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1 STATE OF FLORIDA
CONSTITUTION REVISION COMMISSION
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COMMISSION MEETING
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DATE: May 5, 1998
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TIME: Commenced at 9:00 a.m.
11 Concluded at 11:30 a.m.
12 PLACE: The Senate Chamber
The Capitol
13 Tallahassee, Florida
14 REPORTED BY: JULIE L. DOHERTY, RPR
Court Reporter
15 Division of Administrative Hearings
The DeSoto Building
16 1230 Apalachee Parkway
Tallahassee, Florida
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1 APPEARANCES
2 W. DEXTER DOUGLASS, CHAIRMAN
3 CARLOS ALFONSO
CLARENCE E. ANTHONY
4 ANTONIO L. ARGIZ
JUDGE THOMAS H. BARKDULL, JR.
5 MARTHA WALTERS BARNETT
PAT BARTON
6 ROBERT M. BROCHIN
THE HONORABLE ROBERT A. BUTTERWORTH
7 KEN CONNOR
CHRIS CORR
8 SENATOR ANDER CRENSHAW
VALERIE EVANS
9 MARILYN EVANS-JONES
BARBARA WILLIAMS FORD-COATES
10 ELLEN CATSMAN FREIDIN
PAUL HAWKES
11 WILLIAM CLAY HENDERSON
THE HONORABLE TONI JENNINGS
12 THE HONORABLE GERALD KOGAN
DICK LANGLEY (ABSENT)
13 JOHN F. LOWNDES
STANLEY MARSHALL
14 JACINTA MATHIS
JON LESTER MILLS
15 FRANK MORSANI
ROBERT LOWRY NABORS
16 CARLOS PLANAS
JUDITH BYRNE RILEY
17 KATHERINE FERNANDEZ RUNDLE
SENATOR JIM SCOTT
18 H. T. SMITH
ALAN C. SUNDBERG
19 JAMES HAROLD THOMPSON
PAUL WEST
20 JUDGE GERALD T. WETHERINGTON
STEPHEN NEAL ZACK
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IRA H. LEESFIELD (ABSENT)
22 LYRA BLIZZARD LOGAN (ABSENT)
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1 PROCEEDINGS
2 (Quorum taken and recorded electronically.)
3 SECRETARY BLANTON: Quorum call, quorum call. All
4 Commissioners, indicate your presence. All Commissioners,
5 indicate your presence.
6 CHAIRMAN DOUGLASS: Everybody punch the button again.
7 If you have already punched it, punch it again.
8 (Pause.)
9 SECRETARY BLANTON: A quorum present, Mr. Chairman.
10 CHAIRMAN DOUGLASS: If you would come to order and be
11 seated, we can determine -- I think there is at least one
12 absent. Would you come to order, please?
13 Will the Commissioners and the guests in the gallery
14 please rise for the opening prayer this morning by the
15 Reverend Doug Dortch of the First Baptist Church in
16 Tallahassee. Reverend Dortch.
17 REVEREND DORTCH: Let's bow together for prayer. Our
18 Father and our God, we are grateful for this day, and for
19 the gift of life. We gather this morning to acknowledge
20 you as the giver, also, of the perfect law of life and
21 liberty.
22 You teach us that you would have everything done
23 decently and in order. And I thank you this morning for
24 these men and women who have given of themselves over this
25 last year to ensure that in our state we do things in
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1 accordance with your will. They gather this morning with
2 a sense of celebration and relief, but also with still
3 business to be done.
4 So we pray that as you are present this morning that
5 you would be with them, that you would guide their
6 deliberations, that you would cause a sense of consensus
7 to permeate in this place among each individual as
8 together the report and recommendations add to the quality
9 of life for all Floridians. And that in some way, by what
10 they are about, your will might be done and your kingdom
11 may come here in Florida as it always is in Heaven. So we
12 pray, amen.
13 CHAIRMAN DOUGLASS: Would you remain standing for the
14 pledge of allegiance led this morning by Courtney and
15 Christopher Corr, Ariana Marie and Carlos Samuel Alfonso,
16 Austin and Wells Buzzett, Elliott and Jacinta Camille
17 Mathis and Susan Evans. Susan is our ex-officio member.
18 (Pledge of allegiance.)
19 CHAIRMAN DOUGLASS: Before we proceed to the daily
20 order of business, I'd like to make a few general remarks.
21 First of all, I'd like to welcome all of you back to
22 Tallahassee. I'm always delighted when we get together.
23 And I want you to know that Terese and I thoroughly
24 enjoyed hosting those of you who were able to come last
25 night, and your families, at our home. We had a great
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1 time and I hope you did, too.
2 There are many, many thank yous and nods of
3 appreciation and ceremonial proceedings necessary before
4 we conclude our work today. And then we will follow those
5 actions with an outline of the commission's plans from now
6 until November, then make a few closing remarks about the
7 commission and its work.
