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Politics

Gust of openness refreshes capital

By LUCY MORGAN
Published January 5, 2007

The contrast couldn't be more striking.

On his first full day in office, Gov. Charlie Crist invited reporters into his private office and signed his very first executive order creating an Office of Open Government.

Eight years ago on his very first full day in office, Gov. Jeb Bush refused to produce copies of his daily calendar - a public record under Florida law. When pressed, his staff released a calendar that said "office hours," omitting the customary names of those who might be on the schedule to meet with the governor.

Then he met secretly with House Speaker John Thrasher and Senate President Toni Jennings despite a constitutional requirement that such meetings be conducted in public.

When reporters challenged the governor, he and his staff grew defensive and angry, refusing to recognize the public records law or the requirements of the Florida Constitution.

Before the day ended, Bush had called a news conference of sorts to "explain."

Bush couldn't admit that he made a mistake, saying he didn't actually discuss pending legislation with the two leaders. He was only talking about the budget, tax cuts and education "in general terms." He could not bring himself to say he and his staffed goofed, and he didn't promise not to do it again.

Bush tangled with reporters from the minute he was elected, refusing at first to release copies of transition records. Once in office, Bush made it extremely difficult for anyone to get possession of a public record from his office, frequently stalling for months before even routine documents were produced.

Crist's staff routinely released transition records, including requests from people seeking jobs. Bush waited until inaugural events were long over before releasing a list of who made contributions to pay for them. Crist released the names of contributors as the checks came in, posting them on the transition Web site.

It's far too early to tell what we have on our hands these days, but it would appear our new governor has at least learned from the mistakes of his predecessor.

Could we actually have a governor who intends to do things in public?

Could he actually LIKE having reporters see what he is doing?

Clearly, our new governor can admit he makes mistakes. Even before taking office, he admitted a doozy. On the day he was sworn into office, he predicted he'll make a few more.

How refreshing. We're not accustomed to hearing those sorts of things from the mountaintop up here.

Bush never appeared to like press scrutiny and went way out of his way to avoid it. He even quit coming to the annual Press Corps Skits once he won re-election and didn't need us anymore. So thin of skin was he that he couldn't take the ribbing all governors get when the Capital Press Corps gathered to poke fun at government and raise money for journalism scholarships.

No other governor has dodged that annual ribbing since the skits began under Gov. LeRoy Collins in 1954.

Knock on wood. Cross your fingers. We may have on our hands a governor who favors open government.

[Last modified January 5, 2007, 01:20:30]