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Politics

Crist's picks bring experience

By CRAIG PITTMAN and JONI JAMES
Published December 22, 2006

Gov.-elect Charlie Crist picked two veterans of state government to head up the state's land-planning and environmental agencies Thursday.

He chose Tallahassee lawyer Tom Pelham to lead the state Department of Community Affairs, an agency Pelham ran in the late 1980s under then-Gov. Bob Martinez.

And Crist's pick as the new head of the state Department of Environmental Protection is the agency's current deputy secretary, Mike Sole, who started at the DEP 16 years ago.

Crist's selections were praised by both environmentalists and developers. Edie Ousley of the Florida Home Builders Association called both men "outstanding," and Thom Rumberger of the Everglades Trust called them "inspired choices."

But both also carry some baggage. Pelham recently represented city officials in St. Pete Beach in a controversial case in which residents want to block development favored by the city. And Sole's past work has been criticized by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, among other groups.

Ken Weiss, who battled Pelham in court over a proposed referendum vote on changing St. Pete Beach's charter to give the voters more say on development decisions, was not happy. He noted that Pelham also represented Ormond Beach in a similar suit against a citizens' group.

"It's unfortunate that the governor chose a person who has consistently represented cities in opposition to the voice of the citizens," Weiss said.

Pelham said he was just acting as an attorney for city officials, and now he will be working "on behalf of the people of Florida as a whole." But he acknowledged that he will have to deal with a wave of similar uprisings over growth management now spreading across the state, including the Florida Hometown Democracy movement.

"We need to address it in such a way that the citizens have a right to participate fully while still protecting the integrity of our growth management process," he said.

Florida Hometown Democracy leader Ross Burnaman said he considers Pelham a friend and said Pelham "did a great job" when he ran the agency before.

As for Sole, Eric Draper of Audubon praised the new DEP secretary as "an honest broker" who "can be trusted to uphold our environmental laws."

But Jerry Phillips of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility said he was "extremely disappointed" at Sole's promotion because the DEP now is "pretty much emasculated."

Linda Young of the Clean Water Network, who has been a persistent critic of the DEP's efforts to alter water quality standards and its track record on protecting wetlands, said she hopes Sole's experience will enable him to revitalize the agency.

"He was there before it became basically a lapdog of the Legislature," she said. "He remembers what it was like."

[Last modified December 22, 2006, 00:00:24]