
3 find
it. Here it is right here -- that shows
4 the
strategy that we're using. There we go.
5 COMMISSIONER
CRIST: This is near Fort
6 Myers?
7 MR.
STRUHS: Yes, sir. The whole strategy
8 for
panther habitat is recognizing that this
9 animal
has to have large areas; large areas to
10 roam,
large areas to hunt, and if we were to
11 simply
go out and buy a parcel here and a
12 parcel
there and they didn't connect one with
13 the
other, we'd be spending a lot of money but
14 we
wouldn't be doing much probably for habitat
15 and
preservation
16 GOVERNOR
BUSH: Why don't you describe
17 what
we're looking at.
18 MR.
STRUHS: And what we're looking at is
19 the
red in the sort of lower right is the
20 property
known as Panther Glades/Dinner Island
21 Property.
The -- going to the northwest is
22 the
-- I always have a hard time with this one.
23 The
Oka --
24 TREASURER
GALLAGHER: Okaloacoochee.
25 MR.
STRUHS: Okaloacoochee Slough. You
78
1 look to the left of that in the yellow and that
2 is
the Twelvemile Slough. The hatched area of
3 the
--
4 GOVERNOR
BUSH: What part of the state is
5 this,
David, for the people that are looking at
6 this?
7 COMMISSIONER
CRIST: Fort Myers.
8 MR.
STRUHS: This is -- this particular
9 property
is in Hendry County.
10 GOVERNOR
BUSH: Hendry County or Lee?
11 MR.
STRUHS: Hendry. This is Hendry
12 County.
13 The
item that is before you now is the
14 crosshatched
top band of the yellow segment and
15 as
you can see, that creates a critical linkage
16 that
puts this whole ecosystem together.
17 And
that's one of the reasons why we're so
18 excited
about it because that's what the
19 panthers
need. They need those large
20 landscapes
in order to -- to remain viable.
21 What
this does is this yellow connector
22 piece
ties together Panther Glades,
23 Okaloacoochee,
Twelvemile Slough and up to the
24 Caloosahatchee
which is the green to the north.
25 So
we're very pleased with our progress
79
1 thus far. I think what it demonstrates is,
2 again,
not just wanting to claim credit for
3 spending
money, but for spending it wisely and
4 strategically
so that we have this lasting
5 benefit.
So thanks very much.
6 COMMISSIONER
BRONSON: Governor, I'd also
7 like
to thank all of the private landowners in
8 conjunction
that work with the state because
9 many
of these private landowners are right next
10 to
these state properties that also help to
11 protect
the panther habitat as well as the
12 black
bear habitat which has increased
13 tremendously
in the State of Florida over the
14 past
12 years.
15 And
without the cooperation of both
16 private
and the state, we couldn't accomplish
17 what
we're doing here right now because the
18 panther
in general will -- will roam a
19 200-square-mile
area and when the -- when the
20 boy
panthers are trying to find the girl
21 panthers,
that goes about triple so -- like
22 other
species.
23 So
I'm -- I just want to make sure
24 everybody
understands that the private
25 landowners
also play a big role in working with
80
1 the state in panther and other animal habitat
2 where
we're losing some of those habitats.
3 MR.
STRUHS: Yeah. I -- that's exactly
4 right,
Commissioner. And just to that point,
5 if
we could dim the lights just one more moment
6 on
this particular slide, the lower segment,
7 the
Panther Glades/Dinner Island area which is
8 the
red, the furthest south, you'll notice
9 there's
a gap between those two red blocks.
10 That
is privately-owned land that is
11 currently
very productive citrus groves and yet
12 because
it is in agriculture and because it's a
13 good
citrus grove, that provides no barrier to
14 the
panther; that the panthers regularly
15 migrate
across that grove between those two
16 publicly-owned
elements.
17 TREASURER
GALLAGHER: Stopping for a
18 little
orange juice on the way through I guess.
19 MR.
STRUHS: Yes, sir. But it's an
20 example
of where you can work with private
21 landowners,
put their property to good economic
22 use,
keep it on the tax rolls and yet still
23 achieve
our objectives.
