Florida Rep. Ray Sansom, center, has ‘splainin’ to do

I haven’t wanted to bore you non-Floridians out there with the details of our House speaker’s misuse of power and conflicts of interest, but his case just got way less boring. Unless you consider being investigated by a grand jury and your fellow legislators dull.

A grand jury decided Monday to look into allegations that House Speaker Ray Sansom abused his position by taking a six-figure job at his hometown college.

“From this point on, we’ll be calling witnesses,” State Attorney Willie Meggs said at the Leon County Courthouse.

The trouble for State Rep. Sansom (R-Destin) began on what should have been a Very Good Day. After all, how often do you get sworn in as speaker of the House and find out you’ve been selected for a $110,000 a year job? Not only that, but the job is a newly created position pretty much tailor-made for you, at the community college you once attended, and to which you just steered $25 million in state funds, even though only $1 million was in the original appropriation. But wait, it gets better.

Although college officials dispute it, public records show that the airport facility Northwest Florida State College plans to build with tax money secured by House Speaker Ray Sansom is the same hangar Sansom’s friend wanted for his jet business…

Indeed, the hangar that [Developer Jay] Odom had proposed using $6-million in state money to build is virtually the same as what Northwest Florida State plans to build with $6-million Sansom obtained during the 2007 legislative session.

There’s one other little problem (that we know of so far).

Sansom’s apparent attempts to evade public records, or as they are called in Florida, “sunshine,” laws in planning with college officials kind of stinks.

Things descended into low-grade farce when the school’s trustees met in March in Tallahassee, 150 miles away from their Niceville campus. The far-off meeting was advertised back home only a week in advance.

“It’s probably the only way we can do it in privacy,” school president Bob Richburg wrote in an e-mail to Sansom.

Ten months later, when questions started flying about the meeting, Richburg produced a reconstructed “record” of the event.

I have to admit, this notion of a reconstructed “record” is a useful one. I’ll have to try it on my boss or somebody.

The very rarity of these circumstances is what drew the attention, first of newspapers around the state, then of Florida residents — some of whom launched a web site, www.sacksansom.com, then of Democrats in the House, and ultimately, of the grand jury and even House Republicans, who along with other Republican elected officials, tried to ignore the scandal amid calls for a criminal investigation.

…the officials, both Republicans, were dismissive. [Attorney General Bill] McCollum said he did not have jurisdiction. [Gov. Charlie] Crist asked who had filed the complaint, and when he was told it was [Florida Democratic Party Chair Karen] Thurman, he replied, “Yeah, next question.”

When I called upon my own representative, also a Republican, I was met with only silence. In fact, I’m still waiting for a response to my email sent last year.

12/16/08 10:31 AM

To the Honorable Michael B. Weinstein;

I am greatly disturbed by the actions of House Speaker Ray Sansom concerning his appropriation for Northwest Florida State College, his job there, and his help to developer Jay Odom. He needs to step down as speaker and quite possibly as a representative. How can this man preside over a session that will be largely devoted to solving budget shortfalls when he’s busy making money grabs for himself and his backers? How can you and the other Republican representatives stand by silently and allow this? I am calling on you, my representative, to act or explain why you’re not. Thank you.

Hey, I said thank you. And while I didn’t really expect an explanation, I did think I’d get an acknowledgment. But understanding the political realities makes the news that the legislature is finally feeling enough constituent heat to move their asses more encouraging.

The separate investigation in the Legislature – believed to be the first time a Florida House speaker has ever been the subject of such an inquiry – could lead to Sansom’s removal from office…

The decision by House members to investigate Sansom was particularly charged because Republicans hold a more than 2-1 advantage in the House and members are beholden to the speaker for key positions such as committee chairmanships.

For his part, Sansom is lawyering up and taking steps to look cooperative. He resigned his new job at the college and hired the best-known Republican fix-it guy in the state.

[Tallahassee lawyer Peter] Antonacci once worked for [State Attorney Willie] Meggs, handling public corruption prosecutions. In recent years, he has become the go-to guy for Republicans in trouble.

In 2002, then-Gov. Jeb Bush called on Antonacci to represent his daughter, Noelle, on charges that she had forged a prescription for Xanax.

St. Petersburg Times columnist Howard Troxler summed up the feelings of Floridians watching this mess.

Sansom predicts he will be found “clean, innocent.” And, what the heck, maybe he will be. This is Florida.

Still, I wonder how the members of the House — who made Sansom speaker by acclamation, whose consent keeps him in the post today, and who gave him a standing ovation the other day — plan to defend their judgment.

Based on my experience, I’m guessing they won’t.

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