Learn to lead

After nine months on the job, the governor reflects on its demands and his strengths: ""I don't let conventional wisdom and the status quo get in my way.''

By JULIE HAUSERMAN

© St. Petersburg Times, published September 12, 1999

TALLAHASSEE -- This time last year, Jeb Bush was traveling Florida, collecting votes and praying for a win in November.

Today, inside the governor's office, Bush is learning how to lead.

He is a detail man who wants to remodel state bureaucracy. In many ways, Bush is an unlikely government architect; he is one of the few modern Florida governors who never held any elected office before.

He is also Florida's first baby boom governor, an e-mail addict who likes rock 'n' roll and sometimes uses "peace" as a sign-off on his messages. His staff is full of young Republicans with a revolutionary zeal. The 46-year-old Bush makes Austin Powers jokes and called one state fund "the money formerly known as Prince" in an e-mail.

During nine months in office, the governor is challenged most of all by the things he can't predict: from the death of his predecessor to the death of a Florida inmate. From the surprise when his wife was nabbed by customs agents after a Paris shopping spree, to the fear that, inevitably, the economy will dip and the state will suffer.

But he is upfront about what he doesn't know. Sometimes, Bush says, longtime state workers are stunned when they bring an issue to the governor's office and he asks them a four-word question: "What do you think?"

"There's some expectation that governors already have it all figured out," Bush said in a recent interview. "There are some advantages to knowing what you don't know. Every day, I get to say, "Well, I haven't done this before, so let's go find out.' I don't let conventional wisdom and the status quo get in my way, and that's an advantage."

Says Bush transportation secretary Tom Barry: "He comes in with a look and says: Why do we have to do this? Can we do it another way?"

"I have enough sense of the importance of the job that I'm not reckless," Bush said. "I seek out the truth as best I can. I seek out people who have experience."

Bush also knows he has been pretty lucky. The state's economy is booming, bringing in millions in extra tax money. But he worries. With 15-million residents, Florida is both unwieldy and needy. The state needs better schools, better roads, better businesses, better development, better social services, and a better bottom line.

These are the things that keep the governor up at night. He has been known to wake up at 3 a.m. and e-mail his staff with directives and ideas.

"What worries me most is an economic downturn," he said. "That will be the true test of my leadership abilities."

Bush takes a dim view of Florida's routine reliance on long-term debt, financing today's projects with bonds that have to be paid off tomorrow. And even though the budget is fat now, he is trying to get the state to rein in spending.

"We shouldn't be reacting to other people's agendas," Bush said. "We should have a set group of priorities that we want to advance, so that at the end of four years we can see what we did."

Bush has a list of six top priorities: raising student achievement, reducing violent crime and drug abuse, getting government to serve people better, creating a good business climate, helping "vulnerable citizens," and "quality of life": things like managing growth and ensuring that there's enough clean water.

The Bush administration espouses classic conservative ideals: smaller government, tax cuts and local solutions to problems.

But as one of the new "compassionate conservatives," Bush has a keen interest in social services. After his defeat in 1994, Bush traveled the state, visiting non-profit groups that solve social problems, places like the Operation PAR drug treatment center near St. Petersburg. Now, he wants the state to secure more contracts with private, non-profit groups, including ones run by religious organizations, for things like elderly care and foster care.

As a new governor, Bush says one of the hardest aspects of the job is not being able to help all the people who need him.

"People send me e-mails of despair and incredible sadness and they are asking for help. Sometimes I can't help them," Bush said. "I don't know if it's a weakness, but I do want to help people. And I have to get back to the balance: How will a single person affect the larger whole?"

Bush gets frustrated with the state's thick bureaucracy and jargon. During a Cabinet discussion on buying land for conservation Bush, who built a career in the high-stakes world of Florida real estate, got more and more irritated. He said he was angry that the state couldn't get a better price. He said he thought the state and its taxpayers ended up looking like "suckers" too often.

Bush voted against the purchase. The other Cabinet members, who are used to the clunky restrictions inherent in public real-estate buying, voted for the deal.

Bush says trying to lead state agencies "is like presiding over the Balkans":

"People speak different languages. They are protective of their turf."

