Senator's divorce could get nasty

Republican Senate leader Alex Diaz de la Portilla filed for divorce Dec. 10 with a pretty boilerplate separation filing from lobbyist Claudia Diaz de la Portilla. She followed up Dec. 11 with a counter petition that whacked him right between the eyes by claiming the Miami Senator is "unwilling and unable" to help pay the bills.

Ouch. While the senator denies the charge and has publicly only said nice things about his soon-to-be ex-wife, this could get way meaner.

There is an argument to be made that the divorce is private. But he's a public figure and the divorce files of public figures can reveal a side of a politician's life that's hidden from public view. Just ask former Palm Beach County commissioners Tony Masilotti and Warren Newell. Both had suspicious stuff in their divorce records and, a few Palm Beach Post stories and a federal indictment or two later, both got nice rooms in a federal clink.

This is not to say the leader is in the same league as Newell or Masilotti. In fact, Mrs. Diaz de la Portilla, nee Davant, says in her court filing that she "has removed funds... to reduce the husband's debts,'' an account that squares with the senator's claim of being on hard times when he had troubles paying an election-related fine.

Story here.

McCarty reluctant to support deregulation legislation

Amid discussion of State Farm today, Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty addressed a new bill to deregulate the insurance company sponsored by Rep. Bill Proctor, R-St. Augustine, and Sen. Mike Bennett, R-Bradenton.

McCarty initially avoided commenting directly on the legislation -- HB447 -- and he said he is open to a legislative debate on the issue. But after the meeting, he indicated he would likely oppose the bill.

"(Homeowners) have to buy insurance," McCarty reasoned. "And if you have to buy a product and there is no governance, so to speak, to make sure they aren’t priced gouged in the aftermath of a catastrophic event I think it frustrates the public policy initiative of getting affordable housing for Americans.

FDOT: Sometimes a pancake's just a pancake

So Florida Department of Transportation secretary Stephanie Kopelousos's attention is tough to get. Asst. Secretary for Engineering and Operations Kevin Thibault said had a solution: Write a weird headline that she can easily see and search for on her BlackBerry. 

The headline: Pancake.

Thus begins the mystery of the breakfast food emails, rail, and FDOT. 

The emails stood out because, initially, they weren't released in a records request Sen. Paula Dockery had sent the agency. (More here) So apparent code words could look like an effort to circumvent the public records law. Or it could be the case of the head of an agency under the gun who, besieged by emails, needed to read something quickly.

"It was something eye-catching," Kopelousos said. "We aren't trying to circumvent anything."

Sen. Justice opposes any Fair Districts challenge by Senate

Sen. Charlie Justice doesn't think it would be wise or financially prudent to pursue a legal challenge against the proposed "Fair Districts" constitutional amendment for redistricting, and he just sent a letter to Senate President Jeff Atwater to get those feelings on the record.

Read the letter Justice, D-St. Petersburg, sent to Atwater: Download Justice reapportionment letter 121009

Justice says any lawsuit by the Florida Senate would be "a serious waste of taxpayer money" given that the Florida Supreme Court has reviewed the Fair Districts proposal and deemed it within constitutional guidelines.

But several senators serving on the reapportionment committee said Thursday that a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling raises enough questions to merit another look by the state Supreme Court. The committee will consider legal options at its next meeting in January.

Crist: Not questioned in Mendelsohn probe

If you are an elected official in Tallahassee, you are getting this question: Have you talked to the feds?

It's part of the effort to determine the scope of a Justice Department probe into Alan Mendelsohn, a Broward fund-raiser accused of transferring $87,000 to an unidentified former state lawmaker. The Herald/Times broke the news Wednesday about a number of lawmakers getting questions about the former power broker, including Senate President Jeff Atwater.

But at this point the inquiry doesn't reach as high as the governor's office. After the clemency board hearing Thursday, Gov. Charlie Crist said he has not spoken to federal agents.

FDOT to Sen. Paula Dockery: The software ate your public info

Sen. Paula Dockery just wanted to see eight-month's worth of emails issues to and from FDOT honchos about "CSX, rail, liability."** The Lakeland Republican barely got a thing. There was not one email from FDOT chief Stephanie Kopelousos over the past eight months on an issue that her boss, Gov. Charlie Crist, and the Legislature felt could put people to work and transform the economy.

Is that believable she was asked Dec. 3. “I’m sure that we gave her every document that we have and every email.”

Wrong on two counts.

1) The agency's general counsel, Robert M. Burdick, just wrote Dockery with ye olde computin' explanation about a snafu: "the (software) program did not function as intended." Indeed. The agency just delivered a 8,037 emails with the apology letter.

2) The emails aren't everything. The secretary and other FDOT officials appear to be conducting public work with private email accounts. But those email accounts haven't been mind. So the secretary either forgot she does this or decided not to review her personal email for some other reason.

3) In some emails, Kopelousos and others appear to use breakfast food names, like "pancakes," to hide the fact they're talking about rail.

It'll take a while to go through it all to see if any information (about federal money, costs, financing or liability) could have affected the session that ended with a surprisingly easy 27-10 vote in the Senate.

