WEDU Interview; Charlie Crist

This. Is a special presentation of w e d u Tampa St. Petersburg Sarasota. You know March Quinnipiac poll of Florida voters Republican Governor Charlie Crist earned an overall approval rating of 73 percent. And some suggest that the governor's apparent populist approach heralds a new era in Florida politics coming up next Governor Charlie Crist discusses his first days in office. Stay with us. Welcome Charlie Crist has more than 15 years of public service and we're here to talk about his first 100 days as Florida's governor. Some early challenges include overseeing a tornado emergency calling a special session on insurance and signing into law an anti merger bill that he has long advocated. Governor Charlie Crist grew up in the viewing area in St. Petersburg. And last fall he visited our studios to debate in the

primary race. It's a pleasure to have you again Governor welcome back. Thank you it's great to be with you. Did you intend to change the mood in Tallahassee because everybody says there's a more bipartisan friendly tone going on in Tallahassee these days. Yes sir. Well it wasn't really the intention so much as just being yourself and. You know my mom and dad I love them dearly and they raised all of us kids four of us to just you know do right by other people and treat them fairly and that's all I'm trying to do as Florida's governor and thank goodness I've got great partners in the speaker Marco Rubio orse our Senate president can prove it. But also I would stress Representative Dan Gelber who's the Democratic leader of the House and Senator Steve Geller. Well I went to Florida State with and as the Democratic leader in the Senate so people are getting along and it's I like to say we're just people want to us the people want us to work together to do what's right and that they hate bickering they don't like this you know quibbling between the parties and the kind of stuff we see in Washington far too much and it's different in Florida and it should be. You were elected with 52 percent of the vote your approval rating is 73 percent. When Governor Jeb Bush

left office he had a 57 percent approval rating. You've swapped out you've you've gone way past where Jeb Bush was. Well the people have been very kind to me and I take that very seriously. And we talked about things that are important to them and the things that we debated about when we were here last year. You know property taxes property insurance safety for our children in our schools in our neighborhoods having less government more freedom for the people of Florida giving them the opportunity to live their dreams and to have hope for a better future and you know it's hard to not have hope when you're a Floridian or the Sunshine State. Things are wonderful here but there are things that are very important we need to do challenges that we have that we will continue to make Florida even a better place to live. Are you changing the nation nature of the state government your approach a state government because some of the people there were allies with Governor Bush are not in there anymore full handi is no longer in state government. The governor previous governor made 283 appointments. That you rescinded are you. Are you attacking a

different course as governor. Well sure I mean you know all of us have our own style. And you know Governor Bush is a dear friend of mine and I have enormous respect for him. I think he served incredibly well as our forty third governor. And but you know I'm Charlie Crist and it's you know everybody has a different style and a different way and and I think it's important for us to continue to move forward. I honor the legacy that this great governor left me. But you know if the people elected our administration and they want us to serve them in a way that we talked about during the course of the campaign I owe that to the people to honor their vote. An editorial writer in the in the Tallahassee Democrat on Sunday Chris Timmons who's a student at your alma mater at FSU wrote in the Democrat he's a conservative he says. He says those great personality traits that you have your humility your outgoing nature. Your bipartisan approach those personality traits he says I fear feed into his ideological malleability and encourages flair for populism

and affinity for public support that will steal the momentum of the Conservative Reform begun in 1906. There's no momentum slowdown. I mean you know the first bill we signed in the legislature this year was this anti murder Bill. I doubt if anybody would say that was liberal by any stretch and and I felt so passionately about it because it's very important we protect Florida's Children. And we had these cases Rob that you're familiar with Carlie Brucia Jessica Lunsford Sarah Lundy right here in the Tampa Bay area who were abducted raped and murdered by people who had already been on our criminal justice system for a violent act. They served their time and then they got out were placed on probation. But all three of these criminals these monsters really violated probation the legislature to their great credit passed this anti murder bill that I had tried for three years to pass that would say if there is one of these creeps that do that again instead of being able to stay out once a violate probation which those three did who committed those heinous crimes they have to go back to jail. That's that's

