In Jeb Bush's 'One Florida,'
apparently only one opinion is allowed
Check the new
WhoseFlorida
for updates
http://www.weeklyplanet.com/current/news_feature.html
In Jeb Bush's 'One Florida,' apparently only one opinion is allowed --- (more
on Everglades here)
BY PETER B. GALLAGHER
He saved the Miami Blue butterfly. He saved the world's largest aboriginal
canoe site at Newnan's Lake. He saved the Florida Folk Festival and a
whole bunch of dolphins and manatees. He saved taxpayers hundreds of
thousands of dollars by mediating enviro-lawsuits. His "alternate dispute
resolution" idea changed forever the way Florida government enters the
legal arena. Dr. Benji Brumberg, Ombudsman for the Florida Department of
Environmental Protection (DEP), spent three-and-a-half exemplary years
looking over bureaucratic shoulders as the public's chief watchdog over
the stewards of the environment. He openly admitted, "I try to pull
everything toward the green side, if I can."
Suddenly, without warning, at about the same hour National Public Radio
was extolling his virtues across the country, Jeb Bush's "green man" got
fired.
The tree fell very quietly. It was two weeks ago, out of the blue. More
quickly than the gubernatorial appointee could clean out his desk, all
mention of Brumberg's name and accomplishments -- including the public
"Bible" he had produced, listing ombudsmen and citizen service officers
throughout state government -- were summarily excised from the state
website.
And no one from the Governor on down can give a satisfactory reason why.
Brumberg left Tallahassee immediately after the firing and cannot be
reached. Neither Bush nor DEP Secretary David Struhs would provide a
comment to the Weekly Planet.
The official word, from stern-voiced Deena Wells in the DEP press office:
"The ombudsman's office was reorganized and his position was eliminated."
According to Wells, Brumberg's duties have been divvied up among six
regional external affairs/citizen's service managers. "It's nice to know
it takes six people to take his place," said a disturbed Rep. Richard
Machek (R-Delray Beach). Machek expressed shock at the news of Brumberg's
dismissal; the two were partners in an ongoing fight to save the
Okeechobee Battlefield.
"This man was an excellent state worker. He did his very best in every
issue he was associated with. I will continue to seek his expertise and
counsel. I'll do everything I can to help this man back on his feet. I am
going to look into this."
From New Mexico, Sierra Club national board member Ed Dobson expressed
dismay at Brumberg's departure: "Benji Brumberg was one of the best things
about Jeb Bush. He seemed to be independent; he could walk through any
door without going through bureaucratic channels. He seemed free to
operate to solve problems. I think he was probably the only real
environmentalist Bush had.
"Somebody didn't want his or her shoulder being looked over. When an
ombudsman gets fired, without apparent cause, something is wrong."
Brumberg's personnel file, obtained by the Weekly Planet, adds to the
mystery. The file contains not a single letter of complaint, rather, page
after page of high evaluations and positive remarks.
In a "Special Recognition/Accomplishment" memo from Struhs last June, the
Secretary wrote: "There is no way to determine the worth of Benji Brumberg
in monetary terms. During his 18 months with the Department he has settled
disputes that have dragged on for more than a decade. His skill as a
mediator has probably saved the state hundreds of thousands of dollars in
legal fees and, were it quantifiable, generated an equal amount of good
will with the public. He is a remarkable individual and the go-to guy to
solve the tough problems."
Brumberg's skill in resolving long-standing legal disputes, outlined in a
memo he sent to Bush, led to the Governor's Executive Order 0287,
requiring legal disputes to go to alternative dispute resolution first
before plunging headfirst into the costly courtroom.
A former DEP attorney ties the whole thing to Bush: "The firing of the DEP
ombudsman sends a chilling signal to DEP employees that dissent will not
be tolerated, even if it is in the interest of the health and safety of
Floridians," said Jerry Phillips, now with Public Employees for
Environmental Responsibility
(PEER).
PEER monitors state environmental agencies, while encouraging and
protecting whistleblowers. PEER closed its Florida office not long after
Brumberg was hired in the fall of 1999.
"It sounds like Governor Bush has shifted his focus from 'One Florida' to
'One Opinion,'" Phillips said. "Weighing differing opinions is absolutely
crucial to making sound policy. While firing dissenters may serve to
bolster the Governor's efforts to assist corporate polluters, such actions
are bad for policy and bad for morale."
Phillips said PEER will reopen its Florida office in May. "This move
certainly underscores the need for an organization like PEER to get
re-established in Florida. The message being sent is clear: Do not try to
interfere with the intentions of this administration to assist its
corporate buddies unless you, the state employee, are willing to lose your
job."
Brumberg ruffled feathers in other governmental arenas when he found poor
performance. At the State Department in particular, he had few friends. He
went up against former Secretary of State Katherine Harris in the
controversial transfer of the Florida Folk Festival from State (which no
longer wanted it) to DEP. In the Newnan's Lake case, where State
Department officials signed off on permits that allowed bulldozers in an
archaeological site, he brought in the Seminole Indians and had Bush issue
a moratorium banning the activity.
"I sure hope he didn't get fired because they thought he was hanging out
with me," said deposed Seminole Chief Jim Billie. "He preserved our
history on that lake. But we haven't really seen him since."
At the time of his dismissal, Brumberg was putting his final marks on the
Miami Blue butterfly case. When the federal government failed to take
action to save the last colony of the world's most endangered butterfly at
Bahia Honda State Park, Brumberg brought angry lawsuit-toting citizens
together with state and federal officials and engineered a first-ever
emergency state endangered species listing.
Bob Ballard, a DEP Deputy Secretary, gave Brumberg sole credit for saving
the Miami Blue at a recent public gathering. It was a shining moment for
the much-beleaguered DEP. In fact, his staff was gathered around a radio
listening to an NPR report on Brumberg and the Miami Blue when the axe
came down.
"There is not another single person in all of Florida state government who
can say they saved an endangered species. Benji Brumberg can say that. He
was an example of state government at its best. I am outraged that he is
gone," said Dennis Olle, a south Florida attorney who worked on the case
for the North American Butterfly Association. "No good deed goes
unpunished up there, I guess.
"Brumberg was not a flaming environmentalist. He is conservative,
business-like. He went out of his way to make all the bureaucrats look
good. ... Now the same crew is doing its best to screw up the Everglades
restoration. And they put out their only shining light!"
- Peter Gallagher is a freelance writer residing in St. Petersburg.