Sansom: 'I saw no legal or ethical problem'

In an op-ed today in the Northwest Florida Daily News, House Speaker Ray Sansom continues his defense of taking a six-figure college job and the tens of millions he secured for the school, saying "I saw no legal or ethical problem with working at the college during my last two years in the Legislature."

He writes that, "I fully respect any person's right to hold an opinion on my decision to work at the college, but fairness demands that such opinions be informed by the facts."

Sansom's column, however, does not touch on several facts that have emerged in recent weeks after he took the $110,000 a year job at Northwest Florida State College.

"It's true that earlier this year I supported the college's successful efforts to obtain accelerated funding for construction projects. The money for those projects came from a fund that, by law, can be used only for school construction funding. In other words, there was no choice to be made between the college's projects and, for example, K-12 classrooms, law enforcement or health care for the poor."

Sansom uses the word "accelerated" but fails to explain that the Department of Education had recommended $1-million for the project and that he increased it to $25.5-million -- the single largest award for a college in 2008.

He also fails to note that $7.5-million of the $25.5-million was not included in the DOE recommendations -- a fact illustrated in this memo obtained by the Times/Herald.

The $7.5 million is going to build a "leadership institute" at the college.

Sansom does not say that he inserted $750,000 in start-up money for the leadership institute, a maneuver that irritated then-Speaker Marco Rubio because he was not aware it had been done until too late. Sansom was the budget chairman for the 2007 and 2008 sessions -- at which time the small college in Niceville got about $35-million in new or accelerated funding.

What's more, Sansom does not address the $6-million he inserted into the budget in 2007 for a project at Destin Airport that is remarkably similar to a $6-million airport hangar once sought by his friend Jay Odom.

That, too, was not on the DOE list for public education capital outlay funding, state officials have confirmed for the Times/Herald.

"This project was not on any list available to the Division of Community Colleges prior to the conference bill," Kelsey Lehtomaa, deputy press secretary, wrote in response to a reporter's question in December. "The number 07-WF was assigned subsequent to the legislative session. The division has no record that indicates who requested the money."

In today's op-ed Sansom writes: "The state's budget was developed during a lengthy, open and deliberative process, and it became law only after it was approved by majorities of both houses of the Legislature and by a governor with line-item veto authority."

By advocating that the college be allocated a portion of the school construction money that is spent throughout the state, I was doing my best to help an institution that is vital to providing educational opportunity and spurring economic development in our region. That's exactly the type of work the voters sent me to Tallahassee to do.

My wife and I grew up here and we've raised our daughters here. We love our community. For two decades, I've fought hard for my constituents, among other things helping to see that our region gets its fair share of education dollars and transportation funding. To ensure that Northwest Florida has a seat at the table when key decisions are made, I've put in the extra work necessary to rise to a position of leadership in the Legislature.

What is most important, though, is that I've never forgotten the trust placed in me by the voters and by my colleagues. And I've always conducted myself with honor and integrity.

I can only pray that, when passions cool, the truth about my record and about the way I've lived my life will count for more than the cynicism and innuendo that have had such disproportionate influence in recent weeks."

Comments

SPT total creeps

The fact that he can not see the clear ethical issue only echos the truth: he doesn't have any ethics. The RPOF, the republicans in the legislature, and the governor are all corrupt.

Time to get rid of them all!

[chuck]

Of course he didn't see anything wrong and of course neither did most of the other republicans.This is what will be the demise of the party,the fact that this sort of obvious conflict of interest and/or a serious breech of public trust and the publics money,especially during a time when all other schools are under the budget ax.I am certain that Reagan commandant of "saying nothing bad about any republican" was not supposed to include morality issues that are undoing the party.This guy has serious issues and thus so does the Florida republican party.I can't believe more republicans are not speaking up and I might add,my hat is off to those who have enough integrity to say it like it is.
This "drag" on the party in Florida should at least resign his speakers position,if he doesn't? Expect more seats lost to the dems

You're a pathological liar Ray and you're going down.

You built a six million dollar jet hangar for a crony of yours who just so happened to give you hundreds of thousands of dollars in contributions (and who knows how much cash under the table).

You proactively tried to circumvent the sunshine law.

You've been guaranteed the Presidency at Northwest Florida if you pushed thru ten of millions of dollars for them.

These are all facts that will be proven after the grand jury indicts you. You will be lucky not to go to jail.

Even the cowards in the Florida House who have nothing so far will have no other option then to dump you.

[Forrest]

After all, it ain't really stealing if it's only taxpayers' money.

[Alan]

"I saw no legal or ethical problem with working at the college during my last two years in the Legislature."

Does Sugar Ray believe that if it occurred earlier in his career, it would have been unethical? These guys don't have a clue. What makes them think they are so bulletproof? Maybe someday psychologists will call this the Ted Stevens syndrome.

[M-7]

Sansom: 'I saw no legal or ethical problem'

... neither did Blogo...

... walk Ray-Ray, before the rest of us go down with you.