it's not really conservative or liberal but it's Floridian and it's common sense and I think that you know the people of our state the most diverse state in the country and really a microcosm of America. They want to govern in a commonsense fashion that respects their money. That protects their children and educate some as very well as we can the best we can and that's all we're doing. When I ask about property tax reform which is the big issue still facing the legislature in yourself this time around. House Speaker Marco Rubio has a plan in which he'd like to see a local vote on whether or not people want to raise the sales tax by as much as 1 and a half percent. A statewide raising the sales tax by 1 percent. He wants to roll back local government spending to 2001 2000 to levels he has. He has quite a plan what do you think of Rubio's plan. Well I compliment him on putting forward a bold idea such as he has I think that's important and we need to continue to do that you know we're at about half time of this legislative session and so the time is going to start to draw short. You

know the Senate's put out a plan the Senate Republicans and Democrats put out separate plan says have the House Democrats and we in the governor's office put a plan out first I like the idea of doubling the homestead exemption from $25000 being tax free to 50000 being tax free. I also like the idea of portability of the 3 percent cap. Save our homes is put into place because during the campaign rob people told me they felt trapped in their home. You know if they were a young couple and starting a new family or having more children and they wanted to move to a home that had more square footage even if they could afford the home they would you know probably not make the move because they'd lose the advantage of this 3 percent cap and they get whacked with taxes when they went to the second home or if you're like my mom and dad I mean my dad 74 years old still practice medicine every day in St. Pete. My mother 72 and they still live in the same home or they raise four children and probably don't need all that square footage anymore but they are you know reluctant to move to a smaller home or even a condominium. Again not because they can't afford the home itself

but because they don't want to take the tax hit if they go there and lose the advantage of that cap so. Those are ideas that I think are good and you know as governor I think I have a role in trying to provide leadership and I know ultimately this legislature will present to the people of Florida a tax drop a property tax that will drop like a rock. And we've got to do that we've got to cut this tax because it's crushing our people just like the insurance problem is crushing our citizens and we're still pushing on that one too I would need to assure your viewers because you know the insurance industry is tenacious and clever and they are lobbying like crazy during this session. And we have to be more tenacious we have to be more. Persistent and make sure that we fight and protect the people and we will Philosophically do like the idea of exchanging property taxes for sales taxes. Well you know it's something that is bold and sort of out of the box. What I think is going to happen is this I think that all these different ideas now on the table will start to have an opportunity to form consensus. And that's why I've been pushing

force you know because everybody's got good ideas but we need to get them on the table so that we have time during the session to bring them to into a landing a soft landing and then present that proposal to the people of Florida this is a constitutional amendment remember so whatever the legislature settles upon they have to put it back to the people for them to decide which I love because the people are the boss. And Abraham Lincoln understood that well and he said the government needs to always remember that it is a government of the people by the people and for the people. And that's the beauty of this issue. Nothing will change without the consent of the people of Florida and I love that. You have stated that you're in favor of restoring felons who have served their sentences restoring their civil rights. Yes sir. And you're moving forward on that this week right. I think we're going to have some success before the end of the week I hope so. Let me read what the attorney general Bill McCollum said about this he says that. In an op ed piece this week calling restoration with no waiting period he called it reckless and irresponsible.

Well I respectfully disagree with my friend and we are friends but we have a different view of this and I think that it's fundamental to me and the fundamental proposition that I support is that if you believe that somebody has truly paid their debt to society and that's what prison is in our country you have to pay your debt to society for the crime you have committed. If you believe in that and that Tenet and I do. Then you have to honor it by giving people a second chance to have a productive life. I mean if you cut off that avenue of hope and that prospect for freedom and productivity I met a young lady two weeks ago in Lake Worth we have office hours that we do around the state. And she was the single mother of four children. She confided to me that about 20 years ago she was working at a bank. She was having a hard time making ends meet to raise those four children and she stole. She took like $500 a couple of weeks and she was caught. When she was caught she was obviously prosecuted she went to jail I think she served like 30 days or so in prison.

She got out and got placed on probation and she's striving to get back to be productive striving so much so that she's going to the local community college she's getting you know certificates and diplomas from those schools and different avocations. But the frustration she continues to have to endure is that you can't get a license from the state because she can't get her civil rights restored. Now Doesn't she deserve a second chance. I mean doesn't she deserve to have an opportunity to be productive and she clearly wants to I believe that. And that's what I'm fighting for because I'd rather her be productive than counterproductive. I'd rather have her have a the hope of a better life ahead of her so that crime is not the option that she might contemplate in the future. Make you a fan of rehabilitation and punishment as opposed to punishment alone. It does I mean you know prevention first. I mean if we can prevent these kinds of atrocities or any kind of crime we're all better off. And I think the best prevention is a great education system. But rehabilitation is important and it can work.

