DCF chief criticized for deals in past position (Jeb's appointee)

[Judi Lynn]

Posted on Wed, Jul. 21, 2004

FLORIDA


DCF chief criticized for deals in past position

Florida DCF Secretary Jerry Regier, at the center of a blistering state report on agency ethics, had been accused of 'circumventing' state open-bidding laws at a post in Oklahoma.

BY CAROL MARBIN MILLER

[e-mail]


When Jerry Regier, chief of the state Department of Children & Families, came under fire last week after an inspector general's report said his agency was funneling sweetheart deals to friends, he insisted the audit reflected only the poor judgment of two high-ranking aides, both of whom resigned.

Records obtained by The Herald, however, show that when Regier was chief of Oklahoma's juvenile justice agency in 2000, his department was criticized by that state's chief auditor for ''circumventing'' the state's purchasing laws by funneling no-bid contracts through other state agencies -- precisely the same act the DCF is accused of doing in Florida.
(snip)

Oklahoma's current chief inspector, Jeff A. McMahan, is conducting an ongoing audit of the juvenile justice agency, including Regier's administration. The probe began in November, initiated at the request of Oklahoma's attorney general, McMahan said. McMahan said the audits could lead to criminal charges, though he declined to offer details.
(snip)

Last week, Florida's chief inspector general accused two DCF officials of developing unethical relationships with lobbyists and vendors, and using their influence to steer business to friends. The report said Regier spent a night at the $2.8 million home of a contractor who was getting DCF business.
(snip/...)

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/9202271.htm?ERIGHTS=-5555474500487527106miami:&KRD_RM=3mkmlmmlnkjppmjjjjjjjjjsko|
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[ClintonTyree]

1. This is politics as usual in Florida

Florida has been long known as a state where crony politics and corruption are just considered politics as usual. I swear they pride themselves on these facts and really don't see anything wrong with it.
5 weeks ago today I moved out of that banana republic for a more liberal (although colder) climate. Living in that state gave me, in the words of Seinfeld, a "taint". I was ashamed to be a resident of Florida and I'll never return there until people come to their senses and get rid of that asshole Jeb and return Democracy to the Sunshine State.

[Racenut20]

2. We knew the baggage he drug here from OK.

But he is an extreeeeeeeeeeme Right Wing Fundie, so can do no wrong in Tallahassee (you know the town, votes Democratic except when the police work a minor traffic accident on the major road to the polls as a crime scene in minority neighborhoods and keep the road blocked for hours)
He came here after the explosion of the lost little girl in Miami. But since then there have been more. The baby who was supposedly visited the same day he was found dead by the freeway, etc etc.

[Grins]

3. Thanks for the catch.

Regier now has his own little space in my "Republican Family Values" file. It just keeps growing, and growing, and growing...