Sen. Dawson aide: I'm 'cooperating' with feds

A former aide to Sen. Mandy Dawson is talking with authorities in the Justice Department's case against Alan Mendelsohn, a Broward fundraiser extraordinaire accused of transferring $87,000 to an unidentified former state lawmaker.

``You already know I'm cooperating. Talk to my lawyer,'' said ex-aide Venica Blakely, 36, who sources say served as the intermediary funneling the payments to the unnamed lawmaker.

Dawson could not be reached for comment.

Before clicking the link to the full story here on the day's events in the Mendelsohn case as the feds swooped on the Capitol, the following didn't make it.

Sen. Victor Crist, R-Tampa, had a death in the family yesterday and couldn't meet instantly with investigators. He said he had no clue what they were after, so he read the Herald/Times stories that broke the news of the federal presence in the Senate. Crist said the investigators wanted to know if he thought "it was odd Mandy Dawson chaired a powerful committee," Health Policy.

"I laughed," Crist said. "The committee that did the heavy lifting was the other committee." 

Indeed, that other health committee was chaired by Sen. Jeff Atwater, now Senate President who was questioned by the feds as well. The president who installed Dawson, Ken Pruitt, always liked her, felt badly for her health struggles and rewarded her with a do-nothing committee chair for the fact that he could count on her to buck her fellow Democrats when Republicans needed her vote. On some days, Dawson was so incoherent that Crist ran her committee for her as she stood by.

"Everyone knew Mandy Dawson's vote could be bought," said Nancy Argenziano, a former Republican senator who sat on the committee with Dawson and is now a Public Service Commissioner. Asked to clarify, Argenziano said: "What I mean by buy is that she could be persuaded, pressured by leadership to do favors in return for help on something else. I don't know of her vote being bought in a monetary sense. But I do think there's too much special-interest money that affects the legislative process."

Remember: Dawson did get rapped by her colleagues for improperly soliciting money from lobbyists to bankroll a trip to Africa. She was also convicted in a prescription pills case.

Argenziano said she'll meet soon with investigators to say what she knows.

How Jeff Atwater saved rail: Yelling at FDOT

The most affable man in the Florida Senate wasn’t so smiley.

Senate President Jeff Atwater had taken too much of a gamble, calling a special session on controversial rail transit issues without enough votes to ensure passage. And with the clock running down, he needed the Florida Department of Transportation Secretary, Stephanie Kopelousos, to give a little something – some job protection language to the AFL CIO – so that the union dropped its opposition and thereby freed up Democrats to vote on the package.

Standing in the room with the Republican president, Democratic leader Al Lawson was stunned by Atwater’s passion. And his anger.

 “It was so critical and it was coming down to whether or not he would have the votes. And FDOT was not responding. And I have never seen him (Atwater) get so frustrated. He really called the secretary on the carpet, really lashed out at her,” Lawson said.

“You will do this!” Atwater said on the phone to Kopelousos, according to Lawson. “You have slowed this process down. We are at the 11th hour and you‘ve got to do something. We are this close.”

“What are you trying to do to me? I’ve given everything I had on this. Day and night. I haven’t been sleeping. And you are screwing me around.”

Kopelousos apologized. “That wasn’t my intent Mr. President,” she said.

“If it wasn’t your damn intent, then you need to move from where you are,” Atwater said, according to Lawson. “We are an hour and a half away from going into session and if you don’t do something I’m going to lose this whole deal.”

That’s what it took. The secretary budged. The union saved a few jobs and some major face. And the bill passed.

EPA limits on water pollution get political

The EPA's decision to set water pollution limits in Florida is quickly becoming a political issue -- and given the potential effect on big business and big agriculture, one that is attracting a litany of special interests.

Michael Sole, the state's Department of Environmental Protection secretary, briefed the Cabinet on Tuesday. All members, in particular Attorney General Bill McCollum who called the EPA's actions "outrageous," appear ready to go to court to challenge the federal government if they don't like the number set in January.

Already one legislative committee heard from DEP about the issue and a second group of lawmakers will get briefed this afternoon.

The forces aligned against the EPA -- led by Agriculture Commissioner Charles Bronson, who expressed skepticism in global warming yesterday -- are making presentations with heightened rhetoric about a standard that the federal government hasn't even set yet. Likewise, the environmental groups that settled the lawsuit with the EPA continue to parade the same series of enlarged algae bloom photos to prove their point.

But in an interview, Sole clarified a few points that should quiet the crowd's draconian predictions -- if they listen.

Feds swarm Senate in corruption probe

Flashing badges, federal agents descended on Florida's Capitol this week questioning senators and staff members about the Legislature, indicted political player Alan Mendelsohn and former Sen. Mandy Dawson.

"`They had pretty basic questions about the legislative process, but they did ask about Alan Mendelsohn,'' said Sen. Dennis Jones, R-Treasure Island.

"`They asked how Alan Mendelsohn interacted with and lobbied the Legislature,'' Jones said, "And I said I didn't really know for two reasons -- one, he was never registered to lobby so he didn't lobby me, and two, he's from Southeast Florida and I'm not."

More here.