I've come to the view that there are possibilities and probabilities where rehabilitation can be successful but not if these people don't have the opportunity to get their rights restored so they can get a job that will pay them a decent wage so they can be productive. Clearly I believe in punishment to a member of chain gang Charlie. I mean you still proudly call yourself a chain gang. I just did. Yeah. And the reason is my heart bleeds for the innocent victim of crime. And there's no place for that. I mean I'm strong on Law and Order. I'm strong on cutting taxes that's why these property taxes I know they're going to drop like a rock. And I'm confident we're going to make that happen so you know punishments important as a deterrent. Again it's sort of preventative if we have a criminal justice system that truly delivers justice in a fair and equitable way. It's better for everybody. Let me ask you another question about former criminals or people who've been incarcerated there. There are several cases around Florida where people been incarcerated wrongly and they're fighting to get some sort of

compensation from the state the state doesn't have any sort of legal or a means by which people get compensation there's no law that says that if you serve so many years wrongly that you'll get X amount of compensation. Do you favor some sort of compensation regimen. I do. I do because it's the right thing to do. As I say to you know every issue I try to front is you know is it the right thing to do alternately for the people of our state. And if somebody imagine you know you have a son or daughter who's been wrongfully incarcerated for a crime and they serve 10 years in prison for something it was later found out they never did. You know as attorney general I was I think I hope an important part of our criminal justice system. And now as governor I'm appointing judges. And the one thing that I think is so important in that case is that that judge that I may appoint understands that a judge is just as important to exonerate the innocent as it is to prosecute the guilty. What could be worse than falsely accusing somebody. So I think it's very important we have a

system that would that pays people gives them the appropriate compensation if they've been wrongly incarcerated they can never get those 10 years back. That's just wrong and to me it's again it's commonsense. So I go back to an area I talked about before and that is just the spirit of your administration in a St. Pete Times a profile recently. One of Jeb Bush's friends was quoted as saying that you're much more of a populist and Jeb Bush was much more of a party True Believer a conservative. True Believer is that is that the difference between you and Jeb Bush. I don't know I mean that's more for other Stan allies I suppose. I'm a Republican true believer and I'm proud of many of the predecessors in our party like Abraham Lincoln. He would have believed I'm certain in obviously civil rights the ultimate civil right. He stopped slavery. You know I'm a Republican in the mold of Teddy Roosevelt. I love our environment and I love our beautiful Florida and I want to do everything I can to protect her and have us go to ethanol it's great get us off foreign oil it's a wonderful thing. And I'm a Reaganite you know I

love Ronald Reagan and the spirit and the optimism and the uplifting nature of his being was just magnificent. You know this was a man who you could tell always cared about people and he did it with a smile. And that's a great thing. Do you consult with Jeb Bush or do you who do you who are some of the past political figures that you consult with you talk with your Bush regularly. I do I do I mean you know the governor has an enormous capacity and a great heart and He cares deeply about our state. So yes I do I consult with him regularly. But I've also consulted with Senator Graham. And Governor Martinez from right here in the Tampa Bay area who I think the world. And Governor ask you and Governor Kirk I mean one of the things I've learned in life is that you know if there are others who have done what you're doing now and if they're willing to share their experiences with you you can benefit from maybe not making the mistakes that perhaps they may have made or or the good counsel in the direction they may point you toward and I'm trying to do that. I say it a lot. God has given me rob two ears and one mouth and

I try to respect the ratio so I learn a lot more when I listen and shut up. Frankly you've championed another cause that I think Democrats were pretty fond of and that was a paper trail for voting machines but last week in the house that legislation got in trouble looks like it may be in trouble are you going to are you going to win that issue this year. Well if it's a win it will be the people's win and I'm still very optimistic about it because you know listen you go to the bank you get a receipt. You know where you go to an 8am machine. If you go to get your car filled with gasoline again you get a receipt some evidence of what you paid for it. For the most precious and most cherished right that we as Americans have shouldn't it. And doesn't it make sense that you would have some kind of a recording so that if we needed to check it ever I hope we never do again in Florida elections but if you do then you have the evidence. I'm a lawyer too. That gives you the chance to make the case that it was a valid election. That was you know conducted with integrity and with honor and that just again makes common sense to me.

