WHY WHOSEFLORIDA?

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Why WhoseFlorida?

So much has happened since last February when WhoseFlorida.com went on line.

Jeb had already told us that his Florida was going to be all about business and most of the state employees knew Florida was in trouble. 

Some of us knew because we’d been witnesses to the dismantling of the infrastructure of our state government for several years. Some of us had already lost our jobs. Some of us had spent the last year and a half wondering if we would have a job the following week. 

Predictably, the job cuts and the effects of the zero-based budget began to take its toll. We had been working in crisis mode for too long, and we knew it wasn’t going to get better any time soon.  The problem was already system wide, but most of us didn’t know it. We all thought it was just happening in our agency and maybe a few others. There wasn’t a lot of talk about it.

There wasn’t a lot of press about it either. The breakup of the Department of Labor, the layoffs at several of the other agencies, and the 25% workforce reduction "exercise" were being discussed but the big picture was largely ignored.

Jeb was asking the workers for feedback, but his plan was already in place. We were asked not to speak about what we saw happening, so for the most part we didn’t. Those of us who had been with our agency for a while felt that to speak out would be disloyal. We would remain "good employees" to the end.

That was 6 months ago.

Since then, the legislature has come and gone leaving a plan called "Service First", another big tax cut for the folks who don’t need one, a reduction in social programs, a scaling back of environmental protections, a cement plant on the Itchetucknee River, and increased powers for the Governor to make more changes like this in the future...

Affirmative action of course, fell in the first year of Jeb’s rule – "One Florida" in its place. The message that we could "trust Jeb to do the right thing" was not at all reassuring.

There is a certain Orwellian cruelty in the names they have chosen. "Service First" is really less service, and "One Florida" is clearly two Florida’s - one for the rich and one for the poor.

The State website was renamed "myflorida.com" – a dot com business designation for the official state website – a trademark logo instead of the Great Seal.

And now there are oil rigs coming to the Gulf, the Everglades restoration is set for compromise, and the St. Joe / Arvida companies are poised to sell off North Florida.

Not a pretty picture, for most of us at least. 

But Jeb’s happy I guess – he sees his image reflected everywhere around him… new marinas, golf courses, gated estates, super highways, big hotels, shiny billboards, lots of business, lots of banks with lots of money, and of course a few theme parks and trailer estates for the mob.

I wince when I picture this. This sure isn’t my Florida – but hell, I was only born here. It’s not a Florida anyone I know, or even could imagine knowing, would want.

So Why Whose Florida? Because I sort of like Florida the way I see it – and I want to have a say in how it goes. No one else is speaking for me – so I will. I suggest you all do the same.

(I'm a native Floridian. I've worked for the State for over 10 years. I did not vote for Jeb, but not because of his party affiliation. It was/is because he seems to have no idea what it is to live a life without privilege. During his first campaign, Jeb was asked what he would do for the Black community. He said "Probably nothing." Everyone should have listened to what he said that day - he was speaking to us all.)