News: Scott administration interviews tea party leader for South Florida water district

Palm Beach Post
By Joel Engelhardt
4/5/11

WEST PALM BEACH - As environmentalists increasingly sound the alarm over proposed budget cuts for the state's water management districts, Gov. Rick Scott's administration is considering adding a tea party leader to the board of governors of the South Florida Water Management District.

Among more than 30 applicants vying for five open seats, the administration has interviewed Boynton Beach attorney James Moran, founder of Tea Party in Action, a group that emerged last year to protest the water district's $197 million U.S. Sugar land deal.

On Tuesday, environmentalists wrote to state Senate President Mike Haridopolos, R-Merritt Island, urging him to reconsider a proposal to put the district's budget under the Senate and cut its property taxes by 30 percent, a slightly higher percentage than Scott's 25 percent cutback proposal for the state's five water districts.

The district collected $399 million in property taxes from its 16-county region this year, a 13 percent decline. It's tax rate of 62 cents per $1,000 of property value has not changed in four years.

Traditionally, the Senate has no say in the budgets of the districts. The tax rates are set by the governing boards and approved by the governor. The South Florida district is the largest in the state.

If the cuts go through, environmentalists argue, the South Florida district's core expenses to maintain an intricate network of canals, pumps and water control structures would absorb most of its money.

As a result, the district wouldn't have enough leftover to retain its role as the local sponsor of federal efforts to restore the Everglades, said Audubon of Florida lobbyist Charles Lee. "The bottom line," he said, "is Everglades restoration would crash and burn."

To Moran, one of nine people seeking the Palm Beach County seat vacated last June by Pat Rooney - now a state House member - the Senate proposal makes sense. Pointing out that the economy is in big trouble, Moran said his hope is to "fulfill the core mission of the district while doing it in a more fiscally prudent manner."

Moran applied for the seat in December, listing former board Chairman Michael Collins as a reference. Collins, a Monroe County resident who served 11 years on the board, has submitted an application for the open Miami-Dade County seat held by Eric Buermann.

Other applicants for the Palm Beach County seat include Dwyght Spence, chairman of the county housing authority. He said he had been contacted for an interview but couldn't attend because he was out of the country.

Others who have applied include Gary Dernlan, former county water utilities director; Philip Ward, a lawyer and former Business Development Board chairman; real estate broker Steven McCraney; and Bob Kanjian, who applied before Scott's election. Kanjian was a 2007 Charlie Crist appointee to the Palm Beach County Commission.

Applicants also include current board member Charles Dauray, former board member Irela Bague, citrus grower James Humble and Huizenga Holdings executive Timothy Sargent.