Cannon, Weatherford, and the House Republican Caucus have shown themselves to be utter cowards who lack any semblence of ethics.

The ironic part is that when Sansom is taken down it will probably be the younger members of the Florida House who stand up and show leadership while the "leaders" of the House sit on their hands.

Utter contempt for both the process and the institution. When wil there be a leader who places the welfare of the institution and the state before their own contrivances?

i did not have sex with that woman....

[Bob Allen's Attorney]

Ray, you're starting to sound like Bob Allen.

They have it documented in your emails that you agreed to deliberately violate the Sunshine and they have the original plans for the hangar for your buddy.

Stop embarassing yourself and your colleagues.

You have convinced yourself, but nobody's buying in.

There isn't any 'inneundo'. It's stone cold fact. The gall this guy has shouldn't still surprise, but it does.

The insertion into the budget was not part of the lengthy process, it was inserted before Rubio could remove it b/c the bill was printed. It wasn't debated in committe, council or on the floor. This dumb redneck just admitted that he put the appropriation in himself and then says it was deliberative. What an idiot. And...he admits to practically being their lobbyist. No wonder they didn't have one for the last two years.

Fyi Ray, you're opinion doesn't matter, the members of the jury will do all the thinking for you.

[GOP in name only now]

The GOP is going to wish they never heard of this crook. Total lack of leadership and corruption at the top. What happened through Sansom's deliberate actions is indefensible. Too bad the Republicans have no moral or ethical compass and no guts to ease this jerk out.

(6) MISUSE OF PUBLIC POSITION.--No public officer, employee of an agency, or local government attorney shall corruptly use or attempt to use his or her official position or any property or resource which may be within his or her trust, or perform his or her official duties, to secure a special privilege, benefit, or exemption for himself, herself, or others. This section shall not be construed to conflict with s. 104.31.

No member of the Legislature shall personally represent another person or entity for compensation during his or her term of office before any state agency other than judicial tribunals or in settlement negotiations after the filing of a lawsuit.

What exactly did he think that salary was going for? He admits to openly lobbying on their behalf the last two sessions.

Come on Alex, tell the whole story, "Sansom does not say that he inserted $750,000 in start-up money for the leadership institute, a maneuver that irritated then-Speaker Marco Rubio because he was not aware it had been done until too late." Rubio wasn't aware because his staff hoodwinked him. Sansom, Ward and Hansen must answer for this.

838.016 Unlawful compensation or reward for official behavior.--

(1) It is unlawful for any person corruptly to give, offer, or promise to any public servant, or, if a public servant, corruptly to request, solicit, accept, or agree to accept, any pecuniary or other benefit not authorized by law, for the past, present, or future performance, nonperformance, or violation of any act or omission which the person believes to have been, or the public servant represents as having been, either within the official discretion of the public servant, in violation of a public duty, or in performance of a public duty.

Whoever violates the provisions of this section commits a felony of the second degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084.

Sansom writes, "The position of speaker of the Florida House of Representatives carries with it not only great authority but also great responsibility. Accordingly, when I became speaker of the House, I fully understood that my actions both in and out of office would be closely scrutinized," but he hides from the press like they have a communicable disease.

Let me get this straight. Sansom is openly discussing the want to work at this school for the rest of his career, so he accelerated the spending of millions of dollars to the school and made funding for the school a major legislative issue? He has said this on the record, in his own name. Wow! Good luck explaining that to the Grand Jury.

Is Sansom just that arrogant or is he just that stupid?

So it was "school construction money" that couldn't be spent on classrooms, police or health care so that means it was perfectly legal and ethical to "accelerate" the amount from $1 million to $25.5 million and then oops, slip in another $6M to fund a rich buddy's airport hangar.

Stop insulting my intelligence Mr. Pompous Politician.

10:00, he's both. I guarantee you, in fact I'd bet everything I have, that he wrote that w/o input of anybody. I'm sure Chamberlin told him not to do it and he dismissed her with ease.

Then he sat down to write his great vindication and in one fail swoop gave the grand jury more fuel. Well done Mr. Speaker, well done.

Didn't I read somewhere that the hastily called meeting to discuss building uses (4 days after the news broke in SPT) was arranged by Sansom's staff?

Did that mean Speaker's staff was handling things college personnel should have been doing, after all he was their employee.

Good thing he quit, speaker's office staff would have been doing legislative work and college work.

Hey Ray... How was that trip to London?!? That's going to be the next article on your hypocritical backside. Wonder who at the party is going to turn over the receipts for the jet, limo and all the fun you and your family had at the party's expense... or should I say the expense of Jay Odom and all of the other fat cats you raise money from. Is that the fat lady singing...

Jill get off the blog

[Chris Cantwell]

An educated public is an essential ingredient of a free society. Ambitious governments would have far greater difficulty implementing schemes that undermine liberty and prosperity were they faced with an informed and vigilant population.

Our government and monetary system do not work for we the people, we the people work for it, as slaves.

