Cloud Cuckoo Land

Best describes where the following Palm Beach Post editorial comes from. Last Sunday I blogged about Palm Beach County Adele Greene and the ethics complaint against her. Ms. Greene voted to put the Scripps Research Center in Jupiter instead of Boca Raton which is part of her district. In return for this vote, 5 Million dollars is being given to a foundation to help minority interests in the county. A board will distribute the money, a board appointed by Greene.

The Post sees nothing wrong with this.

Did Palm Beach County Commissioner Addie Greene “accept anything of value” when she voted for The Scripps Research Institute proposal that did the most for her constituents?

Did the $5 million pledged toward minority advancement line her pockets? Did she misuse her position “to secure a special privilege” for herself?

It doesn’t take a Commission on Ethics to determine that she did none of those things, all violations of Florida ethics laws, alleged by a disgruntled resident. An ethics violation is when a county commissioner collects money to pay legal bills from developers who appear before her, as Commissioner Mary McCarty found out last year. It’s not when a commissioner votes for something that delivers a financial benefit for her constituents.

Reading the ethics complaint filed last week by Russell Yeager of Delray Beach it sounds as though Commissioner Greene already has spent — on herself — the $5 million pledged by developers seeking her Scripps vote. That’s impossible, since the money has yet to be delivered. “I just thought the vote was pretty troubling,” Mr. Yeager said. “The appearance is that a private developer can swing the county commission based on what in essence would appear to be a bribe.” However, his complaint offers no proof of a bribe. Instead, he points out that Commissioner Greene solicited the best deal for African-Americans and voted accordingly.

Commissioner Greene shrugged off his allegations: “Tell him to get in line,” she told The Post. Despite her appropriately disdainful tone, the political attack underscores the obvious: Commissioner Greene can’t allow even the appearance of impropriety to touch this money. She has to appoint a diverse committee that resists conflicts and conducts itself openly. She would be best-served by refusing to serve, content that her appointees will spend the money appropriately.

It’s not unusual for politicians to trade votes based on what’s best for their constituents. Often, those trades take place outside public view. Commissioner Greene let the public in on the price of her Scripps support. Her inattention to detail — she said she saw no difference among the three sites — does not rise to the level of a violation. Her refusal to slink in the shadows, however unorthodox, is welcome.

Mr. Yeager’s frivolous attack casts unnecessary doubt over the county’s prolonged effort to find a permanent home for Scripps. Developers advocating Scripps at Abacoa in Jupiter met Commissioner Greene’s price, received her vote and must deliver. Commissioner Greene must make sure that the money is spent on what it was meant for: helping minorities gain from Scripps’ presence through scholarships and business help, not illicit payoffs and favored treatment.

This is so laughable it should be made part of a museum of liberal democratic double talk. She voted against a city in her district but that's doing the most for her constituents? Only in the crazy minds of the Post editorial board.

Contrast this with what the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel wrote on Feb 16th in an editorial. This was archived and I had purchase it, so therefore no link.

So why did reason and merit get trampled in perhaps the biggest decision this County Commission will ever make? Because for the first time in nearly three years, deciding where to put the Scripps project had nothing to do with where it can best flourish.

It was all about who was willing to pay the most for the affections of Commissioner Addie Greene, who took full advantage of her status as the swing vote. In one of the most blatant displays of pandering local government has ever seen, an unabashed Greene went with the highest bidder: FAU/Abacoa, whose backers gave just $4.5 million to offset county taxpayers' $200 million costs, but dedicated a full $8 million in public and private money for undefined economic diversity efforts of Greene's choosing. By contrast, Boca pledged $4 million for minority opportunities and Florida Research Park chipped in $2 million and promised to try to raise $3 million more.

Greene, who firmly opposed the north county site just two months ago, used the catbird seat and delivered for her largely black constituency like few local African-American politicians get to, but at a substantial cost to the rest of the county and state. Today, Florida is saddled with a problematic site plan, Palm Beach County is once again a laughingstock and state officials are scratching their heads trying to figure out what went wrong.

Blind partisanship is the only explanation I can think of for the Post's editorial toay. The intellectual dishonesty can't be explained otherwise. How does Randy Schultz and company can look at themselves in the mirror after editorials like this I don't know.

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