By John Romano, Times Columnist | Wednesday, January 14, 2016 | Tampa Bay Times
Do not be fooled by the headlines.
This Florida Department of Law Enforcement scandal is far more complex than it seems. And before you go accusing state leaders of being bald-faced, unrepentant liars, you might want to consider all of the possible motivations and all of the potential ramifications.
Just to review, it seems Gov. Rick Scott wanted everyone to believe longtime FDLE Commissioner Gerald Bailey decided to resign abruptly in December without any notice or explanation. Scott said as much when asked direct questions about it on Tuesday.
The problem is Bailey later told the Tampa Bay Times’ Steve Bousquet that he was given the choice by Scott’s attorney to either voluntarily clean out his desk or be fired. Scott’s office eventually confirmed Bailey’s version, more or less.
So, yes, it would be easy to shout that Scott was purposefully deceiving Florida voters, but that’s not completely fair. Maybe he was actually fibbing to help Bailey save face.
This might have been a fine strategy if Scott had not, apparently, underestimated the commissioner’s anger, pride and integrity in assuming this highly respected and experienced law enforcement official would happily go along with such a ridiculous charade.
See, it’s a tough choice:
The governor could be a liar, or simply a fool.
There is a similar conundrum when it comes to state Cabinet members. Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater, Attorney General Pam Bondi and Commissioner of Agriculture Adam Putnam share in the supervision of the FDLE commissioner with the governor.
All three repeatedly pushed the story that Bailey had resigned. And, apparently, none of those Cabinet members reached out to the commissioner to inquire about his unexpected and, up to now, inexplicable resignation.
So, if you were to rush to judgment, you might assume they were in cahoots with Bailey’s forced departure and lied about it, too. But that’s not the only possibility.
Maybe they just chose to believe Scott’s phony-baloney version of events. And when Bailey contradicted that story — which would mean the governor abused his authority by forcing the commissioner’s resignation without consulting the Cabinet — maybe Atwater, Bondi and Putnam were too timid to demand answers.
See, it’s a tough choice:
They could be liars, or just spineless wimps.
When you think about it, the reasons for Bailey’s departure are also somewhat vexing. Everyone in Tallahassee apparently agrees that Bailey had done wonderful work with the department. He had effectively served three governors, and today’s low crime rate would certainly seem to be a point in his favor. So why would the governor think a shakeup at the top was necessary?
Scott has not offered any concrete reasons. Or even a plausibly vague reason. There are no egregious scandals or obvious missteps.
Bailey was the state’s top cop, a faithful and effective public servant, and yet he was treated like a teenage fry cook who was told to clean out his locker by the end of the day.
At this point, the best guess seems to be that Bailey tried to keep the FDLE separate from the recent gubernatorial race. He resisted overtures from the governor’s office that he felt would have compromised the agency’s integrity.
See, it’s a tough choice:
Bailey could have been jettisoned willy-nilly for no apparent reason, or he could have been the victim of political back-stabbing.
I suppose, in some ways, this column involves an equally difficult choice.
I might actually believe our elected leaders had legitimate and conflicted reasons for their recent decisions on FDLE, or I could just be a sarcastic twit.
Romano: In firing of FDLE chief, it’s hard to tell the liars from the wimps 01/14/15 [Last modified: Wednesday, January 14, 2015 7:47pm]
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