State: House Democrats huddle on strategy

WAKULLA SPRINGS -- For eight hours Monday, Democrats in the Florida House caucused behind closed doors on how to overcome their dwindling numbers and still have an impact in the 2003 Legislature.

While Democrats met at a rustic lodge south of Tallahassee, House Speaker Johnnie Byrd of Plant City was in his Capitol suite, deciding which fellow Republicans should most savor the spoils of victory with committee chairmanships, corner offices and prime parking spaces.

Democrats can't be concerned about perks. They held an all-day retreat where they dissected what was, for them, a disastrous election. They talked about working as a team, acutely aware that they hold only 39 seats in a 120-member House.

One seminar featured Ron Richmond, who was a House Republican leader from Pasco County more than two decades ago, when Republicans were as weak as Democrats are now, and Ken Plante, a former Republican senator. Both are now lobbyists. Democrats said both men advised them to study the procedural rules closely, stick together and recruit middle-of-the-road candidates for the 2004 elections.

"The need to be a little more disciplined. The need to be more united. To work the system that we're in. To play the hand you're dealt," said Rep. Dan Gelber, D-Miami Beach, offering his summary of the session.

That sounds mild. But House Democratic Leader Doug Wiles, D-St. Augustine, insisted that a St. Petersburg Times reporter stay outside until the session was over.

"I think the members need to speak as freely as they can," Wiles said. "My goal is to get us to work together a little better."

Wiles said no legislation was discussed. The Constitution prohibits three or more House members from meeting in private to agree on "formal" action to be taken later. That same provision leaves it up to House members to interpret the meaning of the provision.

"It's like the fox guarding the henhouse. It's disturbing," said Barbara Petersen of the First Amendment Foundation. She said Wiles has been a supporter of open government, but closed-door caucuses represented a troublesome trend.

Rep. Ron Greenstein, D-Coconut Creek, described the session as a day of "bonding." He said lawmakers avoided policy discussions.

Freshman Rep. Mary Brandenburg, D-West Palm Beach, said Democrats don't have the burden of addressing Florida's ills. "Everybody expects the Republicans to solve all the problems," she said. "They don't have that expectation from the Democrats."

With a record number of Republican legislators to please in a power-obsessed Capitol, Byrd is improvising, fashioning new jobs with new titles. Some jobs have a pronounced Capitol Hill ring to them.

Today, Byrd will name second-term Rep. Kim Berfield of Clearwater to chair the 81-member House Republican Conference, a job that requires helping the majority leader pass bills. Rep. J. Dudley Goodlette will be named policy chairman, another new job that places the Naples lawyer at the center of every major issue, from smaller class sizes to medical malpractice.

Most of Byrd's other selections remained closely guarded secrets. Even Florida Keys Rep. Ken Sorensen, starting his third term, boarded a plane in Miami for an evening meeting with Byrd, saying he had no idea what his main assignment would be for the next two years.

Others, if they knew, weren't talking, lest they be accused of stealing Byrd's thunder, a major breach of etiquette. "I will let him make the announcements," said Rep. Connie Mack, R-Fort Lauderdale.

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Lucy Morgan

From the Times state desk