First Read for Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2022

Good morning. It’s National Dimpled Chad Day. Do you remember the 2000 presidential election? At least the state now has its elections in order over 20 years later.

FIRST UP

A growing number of Broward School Board members want the county’s inspector general to look for examples of corruption and fraud in the school system. The Board recently made a request to the Broward County Commission to join the Broward County Office of the Inspector General, which investigates city governments and the county government there.

Here’s the catch: The Broward Inspector General’s Office is governed by a charter and county voters would have to amend the charter to bring in the school district next November at the earliest. That’s why board members are considering creating their own inspector general position or hiring an outside company. 

Allen Zeman, newly elected to the school board, is urging to create an inspector general position, mentioning the example of the indictment of former technology head Tony Hunter, charged with bribery and rigging bids. Moreover, former Superintendent Robert Runcie was charged with perjury, and former General Counsel Barbara Myrick was charged with disclosing confidential grand jury information. And the State Attorney’s Office is looking into alleged irregularities by a graduation cap-and-gown vendor. 

According to Broward Schools spokesperson John Sullivan, the board asked the Broward County Commission to put the issue on a future agenda. Once the item is discussed by county commissioners, the School Board will discuss the matter at a workshop.

– David Volz

FROM CITY & STATE 

* Florida political predictions for 2023: The biggest surprise? The most interesting up and comer? We ask the experts.

* Gov. Ron DeSantis was sworn in Tuesday for a second term, offering a theme of “freedom” in Florida to counter “faddish ideology” nationally.

THIS MONTH’S MAGAZINE

The Florida Women Power 100

* Who are the most influential women in Florida politics and government? City & State Florida's Women Power 100 identifies the most important government officials, high-powered lobbyists, leaders of the worlds of business, nonprofits, strategic messaging and social justice in the arena of Sunshine State politics and policy.

 ▶ Read This Month's Issue

NEW THIS MORNING

* Kevin McCarthy said there’s no scenario in which he’ll drop his bid to become U.S. House speaker despite failing to win three rounds of voting after opposition from his chamber's most conservative members, including Florida’s Matt Gaetz, the Associated Press reports.

* Las Vegas-based business owner Robert Bigelow has spent big money searching for aliens and evidence of an afterlife, but in 2022 he was also DeSantis’ biggest donor after writing him a $10 million check, the Orlando Sentinel reports.

* As the feds say they’lll investigate the Southwest Airlines holiday cancellations, Florida politicians including U.S. Sen. Rick Scott, U.S. Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick and state Rep. Anna Eskamani blasted the airline, the Floridian reports. 

* As it upheld a St. Johns County School Board policy preventing a transgender male student from using boys’ bathrooms, a federal appeals court indicated similar reasoning could apply to disputes about banning transgender females from playing women’s and girls’ sports, the News Service of Florida reports.

* Affected by “anti-woke” laws championed by DeSantis, college professors who teach Critical Race Theory are canceling courses or modifying their classes, ProPublica reports.

More news below …

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YOUR MESSAGE HERE: City & State First Read is the must-read morning roundup of Florida politics and government. Reaching thousands of subscribers each morning, it's the most effective and targeted digital ad venue to get your message in front of city and state elected officials, agency and industry leaders, and the staff, advocates, media and operatives who drive the issues of the day – all by 7 a.m. each weekday. For advertising information, please email: advertising@cityandstatefl.com

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* While minority representation has improved in the Florida Legislature, white men still remain overrepresented among legislators, the Daytona Beach News-Journal reports. 

* School librarians in Florida are now required to undergo specialized state training on the new rules for what can and cannot go in school media centers, News4Jax reports. 

* With the 100th anniversary of the Rosewood Massacre next week, descendants and affected communities plan to honor the lives lost, acknowledge trauma and celebrate the promise of a better future, Fresh Take Florida reports. 

* Tampa Mayor Jane Castor and St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch were put on the hot seat about their administrations during Suncoast Tiger Bay’s State of the Bay event, the Tampa Bay Times reports. 

* The unusual flurry of Cuban landings in the Florida Keys, that by New Year’s Day had nearly topped 500, has led to the temporary closure of Dry Tortugas National Park to provide care for some of the arrivals, the Miami Herald reports.

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DESANTIS WATCH 

The governor met with Chief of Staff James Uthmeier and General Counsel Ryan Newman, then attended a "prayer with faith leaders" before his inauguration ceremony and speech on Tuesday, his official schedule shows. He also was set to attend the inaugural ball in the evening, also in Tallahassee. 

2024 ROUNDUP

* Hope Hicks, then a top adviser to former President Donald Trump, told an aide to Ivanka Trump that “we all look like domestic terrorists now” as the U.S. Capitol riot unfolded on Jan. 6, 2021, NBC News reports. 

* DeSantis, a potential leading Republican presidential contender in 2024, stayed away from criticizing Trump directly during his second inauguration speech, the Wall Street Journal reports. 

* Kevin McCarthy was forced to smirk through the equivalent of repeated public beatings at the hands of his own members that are aligned with Donald Trump, The Bulwark’s Tim Miller writes.

ANALYSIS & OPINION 

* DeSantis might be the most powerful Republican politician in the state of Texas, as his talking points could affect policy in the Lone Star state, Texas Monthly’s Michael Hardy writes.

* With his actions against drag performances, DeSantis has taught us that neither parents nor customers deserve to make their own choices and that government should have total control, the Orlando Sentinel’s Scott Maxwell writes.

* The aftermath of the pandemic, inflation, and hurricanes have exacerbated the state’s workforce housing challenges, but rent freezes are not a solution, Florida Senate President Kathleen Passidomo writes in the News-Press. 

ANNOUNCEMENTS 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: To Erin Moffet, former deputy chief of staff to then-Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried and now a cannabis lobbyist with the Liaison Group … to former Florida Secretary of State Sandra Mortham … to Erika Duckworth Peterman, managing editor at the Florida Medical Association … to Sydney Ridley of The Southern Group … to Florida Politics publisher Peter Schorsch.  

ON THE MOVE: Longtime WFTV reporter Todd Ulrich announced that he is retiring from the TV news station after nearly four decades on the air, the Orlando Sentinel reports. 

CONGRATULATIONS: Jenna Box Sarkissian, director of open government and special projects for the Florida House of Representatives, and Politico Florida reporter Arek Sarkissian welcomed a daughter, Anna, on New Year’s Day. Mother and child “are doing great,” Arek reports. 

IN MEMORIAM: A graveside service for Jim York has been set for 2 p.m. Jan. 27 at the Tallahassee National Cemetery, 5015 Apalachee Parkway. York, who died Dec. 27 at the age of 83, was a Florida Department of Law Enforcement commissioner, Orlando police chief, deputy attorney general and administrative law judge.

Have a birthday, career change, birth, death or life event to announce? Email us: editor@cityandstatefl.com.  

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YOUR MESSAGE HERE: City & State First Read is the must-read morning roundup of Florida politics and government. Reaching thousands of subscribers each morning, it's the most effective and targeted digital ad venue to get your message in front of city and state elected officials, agency and industry leaders, and the staff, advocates, media and operatives who drive the issues of the day – all by 7 a.m. each weekday. For advertising information, please email: advertising@cityandstatefl.com

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KICKER

“Today, is that the day I wanted to have? No.”

– U.S. Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-California, via the Associated Press, on the holding out of members of his own caucus, including Florida’s Matt Gaetz, to elect him speaker of the U.S. House.