The former "Chain Gang Charlie" Crist tells a crowd at a Law Day lunch the best part of the job is helping others.
By COLLEEN JENKINS
Published May 9, 2003
CITRUS HILLS - He's been nicknamed "Chain Gang Charlie" and "Chalkboard Charlie." These days, Florida Attorney General Charlie Crist is trying to get used to staff members addressing him as "General."
"They call you that," Crist said a bit sheepishly to the crowd gathered Thursday at the 6th Annual Citrus County Law Day Luncheon. "I'm not so sure I'm deserving of this title, but I'll take it."
Crist was the keynote speaker for the event, which concluded the Citrus County Bar Association's Law Week. The audience at Andre's of Citrus Hills - a who's who list of the county's judges, lawyers and elected officials, including Rep. Charles Dean, R-Inverness - got an explanation of all Crist's nicknames and a little more insight into his Cabinet position.
He was proud to become Florida's first Republican attorney general last November, but Crist said the best part of his job is helping people. According to his Web site, Crist's priorities include ensuring the safety of citizens, fighting consumer fraud and saving the national environment.
He oversees 1,200 employees, including 400 lawyers.
"It's a great job," Crist said. "You really get to do a lot of good things for a lot of people."
He recalled a little boy with cerebral palsy who had been barred from entering his pet pig in a Florida county fair because of liability reasons. Crist didn't think that was reasonable and asked his staff of lawyers what they could do.
They sent a letter reminding fair officials about civil liberties, the American Disabilities Act and the Constitution. The officials changed their minds, Crist said.
He learned that "a letter from the attorney general means something," he said.
Lawyers also do a lot of good, said the man who received his law degree from the Cumberland School of Law in Birmingham, Ala.
But, Crist noted as he praised the roomful of attorneys for their pro bono work, "It's hard to get that message out." The crowd responded with knowing chuckles.
Crist said he was dubbed "Chain Gang Charlie" during his days in the Florida Senate when he sponsored a successful bill that required prisoners to serve at least 85 percent of their sentences. The legislation included an amendment to revive chain gangs, which Crist said he noticed as a child and later thought would serve as a visual deterrent to others. The idea passed.
On the 2000 campaign trail, when Crist was campaigning to become the state's education commissioner, then-Texas Gov. George W. Bush suggested Crist needed a less harsh-sounding nickname. (Bush, however, thought people called him "Chainsaw Charlie.")
At a Tampa rally, Bush introduced Crist as "Chalkboard Charlie." The name stuck throughout Crist's term.
Crist said he was proud of the work Bush had done as president and grateful to live in a county that protected its citizens' liberties. "Celebrate Your Freedom: Independent Courts Protect Our Liberties," the title of this year's law week, aptly described this country's fortune, he said.
"Freedom is what it's all about," he said. "This is a special place. I thank God every day to be in America."
