More questions arise regarding House Speaker Sansom

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Grass roots or top down? What is the best way to decide who is going to represent “we the people” in politics? Why not simply let the voters decide?

Apparently that model didn’t appeal to the Republican Party of Florida in the last election cycle. They recruited candidates before the filing deadline, and in so doing effectively shut out any other interested, motivated and qualified persons. They also chose candidates in primary races, endorsed them and helped them with fundraising.

What is wrong with this top down approach the RPOF leadership would argue?  EVERYTHING the people in Florida should scream.  Aren’t we supposed to be a Constitutional democracy? Isn’t the purpose of primaries to let the people choose who they think would best represent their party in the general elections? Or has the RPOF become a dictatorship where its members are held hostage by the policies, politics and (lack of) principles of Chairman Greer?

When the RPOF hand chooses and funds its favorite candidates there is a quid pro quo involved once the chosen ones are elected. In the current House Speaker Sansom (R-Destin) for Ransom scandal, there is no outrage from those who walked neighborhoods and promised to be ethical once elected. The memories of those who said they were running to represent the people and would always remember that when they got to Tallahassee have grown short indeed.

It took a random citizen from the Tampa Bay area to file a much overdue ethics complaint regarding Speaker Sansom’s (R) acceptance of a job that Sansom himself made happen by helping to obtain funding to the tune of $25 million from last year’s state budget to call attention to Mr. Sansom’s apparent lack of a moral compass. It is obvious to anyone outside Tallahassee that this was wrong, unethical and possibly illegal.  With all of the controversy and the persistent reminders of the inappropriateness from the Florida Democratic Party, it would make sense for Speaker Sansom to either resign the new position, step down from being speaker, or even better: do both. Alas, no such action appears forthcoming.

What is being done to by the RPOF to remove Sansom? NOTHING. What is being said about the situation? NOTHING.  What are our representatives (even newly elected ones) doing about this situation? NOTHING. What are Republican Leaders, the RPOF and the Governor doing? NOTHING. Their silence is deafening – but not mysterious.

When peeling back the layers of the onion there appears to be a common thread to explain the apathy of the Republicans to call the Speaker out: the Speaker’s good friend Jay Odom, the not-so-poor developer from Destin, has funded the RPOF and campaigns around the state to the tune of almost half a million dollars in this last campaign cycle.  He’s the second largest (personal) contributor to the RPOF. He contributed $100K personally and another $100K from Leadership for Florida’s Future, a CCE chaired by Representative Dean Cannon, and comprised and controlled by Republican leadership including Speaker Sansom.

Jay Odom’s personal and company contributions to the RPOF and Leadership for Florida’s Future.

	RPOF	Leadership for Florida’s Future
Jay Odom	$283,050
Crystal Beach Development	$52,449	$100,000
Total	$335,499	$100,00

There is also the $4500 personal inkind contribution (most likely some free plane rides) to the Yes on 1 – Save Our Homes Campaign PAC. The Yes on 1 effort was led by Governor Crist to convince Floridian’s to vote in favor of Amendment 1 which was approved by the voters in January 2008.

The following is a list (not exclusive) of all the companies listed on www.sunbiz.org that Destin developer Jay Odom either owns or is part owner:

99 Eglin, LTD
Crystal Beach Development
Crystal Beach Development CO of N.W. FLA
Crystal Beach Development CO of Destin, LTD
Crystal Beach Realty
Hammock Bay Real Estate
Waters Edge Building Company (and/or Land Trust)

The following companies listed in the Florida Supervisor’s of Election database of contributors but are not listed on www.sunbiz.org, however they share the same post office box for Mr. Odom’s other companies.

Destiny Plantation
Destiny Real Estate

Coincidence? Probably not.

Here’s a list of all of the contributions of Jay Odom and all of his many companies to political candidates in the last election cycle.

	99 Eglin	Crystal Beach (all)	Destiny	Hammock Bay	Water’s Edge	Total
JD Alexander (S17)		$1000	$500	$500		$2000
Thad Altman (S24)		$500				$500
Jeff Atwater (S25)		$1000		$500		$1500
Mike Bennett (S21)	$500	$500				$1000
Laura Benson (H69)	$500					$500
Peter Boulware (H11)	$1000	$2000	$500			$3500
Marti Coley (H7)	$500	$500				$1000
Sherry Campbell (H5)l	$500	$500		$500		$1500
Steve Crisafulli (H32)	$500	$1500				$2000
Don Curtis (H10)		$1000				$1000
Charlie Dean(S3)			$500	$500	$500	$1500
Paula Dockery (S15)	$500					$500
Brad Drake (H5)	$1000	$900	$500			$2400
Chris France (H21)					$100	$100
Adam Hasner (H87)	$500	$500				$1000
Kurt Kelly (H24)	$500					$500
Belinda Ortiz (S19)	$500	$500				$1000
Ken Roberson (H71)	$500					$500
Ray Sansom (H4)	$500	$1500	$1000	$500	$500	$4000
Will Weatherford (H61)		$500				$500
Stephen Wise (S5)		$500				$500

Mr. Odom also contributed another $500 to Representative Sansom personally – bringing his total to $4500. The RPOF was well known to be involved in the elections of:

Thad Altman (SD24)
Peter Boulware (HD11)
Steve Crisafulli (HD32)
Brad Drake (HD5)
Chris France (HD21)
Adam Hasner (HD87)
Belinda Ortiz (SD19)
Ken Roberson (HD71)

Jay Odom’s contributions to the RPOF and the Leadership for Florida’s Future shouldn’t be discounted as they were in the hundreds of thousands, thus giving the RPOF the means to fund their favored candidates. The following chart shows the contributions from the RPOF and the Leadership for Florida’s Future:

	RPOF	Leadership for Florida’s Future	Total
Brad Drake (HD5)	$25,785	$500	$26,385
Steve Crisafulli (HD32)	$132,500	$500	$133,000
Adam Hasner (HD87)	$69,611		$69,611
Ken Roberson	$36,274		$36,274

It isn’t the amount of money Mr. Odom donated to Sansom that sets off red flags, it’s the other campaigns he appears to have funded at the direction of the RPOF and the Leadership for Florida’s Future CCE. Several of the candidates were funded by Mr. Odom just prior to an RPOF endorsement announcement.

Why is Mr. Odom so generous with his contributions? It could have something to do with the money he was trying to secure from the state budget to build an airplane hangar in Destin. A hangar that cost $6 million to build. That his company would control. A hangar, the cost of which is now part of the monies dedicated to the local community college turned state college. In other words, Jay Odom’s modest investment of almost half a million dollars in political contributions to the Republicans appears to have netted him a $6 million hangar. No wonder he was so freely writing checks to the RPOF and Republican candidates!

So will anyone in the RPOF stand up and cry foul? It probably won’t be the people who have benefited from RPOF endorsements and the contributions of Jay Odom. Their silence appears to already have been paid for.