10-25-2010, 01:51 AM
THE FOLKS UP IN NORTH FLORIDA BETTER VOTE FOR ALEX SINK!
Democrat gubernatorial hopeful Alex Sink talks with reporters after voting in the state primary election at her polling station Tuesday morning, Aug 24, 2010 in Thonotosassa, Fla.
CROSS CITY — In the heart of North Florida prison country, where corrections jobs are handed down like a birthright and mistrust of government runs high, picking a governor has become more complicated than marking Democrat or Republican.
Rick Scott, a Tea Party favorite, political newcomer and the insurgent Republican nominee, is beating a conservative drum that resonates in rural, working class counties like Taylor, Gilchrist and Dixie.
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But one of the first planks in Scott's economic reform plan is cutting the Department of Correction's $2.2 billion budget by $1 billion over the next seven years and slashing the state workforce by 5 percent.
Union officials insist that would threaten the leading industry in the Department of Corrections' 15-county Region II, which stretches from Madison in the north to Flagler in the east and includes 22 facilities that employ 8,500 workers.
Small wonder then, that Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink, the Democratic nominee, was greeted warmly Friday at an afternoon shift change at the Cross City Correctional Institution in tiny Dixie County.
"Everybody should be concerned, very concerned," said the warden, Gerald Roberts. "You would be hurting a lot of people that depend on these jobs. And if you cut back, we're going to have to start turning some of these people out."
Sink is the first Democratic nominee in 12 years to be endorsed by the Police Benevolent Association, the 36,000-member union that represents prison guards and has declared war on the Scott campaign.
Challenged by one corrections officer about her position on private prisons, Sink would not categorically rule out the option.
"I like the way things are," Sink said. "Before we change things, somebody is going to have to convince me that the new way is safe and saves money."
Scott spokesman Joe Kildea said the union has been distorting Scott's proposal, which does not call for closing facilities or releasing prisoners early.
"Rick Scott is willing to look for ways to save money in a bloated bureaucracy," he said. "Apparently, Alex Sink is not."
B.J. Everett, a 65-year-old cabinet shop instructor whose baseball cap was inscribed, "FBI, Firm Believer In Jesus," summed up the dilemma for many of the prison workers.
"The biggest thing that hurt Miss Sink up here was when they showed that ad on TV with her and Obama," Everett said.
At the Gilchrist County Woman's Club in Trenton, Sink ate barbecue pork, coleslaw and baked beans at an annual luncheon that raises two $1,000 college scholarships for local high school students. Sink and U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, a fellow Democrat, chatted with about 15 club members, local officials and retirees.
Not all of the club members were Democrats, or even Sink supporters.
Club President Cindy Slaughter is a member of the Gilchrist County Republican Executive Committee. Locals like Scott's conservatism, but they're worried about the $1.7 billion in fines his former hospital chain, Columbia/HCA, had to pay after it was accused of Medicare fraud, Slaughter said.
"We just don't know enough about either of the candidates because all we see on TV is attack ads," she said.
Sink began her tour in Perry, greeting a handful of supporters at Joyce's Main Street Cafe. The business owner was gracious, but still on the fence.
Joyce Fletcher is suffering the worst slump since she opened six years ago. She shrank her staff from nine to two and doesn't know how much longer she can last.
Fletcher likes Scott's promises not to raise taxes and to tighten belts in Tallahassee.
"I'll probably make up my mind when I get in the booth," she said. "I'm a taxpayer, I pay bunches of taxes. I don't want to pay any more taxes. I'm just hanging on by my fingernails."
Democrat gubernatorial hopeful Alex Sink talks with reporters after voting in the state primary election at her polling station Tuesday morning, Aug 24, 2010 in Thonotosassa, Fla.
CROSS CITY — In the heart of North Florida prison country, where corrections jobs are handed down like a birthright and mistrust of government runs high, picking a governor has become more complicated than marking Democrat or Republican.
Rick Scott, a Tea Party favorite, political newcomer and the insurgent Republican nominee, is beating a conservative drum that resonates in rural, working class counties like Taylor, Gilchrist and Dixie.
ADVERTISEMENT
But one of the first planks in Scott's economic reform plan is cutting the Department of Correction's $2.2 billion budget by $1 billion over the next seven years and slashing the state workforce by 5 percent.
Union officials insist that would threaten the leading industry in the Department of Corrections' 15-county Region II, which stretches from Madison in the north to Flagler in the east and includes 22 facilities that employ 8,500 workers.
Small wonder then, that Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink, the Democratic nominee, was greeted warmly Friday at an afternoon shift change at the Cross City Correctional Institution in tiny Dixie County.
"Everybody should be concerned, very concerned," said the warden, Gerald Roberts. "You would be hurting a lot of people that depend on these jobs. And if you cut back, we're going to have to start turning some of these people out."
Sink is the first Democratic nominee in 12 years to be endorsed by the Police Benevolent Association, the 36,000-member union that represents prison guards and has declared war on the Scott campaign.
Challenged by one corrections officer about her position on private prisons, Sink would not categorically rule out the option.
"I like the way things are," Sink said. "Before we change things, somebody is going to have to convince me that the new way is safe and saves money."
Scott spokesman Joe Kildea said the union has been distorting Scott's proposal, which does not call for closing facilities or releasing prisoners early.
"Rick Scott is willing to look for ways to save money in a bloated bureaucracy," he said. "Apparently, Alex Sink is not."
B.J. Everett, a 65-year-old cabinet shop instructor whose baseball cap was inscribed, "FBI, Firm Believer In Jesus," summed up the dilemma for many of the prison workers.
"The biggest thing that hurt Miss Sink up here was when they showed that ad on TV with her and Obama," Everett said.
At the Gilchrist County Woman's Club in Trenton, Sink ate barbecue pork, coleslaw and baked beans at an annual luncheon that raises two $1,000 college scholarships for local high school students. Sink and U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, a fellow Democrat, chatted with about 15 club members, local officials and retirees.
Not all of the club members were Democrats, or even Sink supporters.
Club President Cindy Slaughter is a member of the Gilchrist County Republican Executive Committee. Locals like Scott's conservatism, but they're worried about the $1.7 billion in fines his former hospital chain, Columbia/HCA, had to pay after it was accused of Medicare fraud, Slaughter said.
"We just don't know enough about either of the candidates because all we see on TV is attack ads," she said.
Sink began her tour in Perry, greeting a handful of supporters at Joyce's Main Street Cafe. The business owner was gracious, but still on the fence.
Joyce Fletcher is suffering the worst slump since she opened six years ago. She shrank her staff from nine to two and doesn't know how much longer she can last.
Fletcher likes Scott's promises not to raise taxes and to tighten belts in Tallahassee.
"I'll probably make up my mind when I get in the booth," she said. "I'm a taxpayer, I pay bunches of taxes. I don't want to pay any more taxes. I'm just hanging on by my fingernails."