Butterworth,
DCF pose a conflict?
Their relationship dates
back at least two decades, when he was Broward County sheriff and she was a
Broward assistant state attorney. Today, his office is defending hers in a
lawsuit that argues, in part, that the department is moving too quickly toward
privatizing foster care.
Meanwhile,
Butterworth's wife, Marta Prado, is pursuing the contract from Kearney's
department to do just that -- manage foster care. She is president of a
Care4Kids, a company that would work with the Tampa-based Comprehensive
Innovations Institute. The institute is competing with Family Central, the
largest provider of social services in the county.
Sound like a conflict of
interest? Some folks in the social services community sure think so.
``Every time the issue of
who the applicants are comes up, people say it's Family Central versus Bob
Butterworth's wife,'' said Peter Balitsaris, co-chairman of the Broward
Child Welfare Initiative, a group of businesses and community groups helping to
facilitate the state-mandated transition to privatized foster care.
Emphasizing that he is
speaking as an individual and not as a representative of the group, Balitsaris
said, ``The attorney general's office is the lawyer for the Department of
Children and Families. It's more than a formality. There's a real relationship
there between the two departments. It certainly raises eyebrows as a real or
potential conflict of interest.''
Prado could not be reached
for comment. Representatives of Butterworth and Kearney dismissed the
possibility of a conflict of interest.
``I think that's a cheap
shot,'' said John de Groot, special projects director for the attorney
general. He noted that Prado is a former foster kid herself and genuinely wants
to make the system better.
Cecka Green, spokeswoman for the Department of
Children and Families in Tallahassee, said, ``The process was very fair. I
don't think there's any conflict, even though Bob Butterworth and Kathleen
Kearney are good friends.''
This is not the first time
Prado's work and husband have collided. In the early 1990s, questions were
raised about her position as a top officer in a company that won
multimillion-dollar contracts throughout the state to provide medical care to
jail inmates.
Butterworth's office has no
direct authority over the Department of Corrections, which oversees the prison
system. But his office was defending the state against a federal lawsuit filed
by an inmate who accused the state of providing poor health care.
At the time, Prado and
Butterworth both insisted that their public and private lives were kept
separate. They will likely say the same when -- and if? -- she wins the
Department of Children and Families contract.
SCOTT TO RUN
It's
official. County Commissioner Jim Scott has opened a campaign account to
run for election in 2002.
When Scott was appointed to
the commission in December by Gov. Jeb Bush, many political insiders
thought his stay would be short-lived. Conventional wisdom at the time was that
the longtime Republican state legislator was biding his time and would run for
the Florida Cabinet in 2002.
``I think it was a question
mark in the beginning, but I've enjoyed it and think I can make a
contribution,'' Scott said Friday.
Scott, a prolific and
experienced fundraiser, will have no trouble raising gobs of money. His biggest
hurdle will be carving a voting district that allows him to remain in his Fort
Lauderdale home and that contains a fair number of Republicans.
The personable and discreet
Scott probably has enough friends on the commission to swing it. Although
commissioners have not yet hired a firm or academic group to redraw the their
voting districts to reflect the 2000 census numbers, a map is already floating
around that allows Scott to sit pretty.
Under the proposal, Scott's
district would slide east and north from Davie to the coastal and mostly
Republican areas of the county, from Harbor Beach north. That is mostly
familiar territory for Scott, overlapping with his old Senate district.
Commissioner Kristin
Jacobs loses some of the northeastern parts of her district to Scott but
keeps voter-rich Wynmoor and Century Village retirement areas.
Commissioner John
Rodstrom would lose the northern part of Fort Lauderdale, with his district
reaching farther south and to the west to Pine Island Ridge.
What does the existence of
this map tell you? If the commission pays someone to produce district maps, it
will be a mere formality -- and expense to the taxpayers. That's what happened
last year, when the commissioners spent weeks poring over maps suggested by a
local think tank they had hired, then mostly accepted a proposal from political
consultant -- and friend to several commissioners -- Dan Lewis.
Lewis would not claim the
new map as his own, saying he doesn't reveal what he does for clients.
CONFLICTS, CONFLICTS
Speaking of
Lewis, at a recent meeting of the Broward County Charter Review Commission, of
which he is chairman, he said, ``We have agreed not to look too closely at any
of the conflicts that exist around the table.''
He was referring to the
fact that of the 19 members, five are attorneys who represent cities that could
be affected by county government reforms the charter review commission puts on
the ballot.
Lewis neglected to mention
that he has a possible conflict of interest of his own. He co-owns his office
at 401 SE 12th St. in Fort Lauderdale with Stuart Michelson, husband of
Commissioner Ilene Lieberman.
``So what?'' Lewis said.
``How is that a conflict? I'm independent and I do what I think.''
A conflict would occur, of
course, if Lewis' financial relationship with Lieberman affected decisions he
made as the leader of the charter review commission.
Of course, it won't come as
a surprise to anyone -- regardless of his co-ownership of the office -- that
Lewis will not favor putting a strong mayor proposal on the ballot. He and
Lieberman worked mightily to defeat such a referendum last year.
Beth Reinhard is The Herald's Broward political writer. Call her at 954-527-8419, fax her at 954-527-8955 or e-mail her at breinhard@herald.com