McKay buddy has new gig, old problems

MORGAN

© St. Petersburg Times
published January 19, 2002

The lawyer Senate President John McKay hand-picked to run his Ethics and Elections Committee has been publicly reprimanded by the Florida Supreme Court for ethical lapses and ordered to participate in an alcohol rehabilitation program.

Wayne L. Rubinas, 53, a friend of McKay's from high school in Winter Haven and college at Florida State University, was hired last week as staff director of the committee that reviews the background of all appointed public officials subject to Senate confirmation. The committee is also responsible for all laws pertaining to ethics and elections.

Rubinas replaced Sarah Jane Bradshaw, a longtime state employee with extensive knowledge of the state's ethics and elections laws. She worked for the state for 29 years and six months and has now been hired by the State Division of Elections, where she begins work Tuesday for far less than the $77,000 she made in the Senate.

Rubinas did not return telephone calls to talk about his background, but his resume and personnel files at state agencies indicate he has no experience in elections or ethics laws except as the recipient of discipline for ethical lapses.

McKay said he was unaware that Rubinas was reprimanded by the state's highest court in 1988 and 1994. Rubinas resigned as a $58,000-a-year hearing officer at the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles last week to take the $79,500 Senate job.

McKay refused to say why Bradshaw was fired but denied doing it to find a spot for a friend or as retaliation against Committee Chairman Debby Sanderson, R-Fort Lauderdale, who opposes his plan to overhaul the state sales tax. He said he wanted a lawyer in charge.

In his state application, Rubinas said he left the Department of Revenue in 1999 to enter a private law practice. Files at Revenue show he resigned after fellow employees said he had been drinking on the job and internal investigators determined he misused state credit cards, drove on state business with a suspended license, misused state long distance lines, falsified travel records and failed to pay federal income taxes. Agency director Larry Fuchs issued a trespass warning to keep him out of the agency after saying Rubinas caused a disturbance on Nov. 30, 1998.

Rubinas is a former mayor of Ocala and has numerous influential political connections. He once was the law partner of former Gov. Buddy MacKay, who remains a close friend and the godfather of Rubinas' daughter. He listed Florida State University president Talbot "Sandy" D'Alemberte and Mel Martinez, U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, as references for the Senate job.

MacKay described Rubinas as "a very good guy with a couple of flaws."

"When he loses control he is totally ashamed," MacKay said. "When he has got control he is very good. I know his problems and in some ways if you have a guy that talented and know his problems up front, it's like he is perpetually on probation. If he stumbles, he'll realize he is running out of second chances."

Rubinas and his wife, Christine, first rented and later bought the house in Tallahassee where Lawton Chiles lived when he was elected governor. His wife works for state Rep. Sandy Murman, R-Tampa. In 2000 the Chiles estate filed suit against the couple alleging they were not making payments. The lawsuit was settled after Rubinas and his wife obtained another loan and settled the debt.

In 1994 Rubinas admitted writing a worthless check to a client, failing to keep a client informed about a lawsuit, failing to keep track of his trust account and failing to file a deed for clients who purchased property.

The Supreme Court issued a public reprimand after Rubinas agreed to an alcohol rehabilitation program. A year later the Florida Bar asked the court to find Rubinas in contempt for failing to pay monitoring fees required by the rehab program. The $1,090 debt was paid in 1996.

Rubinas also was reprimanded and suspended from practice for 90 days by the Supreme Court in 1988 for failing to keep track of his trust accounts, neglect of a legal matter and failure to diligently pursue the interests of a client.

A history of Marion County done by the Ocala Star-Banner notes that his resignation was a surprise and adds: "even more shocking was his December suspension for 90 days from the practice of law by the Florida Bar for mishandling affairs in the construction of a home."

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