24 TREASURER
GALLAGHER: I think it's good
25 for
the audience to know that in this agreement
81
1 to purchase this land, it has been used for
2 tomato
farming, and the owner will get another
3 season
in its 2004 tomato farm; and then we'll
4 remove
the different improvements that are
5 there
so it will end up coming to the state and
6 no
more farming.
7 I'll
move Item 3.
8 COMMISSIONER
BRONSON: Second.
9 MR.
STRUHS: Thank you.
10 GOVERNOR
BUSH: Moved and seconded.
11 Without
objection, the item passes.
12 Item
4.
13 MR.
STRUHS: Item 4 is a request for a
14 non-exclusive
easement.
15 Again,
maybe more for the benefit of the
16 guests
here today, these are fairly small
17 housekeeping
items, but they're nonetheless
18 interesting
because if you do have private
19 property
and the only way to access that is to
20 cross
public property, in this case for utility
21 lines,
that requires this item to come before
22 the
Board of Trustees and make sure that they
23 will
grant that permission and that's what
24 we're
doing here.
25 This
is an easement that is approximately
82
1 1,600 feet long. Easements for utilities are
2 typically
20 feet wide. It's non-exclusive
3 which
means it could be used for other
4 purposes.
5 One
of the things that we do before we
6 bring
these items to the board is we consult
7 with
the experts on the natural resources
8 there,
and in this case the Florida Fish and
9 Wildlife
Conservation Commission has agreed
10 that
this particular alignment is the best
11 alignment
for this easement to protect the
12 natural
resources.
13 One
of the things we also require that the
14 board
requires is that in addition to paying a
15 fee
to the state for getting the easement, that
16 there
be an additional public benefit; and in
17 this
case that additional public benefit that
18 the
applicant will make available as a $1,000
19 commitment
for some firefighting equipment in
20 that
particular forested area.
21 The
way we had determined what the value
22 of
the easement is, in this case we used a
23 local
real estate broker. And there again, by
24 relying
on somebody who's familiar with the
25 land,
knows the market there, working very
83
1 quickly and efficiently and accurately, get a
2 sense
of what the easement is actually worth
3 and
then we bring that opinion with our
4 recommendation
to the Board of Trustees.
5 So
we would recommend approval of this
6 easement
for a fee of $2,583 to be deposited
7 into
the Internal Improvement Trust Fund with
8 the
additional $1,000 provision for
9 firefighting
equipment in that area.
10 TREASURER
GALLAGHER: And, David, you
11 might
also mention that this particular
12 easement
follows the road. So we're not
13 cutting
trees. We're not doing anything. It's
14 just
going to go right along the road. It will
15 allow
access for fire control.
16 MR.
STRUHS: Yes, sir.
17 TREASURER
GALLAGHER: Motion on 4.
18 COMMISSIONER
CRIST: Second.
19 GOVERNOR
BUSH: Moved and seconded.
20 Without
objection, the item passes.
21 Thank
you all very much.
22 MR.
STRUHS: Thank you.
23 GOVERNOR
BUSH: Meeting has ended. Thank
24 you.
25 (The
proceedings concluded at 10:55 a.m.)
84
1 CERTIFICATE OF REPORTER
2
3 STATE
OF FLORIDA )
4 COUNTY
OF PINELLAS )
5
6 I,
BOBBIE JO WILLEY, Registered Professional
7 Reporter,
certify that I was authorized to and did
8 stenographically
report the proceedings herein, and
9 that
the transcript is a true and complete record of
10 my
stenographic notes.
11 I
further certify that I am not a relative,
12 employee,
attorney, or counsel of any of the
13 parties,
nor am I a relative or employee of any of
14 the
parties' attorney or counsel connected with the
15 action,
nor am I financially interested in the
16 action.
17
18 DATED
this 1st day of October, 2002.
19
20
21 ______________________________
BOBBIE JO WILLEY, RPR
Cabinet
Affairs
