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Friends want Martinez to shake up staff

The senator has made several blunders in his first 100 days in office. Many blame his staff.

By ANITA KUMAR
Published April 13, 2005

WASHINGTON - When news broke that Florida Sen. Mel Martinez's office was responsible for the embarrassing memo explaining how Republicans could exploit the Terri Schiavo case, the freshman Florida senator got his first taste of national ridicule.

But now some of his closest friends and supporters in Florida, including some who played key roles in his election, say the episode was only the most public of several blunders that have marred his first 100 days in office.

Though they still strongly support Martinez, these contributors, friends and advisers complain that his office has lost touch with people who matter in Florida, to the point that his staff has neglected to return phone calls or schedule meetings.

They say his staff is too tied to the right, which they say is hurting Martinez's efforts to be seen as a moderate after his partisan election campaign.

And they say he is squandering the extraordinary cachet that he brought to Washington. A former member of the Cabinet and the nation's first Cuban-American senator, Martinez has the ear of the president and congressional leaders.

Some influential supporters are so worried about his tenure that they are trying to decide who among them should be saddled with the painful task of telling Martinez that he needs to wake up and make changes.

"Nobody's in charge. I don't think anyone is in charge of that organization," said Luis Mendez, a Cuban retiree in Miami who supported Martinez. "He needs to start over and get back to the basics to what is important in Florida."

Martinez says his staff is not a problem. But told the names of his Florida friends publicly expressing their disappointment, Martinez allowed that he has some serious fence-mending ahead.

"I really believe that as we look back and learn from mistakes made and learn from events that we will do better here," he said. "And I think things will be in a much better plane than they were in the past."

* * *

The spotlight has been on the freshman senator from Florida from his first day in office.

He was given top committee assignments. He was chosen to go on coveted trips, to observe the election in Palestine and to attend the pope's funeral. He keeps company with Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist and other leaders. People gravitate to his easygoing personality.

His colleagues even returned from vacation for an emergency session to vote on his first bill - meant to prolong Terri Schiavo's life - a bill that put him on the Sunday morning talk shows.

"I have, through no wish of mine, gotten thrusted to more activity, more controversy and more high-profile events than I ever dreamed," Martinez said in an interview Tuesday.

"It's been a confluence of events and issues that propelled me to a place that as a freshman senator I would have never expected to be."

His stature has made his mistakes all the more visible, while other freshmen senators have been able to learn in the shadows.

Today was to have been a celebration, with an open house marking Martinez's 100th day in office, but the event was scrubbed as his office went into bunker mode after the memo embarrassment.

Martinez said he did not know that his staffer had written the unsigned Schiavo memo. Unbeknownst to him, he said, it ended up in the pocket of his suit jacket. He said he handed it to another senator without realizing what it was.

The Florida people who helped put him over the top in a squeaker election last fall still support him. They say they have never doubted his principles, his stance on the issues and his interactions with others. They say it's his staff that needs a serious overhaul.

"He's a wholly decent man," said Michael Noch, a Naples investment fund manager who held several fundraisers for Martinez. "Any mistakes he's making right now are because he's the "anti-politician' and he's leading with his heart instead of his head."

Some friends, including Attorney General Charlie Crist, praise him for making trips around the state, including visits to check on hurricane-hit Pensacola, and for speaking out about issues important to Florida, like Cuba and the Everglades.

But other supporters say his staff needs to promote him better. When he went to Palestine to observe the election, he barely got any press coverage. They say his staff needs to better explain his unpopular stands, such as his vote to allow oil drilling in Alaska.

They say Martinez has forgotten his Florida roots. He doesn't call when he comes to town. They say he needs to worry less about the national Republican Party and focus on issues important to Florida, such as trade.

Former Rep. Lou Frey, a friend and adviser from Winter Park, said Martinez tried to hire Floridians, but it can be difficult to get them to move to Washington.

Of his senior staff, his legislative director went to school in Florida, and his communications director worked for former Florida Sen. Connie Mack.

Martinez acknowledged that he should have called some of his supporters when he was in town or sought them out, but he says he is trying to serve all Floridians.

"At the end of the day, I don't think people in Florida ... would really be the best judge of whether anyone is in charge of my office or not," he said. "If they don't know who is in charge or think no one's in charge, they are just mistaken. I'm in charge.

"I'm trying to stay in touch with 17-million Floridians, not a few friends that were good enough to help me fundraise."

* * *

From the moving experience of attending the pope's funeral, Martinez came home to blistering criticism over the memo, even from allies. Frey said the backlash was a wakeup call to his friend to spend more time on his staff.

"Now I think that message is really driven home he has to spend more time on the administrative and not the legislative," Frey said.

Supporters say they hope he is talking to staff and assessing what changes need to be made.

"He's going to work through the process and the people," said Vern Buchanan, a millionaire and Sarasota car dealer who was Martinez's finance chairman during the campaign. "I'm sure it's not pleasant."

"Some of these staffers get on their high horses," said Michael Holley, a Lakeland car dealer and Martinez supporter. "He's the man. He needs to keep in touch with constituents. It's not their job to isolate him."

Tramm Hudson, former chairman of the Republican Party of Sarasota County, said the memo coming from his office was a big mistake.

"It certainly doesn't help him," he said. "Hopefully, some people are willing to give him the benefit of the doubt."

"Hopefully it's an issue he'll weather, and it won't get worse," said Scott Adams, a supporter from Boca Raton.

"Now people think of him as a political being, not a human being," Noch said. "It's clear that he needs to have more competent staff. He needs to revamp his staff and organize it."

Martinez said former Sen. Mack told him that getting his staff in order is tough at the beginning of a term.

Martinez said he has run far larger and more complex organizations, including Orange County's government and the federal Housing and Urban Development Office. He will have about 50 staffers when he is done hiring and opening six offices around the state.

"I would basically say that for an office that has just gotten off and running, it has been a difficult go, but I think it is so for every other freshman senator," Martinez said. "I think this is not uncommon, and every day is better."

Times staff writers Bill Adair and Wes Allison and researcher Kitty Bennett contributed to this report.

[Last modified April 13, 2005, 01:31:06]