Some Republicans say just Democrats who are angry at the outcome of the recent elections they've lost many of them. So that's why they want to paper trail. Well I don't believe that you know there may be anger that you know you never happy when you win you may lose an election but I don't think that's the motivation. I think the motivation from my friend Robert Wexler who's a member of Congress and I served in the state senate with who by the way co-sponsored our chain gang Amendment. But at any rate I think what it is is that people simply want to be able to prove that our system has integrity that this cherished right that we have is protected. And that's what's motivating me and I think it's what motivates the people of Florida to just want to have that basic common sense right to be able to check the election if you need to. In Miami several Haitian leaders are saying that they're going to go on a hunger strike to protest the wet foot dry foot policy that gives preferential treatment to Cubans who come to our shores. The Haitians are mad because they're sent back. If they don't make the drive set foot on dry land there's a hunger strike going on several Haitian officials are trying to get your attention on this issue.

Some Catholic Bishops to Laura who is the head of the diocese in Miami used to be the head of it here in St. Petersburg actually. And you know I'm not unsympathetic to that point of view I'm the grandson of an immigrant who came here with nothing and you know our country traditionally has stood for the place where you can come here and have a great opportunity to succeed for yourself and for your family if you're willing to work hard to live by the rules and do what's right. If you're not you don't get that chance and that's that's just. So I'm sympathetic to Laura's plea but it's a federal issue as you know. Will you call the federal government to change its policy. Well I don't know I'm thinking about it. I think that it's important that we monitor these things. It's really a call ultimately for our president and our Congress. But again I'm I'm sympathetic to that because I believe that people do deserve an opportunity to come to America if they're going to be productive if they want to work. And of course abide by all our laws. My grandfather wouldn't be here and I would be governor of Florida if that wasn't the case.

Also in the house in Tallahassee is we're going through into the second month of the legislative session. There was a bill that is moving forward that would strip local governments of their ability to protect wetlands do you favor that. No I want to protect wetlands. I think it's very important you know. Like I said I'm a Teddy Roosevelt Republican too and a guy who started our national parks and understood that I believe we have a duty to be good stewards of our land and our water and our rivers. Florida's a special place. There's no place more beautiful than our state. And that's why people come here in droves and continue to come. You know almost 11 hundred every single day still are coming to Florida even though we have the property tax issue that we will resolve even though we have the insurance issue that we're staying on and keeping their feet to the fire in the industry. Even though we've had a lot of hurricanes lately. Ford as you know you can kick who can resist her. It's great. So yeah protecting the wetlands is extremely important to me. If that legislation comes to your desk that strips local governments of the ability to protect wetlands will you veto that legislation.

I probably would but I'm more optimistic than that. And you know I don't like throw throwing around the V the veto word very much because I'm so grateful for what our members of the House and Senate have done. They've worked so hard. And just because a bill comes out of one committee doesn't mean it passes the full body of the House or the Senate and finds its way to my desk. But if they do the people give me a powerful pen. What was the most surprising thing you found when you moved into the governor's mansion. Well how big it is. I mean my word you know I still run a condo here in the Tampa Bay area but it's only about 12 hundred square feet and you know I don't need a lot of just me. And but up there when you take into account the garage area back behind the pool it's about 20000 square feet and it's enormous. But it's a wonderful home that the people have provided me I'm very grateful to them for it. And it's their house really. It's got a lot of tradition. It's my same age it's 50 just like me it was built in 56. You've come out in favor of some sort of energy policy for the state of Florida. Are you going to do anything with the governor's mansion for instance of people a lot of people wonder why we don't have more solar energy

generated here in Florida. Are you doing anything to promote this so funny you would mention that. Honestly I'm not making this up. Last week I talked to our secretary of Department of Management Services which you know they periodically repaint the house and things like that I said you know I really would like a big solar panel on top of the governor's mansion to lead by example the vehicle they drive me into Tallahassee is powered by ethanol which is a great thing for Florida and for a number of reasons if I might. Number one it gets us off foreign oil. Number two right now when people think of ethanol they think of Cornus a main producer of it and it's a great producer. But there are two crops that can be even better and they are sugar and citrus waste. Both of which we have in abundance in our state. It's cleaner it's cheaper it's better for our environment. It gets us off foreign oil. And Florida can do it again. Be a national or international leader in this regard so I'm very enthused about that. And the solar panel at the mansion. So one of the other things I think that shocked some Republicans is you

