State lawmakers should give Enterprise Florida overhaul print Comments 0 By Dan Krassner Guest columnist October 27, 2013 Florida started to privatize its economic development functions in 1992 with the enactment of Enterprise Florida Inc. and abolished the Florida Department of Commerce in 1996. Central Florida ties to Enterprise Florida include former state Rep. Alzo Reddick, D-Orlando, who sponsored HB 55E, creating the entity in 1992. The headquarters for Enterprise Florida is currently in Orlando, and more than a dozen members of the groups board of directors reside in the region. In 2011, Gov. Rick Scott and the state Legislature created the Department of Economic Opportunity. One of its responsibilities is to manage the states contract with Enterprise Florida. The president and CEO of Enterprise Florida is Gray Swoope, who also serves as the secretary of commerce, one of only five direct reports to Scott — even though he is not a state employee. Though technically hes a vendor not subject to all of the states ethics requirements — including financial disclosure — Swoope has an office right next to the governor. Related How to contribute How to contribute Syndicated cartoons Syndicated cartoons More syndicated columnists and views More syndicated columnists and views Topics Laws and Legislation Companies and Corporations Finance See more topics » Enterprise Florida is our states most glaring example of cronyism and institutional corruption. The organization engages in pay to play: It sells seats on its board to corporations for $50,000, and then gives away taxpayer-funded subsidies and vendor contracts in return. These built-in conflicts of interest have been present at Floridas public-private partnership for economic development since its beginning. Enterprise Florida is less than halfway to its original goal of 200,000 higher-paying, high-tech jobs — supposedly by 2005. More than 60 percent of projects have produced zero jobs. More than 85 percent of projects are underperforming. Faces of meth: Before and after pictures We suspect that these figures are inflated by Enterprise Florida to mislead the public by counting jobs from companies that are now bankrupt and those that have announced major layoffs. Just in the last two years, several Enterprise Florida deals have failed, including agreements with a CEO arrested on corruption charges in Brevard County, a convicted cocaine trafficker and several firms that have declared bankruptcy. A significant number of deals with other companies that failed to deliver on their jobs promises werent publically revealed. Enterprise Florida regularly treats its staff to lavish travel. It recently took 20 staff members on a junket to Paris at a cost of more than $300,000 to taxpayers. As an example of how Enterprise Florida gives wildly inflated information to the public, the group stated that its weeklong trip would provide a return of $521 for every $1 spent in Paris. The state Legislature, suspicious of the way Enterprise Florida was handling public money for business recruitment, cut its 2013-2014 budget for subsidies from $111 million to $45 million (Enterprise Florida and Scott had requested $278 million). Reform ideas for lawmakers to consider next session include: •Enterprise Florida should be prevented from doing business with its board-member companies, who pay $50,000 per seat. •Pay and incentives for Enterprise Florida staff should be based on actual jobs created for Floridians rather than projections from deals that often fail. •To increase accountability, lawmakers may want the secretary of commerce to be confirmed by the Senate like other agency heads. •Legislators should require that the Enterprise Florida staff, with taxpayer-funded salaries, follow the state ethics code and file financial disclosure reports with the ethics commission. •All Enterprise Florida contracts for subsidy deals and those with vendors should be posted on CFO Jeff Atwaters Florida Accountability Contract Tracking System website. •The Legislature should require Enterprise Florida to use the states more open vendor-bid system for procurement. As lawmakers consider a necessary overhaul of Enterprise Florida, a first step to begin the process should be an investigation by the auditor general regarding the Paris trip and the entitys possible misuse of taxpayer funds.
Posted on: Mon, 28 Oct 2013 03:56:10 +0000
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