 |
||||||||
 |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
Insurance chief choice temporary
By STEVE BOUSQUET, Times Staff Writer
TALLAHASSEE -- Gov. Jeb Bush and the Cabinet chose a veteran regulator Thursday to oversee Florida's troubled insurance market. But they were so disappointed at the lack of applicants that they gave the job to Kevin McCarty for only 90 days to attract more out-of-state applicants. McCarty has been Florida's deputy state insurance commissioner since 2001. He gained attention in 1995 when Bankers Insurance of St. Petersburg hired a private investigator who spied on McCarty and illegally tapped his home phone after Bankers was passed over for a $16-million state insurance contract overseen by McCarty. Bankers later paid $2.55-million to McCarty to settle a civil suit he filed against the company for violating his privacy by disclosing that he is gay. The company also agreed last year to pay the state $1-million in fines and costs and apologize to McCarty in writing. McCarty, 43, has worked in the insurance department since 1991 and has degrees in law and political science from the University of Florida. He is a member of the Governor's Commission on Workers' Compensation Reform. Bush and Chief Financial Officer Tom Gallagher praised McCarty's ability but said it was disappointing that 18 people applied for a job they described as one of the most powerful regulatory positions in any state. It pays up to $149,000 a year. "I'm concerned that we didn't get a field of applicants that was very deep or robust," Bush said. Gallagher suggested appointing McCarty on a temporary basis. He told reporters later he wanted to erase any perception that he was trying to manipulate the list of finalists to benefit McCarty, who has been a trusted Gallagher aide. "If I was sitting here as one of these other guys," Gallagher said, referring to Bush and the other Cabinet members, "it's like, okay, did you slam-dunk me? I didn't. But I don't want the perception that I did." Gallagher's chief of staff, Paul Mitchell, attributed the lukewarm response by applicants to confusion about the job. "No one knew exactly what they were applying for," Mitchell said. "There was a lot of confusion about the Cabinet system." The state will readvertise the position while insisting that future applicants have at least two years of regulatory experience in the last five years. Bush and the three-member Cabinet met for the first time as the Financial Services Commission, one of many moves as a result of a decision by voters in 1998 to shrink the Cabinet by merging the offices of treasurer and comptroller and eliminating the elected positions of education commissioner and secretary of state. Widespread problems in Florida's insurance market will be a major issue in the annual legislative session that begins March 4. House Insurance Committee Chairwoman Kim Berfield, R-Clearwater, this week described a "crisis" in workers compensation, medical malpractice, health insurance and car insurance fraud. Also named Thursday as Florida's chief banking regulator was Don Saxon, who will run the Office of Financial Institutions and Securities Regulation, handling many of the responsibilities formerly held by Comptroller Bob Milligan. Saxon, 51, spent the last 16 years as director of the state Division of Securities and Finance. He was one of eight candidates for the job, which also pays up to $149,000 a year. Gallagher now runs the combined agency and will oversee the regulators. The law requires Bush and Gallagher to agree on the selections.
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111 
|
From the Times Business report
From the AP
|