You’d think by now, with all the information & technology, with all the abundant resources and all the previous history, that we as a people would be able to be free in the sense of, absence of debt.

We pay and labor our entire lives realistically to support an quasi-empirical empire who’s only objective, being monetarily based, is PROFIT & expansion of Big Government.

Our society is being held back by the amount a time required to sustain any kind of decent quality of life. and for what? to be SAFE? to be Happy? No, to continue to fund a corrupt government that serves corporate interests, not the peoples, it serves profit interests.

How many support the bailouts?

How many agree with the government’s forced social security ponzi scheme?

How many agree that our government isn’t serving it’s peoples interests but only corporate big business interests?

How many agree that we want a privately owned central bank controlling our monetary policy?

How many agree that our economy will improve with more government spending of future debt that my generation and all 3 of my children’s generation will be immorally obligated with?

Enough is enough.

We must reject being held hostage by a monopolistic monetary policy!

[Your timid colleagues in the Florida House]

You resigned the wrong job, Ray

'I saw no legal or ethical problem'---, How is his opinion on this matter even remotely relevant to anything? Sansom is crook and a fool. Why would anyone listen to a crook's opinion of his own criminal acts.

Ray, your criminal defense attorney is going to cost you a pretty penny. Why not save up on this months payment from Northwest Florida State College that you will receive for no work whatsoever and use that to start your legal defense fund!

He had 2 jobs prior to this one created for him so of course he can't understand why he did anything wrong.

Sansom is attempting to circumvent the Tallahassee press corps... big mistake, they are on to him like white on rice. This whole routine is going to result in additional digging and ultimately even more Sansom criminal activity being exposed. Brilliant strategy, Speaker!

E-mail them:

Mike Hansen
karenmoul@aol.com

Ray Sansom
ray.sansom@myfloridahouse.gov

[Stop the Hypocrisy]

How can Samsom's colleagues stand quietly by and do nothing while he jeopardizes the integrity of the entire legislative process?

At a time when they should be focusing on the state's economic plight, they have to deal with the fallout caused by one man's greed.

How many trips to NY did the party credit card cover

Ray, can you say slush fund? You are about to get an education in that subject, while you talk about ethics and the law.

Delmar, time to do something. Project #1, LEADERSHIP

Ray, perhaps you saw nothing wrong because you have the ethics of a slug.

what does Peter Nehr say on this did he stand and aplaud when Ray stepped down from the college we want to know what a guy who got 51% in a district won by Obama thinks about these ethics

Nah Nah Nah Nah
Nah Nah Nah Nah
Ray Ray Ray goodbye

good one 11:13

Be sure to go to the Northwest Florida Daily News op-ed link and read the comments. It's very interesting to hear what his home boys say about him.

Look up who one of Ray's former boss's was while elected. Senator Don Gaetz prior to getting elected (with alot of Ray's help). coincidence? The Times needs to expand their investigative reporting. Anything that gets funded or becomes a law needs House and Senate approval. I've got a one guess on who was willing to help grease the wheel in the Senate.

Indeed, it is only a matter of time before the pompous Gaetz, the Pruitt and Carleton get pulled into this tarpit

Sansom: 'I saw no legal or ethical problem'
Well its a crying shame you can't sit on the jury, because I'm betting they just might.

[Jeb the Bush fairy]

To bad Jeb is not running for the Senate. I was looking forward to seeing him duck flying penny loafers.

"I saw no legal or ethical problem with working at the college during my last two years in the Legislature."

EXACTLY, that is why you should RESIGN TODAY!!!!

[TriplePlay]

Isn't this issue a perfect picture of why politicians are all corrupt? Samson resigns and the House gives him a standing ovation? The names of those who applauded should be identified and scrutinized. They obviously have lost their ability to make a ethical decision. Every one of these elected officials took a vow to support the Florida Constitution and its laws. If Christ wanted to show he is truly a Govenor for the people he would demand Samson step down from his politcal position and have team review the deal that Samson brokered. Additionally, the University is at fault for accepting this fix and agreeing to hire Samson on. Somebody at the University should be held responsible for making this happen.

It is high time that Bob Ward and Mike Hanson's roles in this matter be exposed. The Herald/Times is reporting that Speaker Rubio was angry that he was not informed about 7.5 million dollars inserted into the budget. It also later reported that Bob Ward was fired as Chief of Staff and that Rep. Bowen performed that duty after session ended. Nevertheless, Sansom rewarded Ward and Hansen with key positions in his administration. No one believes that Sansom physically inserted this money into the budget without the assistance of Ward and Hanson. Had Rubio been informed of this money, it would have been pulled from the budget, so Ward and Hanson lied to Rubio to protect Sansom's money. Sansom, Ward, and Hanson put their self interest above the process. Sansom, Ward and Hanson are part of a corrupt deal that must be exposed.

Nehr most likely was in a local hotel getting his Long affairs in order!

Who is doing this idiot's PR?

So why did he resign if he did nothing wrong?