say that you believe the theories of global warming that the Earth is warming you want to do something about it. I do. And I think that it's very important you know to pay attention with what's happening in our in our world. You know Governor Schwarzenegger is very sympathetic to this as well and we want to have a conference after the session is over possibly with his participation as well as Tony Blair's But I think it's really important that you know I'm not a scientist but I know scientists and you know they tell me that this theory may or may not be accurate but one thing is clear. Our environment is changing. And if we can have at least a small impact. By having less carbon dioxide carbon monoxide these kinds of emissions that erode our atmosphere that protects our planet. Why not do it. There's no downside to doing it it makes the air better for us and it's good for Florida. What do you think the worst case is scenario if sea levels are rising What's the worst case scenario for Florida in your mind.

Well the worst case scenario is that you know we have beach erosion that we fight every year. I was over in Palm Beach County last weekend and they have some significant problems there. And I'm not it's not foreign to us here in Tampa Bay I mean growing up in Pine Ellis County we've had great beach re nourishment that's been necessary probably largely due to hurricanes or anything else but these other factors play a role as well. And so we've got to be cognizant of it and we've got to you know adapt and adjust appropriately. One of the things that you're a champion of too is physical fitness for kids. Why do you take on that issue. Well because when I was a kid I remember that there was a President's Council on Physical Fitness President Kennedy started it. And you know you had to do so many pull ups and push ups and things like that to get the president's award they gave you a t shirt and all that neat stuff. And I remember that from when I went to bay Vista Elementary in South St. Petersburg and you know I've seen a lot of articles and I'm sure you have to the chalk talk about child obesity and it's a problem it's a national epidemic in our country and it affects our kids and it breaks my heart when you see that. Because they can have a better quality of

life if we simply do some fundamentals right. And I think that having physics in our schools probably a lot of people don't know that we don't have it anymore. That was a basic fundamental of having a well-rounded education if you will. And I think it's important and we've recommended it in our budget and it's moving this session so I'm encouraged that you practice what you preach. Tell us about your exercise regimen. Well it's not you know that difficult but it's it's consistent I do it every day. I wake up at about 5:30 and I lift weights and I do about 250 crunches every morning which sounds astounding but it's really not bad and. And then I swim 20 laps every morning. That's sort of the cardiovascular part of it too. But you know it's just it's the best vitamin I take in the morning it makes me feel better and I hope it makes me think better. How long you been doing that. Oh about 25 years. Incredible. One last question I want to ask you about that is you. You've taken steps in your state of the state message to encourage the film business here in Florida you think this is one of the ways to improve Florida's economy.

Why. No question in my mind again because it's clean. It doesn't doesn't hurt our environment. There are high paying jobs. Plus if you get more film and TV in Florida that's broadcast outside of our state it's a natural tourist attraction. I mean you know you watch on Monday evening CSI Miami and they have great footage and every episode they show of South Florida and it's beautiful. I mean this past weekend you know we had the Grand Prix in St. Pete. It was broadcast on ESPN 2 One hundred and ninety countries all watching the beautiful weather in Tampa Bay and Florida and thinking man I want to go there. And at least visit if not move. And so it's great for our state on many levels. It's clean it's productive and it makes sense. Well Governor Crist we're honored to have you here thanks a lot for coming by. Rob thanks very much. All right. Well this concludes the interview with our guest Governor Charlie Crist I'm Rob Lowe. And from all of us here to you thank you for watching. If.

Hello I'm Rob and in the next edition of you interview our special guest will be Florida's forty fourth governor Charlie Crist. Some suggest that the new governor heralds a new era in Florida politics will sit down with Governor Charlie Crist to talk about his first hundred days. The current legislative session and what's on the horizon Be sure to tune in Thursday at 8:00 p.m. Sunday at 2:00 p.m.. OK I just read what's ever on the screen. So I'm sorry. You guys you

guys could say the rub Laura is a big fat idiot and I would read it because it was there. OK. Hello I'm Robin. And in the next edition of the interview our special guest will be Florida's forty fourth governor Charlie Crist. Some suggest that the new governor heralds a new era in Florida politics. We'll sit down with Governor Charlie Crist to talk about his first 100 days. The current legislative session and what's on the horizon Be sure to tune in. OK.