"I think the role of the governor's office has been to referee," he said. "'That's kind of a defensive, reactive position. I'd rather lead."

The governor has also started some high-profile political brawls, and so far, he has managed to both neutralize opponents and grab power.

"I like a good fight," Bush said.

During the campaign, he said, advisers warned him not to come out with his plan to give state vouchers to parents to move their kids from failing public schools to private schools.

"Their advice was: Don't be too bold. Stay inside the lines," Bush said. "There's a finite amount of capital one has in the public realm. For the things that are important, I'm willing to take a risk."

In recent weeks, he has taken on the Florida Legislature, by putting lawmakers on notice that their pet projects won't make it past his veto pen. He is shifting much of the power to make spending decisions away from the Legislature and into the governor's office.

So far, Bush has been difficult to stereotype, and his advisers have learned not to assume that they know the governor's position on a given issue.

"He's hard to pigeonhole," said Sally Bradshaw, his chief of staff.

Some examples:

He comes from a prominent, wealthy political family, but he seems most engaged when he talks to regular people. He frequently picks up the phone and calls people he reads about in the newspaper. He has his staff give him the names of two business owners every day, and he calls them up to find out how the state can help them.

Bush promised to have Tallahassee's most open administration, yet he hired a spokeswoman from the Central Intelligence Agency who has had a hard time adjusting to Florida's Government-in-the-Sunshine law. His administration has, at times, been stingy about releasing public records.

Critics say Bush has abandoned public education with his voucher program. But every Wednesday, Bush has an appointment that does not appear on his official calendar: He goes to a local school first thing in the morning and tutors a middle school student.

Environmentalists figured it was a sure bet that when it came to choosing between business and the environment, Bush would always side with business. But this summer, the state denied a permit for a cement plant near the Ichetucknee River, even though local business boosters said they needed the industry.

Some Catholics have been disappointed that Bush, who converted to their faith, is anti-abortion but has already signed two death warrants. The church opposes both abortion and the death penalty.

"I want people to know that we're not here to advance anybody's particular agenda," Bush said. "We have 15-million people we're here to serve."

Lots of people wonder whether Bush will burn out from the frenetic pace he's keeping, working nights and weekends. He is overseeing even the tiniest details of governing. Not only is he reading all his e-mails, but he is still personally signing all the letters that come out of his office, a task most governors delegate to their staff. He is even a backseat driver.

"He has no concept of what an eight-hour job looks like," said Lt. Gov. Frank Brogan, who is Bush's loyal political partner as well as being a hilarious sidekick.

Right after the election, it was go, go, go.

"As soon as the votes were counted on election night, I was immediately informed that there was a 7 a.m. meeting, which, I'll tell you, cut my celebration short," Brogan said.

First, Bush set up special transition teams to take a hard look at every state agency. Then, Gov. Lawton Chiles died suddenly, just weeks before Bush's inauguration. Then, there was the hard work of putting in new people, naming new agency heads, new bureau chiefs and new staff members at the governor's office.

Before anybody had a chance to poke his head above water, it was time for the legislative session, a political tug of war that stretched Bush's young staff to its limits.

"My people were worn down after the session," Bush said. "There was a frustrating period where I felt like everybody was working hard, but we weren't getting the kinds of results we wanted."

In July, the governor's staff went on a retreat at Sandestin, a Panhandle resort, to regain focus. The Republican Party picked up the tab.

When it looked as if there might be time to get out in front of events this summer, the administration suffered some blows: Lt. Gov. Brogan's wife, Mary, died of cancer. U.S. Customs Service agents caught Columba Bush trying to sneak $19,000 worth of goods home from a Paris shopping trip, a political embarrassment. A death-row inmate died after a fight with prison guards.

Meanwhile, staffers collectively held their breath while Brogan spent weeks mulling whether he might run for the U.S. Senate. In the end, Brogan decided to stay put, sparing Bush the prospect of trying to find a replacement for the popular lieutenant governor.

And now, Bush is plowing through the wonky part of governing. He is listening to briefings on performance-based budgeting. State agency heads are recrafting programs to suit the new Republican administration. Bush is using words like "implementation strategy" and "policy-based initiative."

At night, he goes back to the Mansion and sits before the glowing computer screen.

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