8 First I'd like to make some recognitions here that
9 were very important to our work. Many of these people we
10 weren't aware how hard they did work, many we were. The
11 commission could not have conducted its work, however,
12 without the generous help and support of the Florida
13 Senate. To them we owe a great debt of gratitude and
14 sincere thanks to you, President Jennings. Your staff was
15 outstanding, but your participation made our job and our
16 product a much better thing than we could have otherwise
17 had. We are very proud to have you sitting in our group
18 and we look forward to working with you for many years.
19 We are going to do away with these term limits for you.
20 (Applause.)
21 CHAIRMAN DOUGLASS: Her staff has certainly been more
22 than accommodating and served this commission just as it
23 serves the Senate. I think Commissioner Scott will tell
24 you they served the Senate, and Crenshaw both have been
25 there, but they served us just as well. And without them
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1 we couldn't have made it. They served with professional
2 style and grace. Not many bodies can say that.
3 The Senate staff has been directed, of course, by
4 Faye Blanton, who corrects me quite often, and who
5 followed us and assisted us in our work through the public
6 hearings and during our meetings in Tallahassee. Faye
7 worked very hard on this and for us. Thank you, Faye.
8 You are just representative of what a public servant
9 should be. We are very proud you have been our Secretary.
10 (Applause).
11 CHAIRMAN DOUGLASS: A standing ovation was in lieu of
12 a bonus.
13 (Laughter.)
14 CHAIRMAN DOUGLASS: You certainly deserve one. We
15 really appreciate it.
16 Also the Sergeant at Arms group under the direction
17 of Wayne Todd. Wayne, thank you for your group.
18 (Applause.)
19 CHAIRMAN DOUGLASS: Well, Wayne has lost so much
20 weight, we can't see him.
21 And now we would like to recognize every member of
22 the staffs who have assisted us in this process. I want
23 to apologize in advance for anyone I have overlooked on
24 this list and blame it on Billy Buzzett and Faye for not
25 giving me the right names.
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1 Members of the Senate staff who worked with the
2 commission include, from the front office; Debbie Brown,
3 Evelyn Harrell, Bonnie Varble, Lisa Wiggins. These are
4 for the record and for the permanent record.
5 Calendar and Filing, Gary McKenzie; Copy Rooms, Bill
6 McCully and Mike Thurmond; Distribution Center, Charlie
7 Frier; Documents, Ericka Ford; Journal, Linda Hamilton,
8 Shirley Joyce, Jane Raker, Geri Copeland; Engrosssing and
9 Enrolling, Jhonnie Gillispie, Courtney Christian, and
10 Marjorie Perkins; Legal Research and Drafting, Robert
11 Kennedy, Jan Blue, Don Boggs, Maryann Carter, Jim Griner,
12 Charlotte Kerce, Bob Lester, Norma McKee, Joan Macmillan,
13 Gloria Merritt, Mary Ellen Mockbee, Carrie Riley, Jeanne
14 Ruppert, Bill Ryan.
15 From the Print Shop; Art Reddick, Brenda Cody,
16 Shirley Coyle, Scooter Duncan, Jessie Henderson, Davie
17 Rabon, Laverne Rudd, Mike Stallings, Richard Trevathan.
18 Reading Clerks, Will Lindsley and Nicki Wilson. They did
19 a great job for us. Sound Booth, Carol Snider.
20 Photography, Paulette Lowry.
21 Members of the Senate committee staff included Curtis
22 Austin, Brenda Barineau, David Beggs, Patty Blackburn,
23 Sarah Jane Bradshaw, Debbie Brown, John Guthrie, Linda
24 Harkey, Evelyn Harrell, Glenda Ingram, Lori Ivarson,
25 Barbara Jordan, Donna Kerce, Greg Krasovsky, Glenn Lang,
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1 Sue Mitchell, Beth Presnell, Diane Vause, Wayne Voigt,
2 Linda West, Beverly Whiddon, Ray Wilson and Tom Yeatman.
3 Members of the Senate Sergeant at Arms staff include
4 Chris Carter, Terry Darsaw, Jeff Fleming, Tommy Hunt, Joey
5 Matthews, Donald Severance, Josh Stephens and Chris
6 Vowell.
7 Members of the Division of -- I probably ought to
8 make a special note of Don, who went with us on all our
9 public hearings and protected the Chief Justice and me
10 from great harm in Daytona Beach by being there.
11 (Applause.)
12 CHAIRMAN DOUGLASS: That's a joke. We weren't really
13 in anything except our usual danger for saying too much.
14 Members of the Division of Administrative Hearings
15 Court Reporters Kristen Bentley, Julie Doherty and Mona
16 Whiddon. They sat up there and we didn't see them, but
17 they are here today and they did a great job. Okay.
18 I think that takes care of our recognitions at this
19 point in that respect. Now the commission's work, as
20 you-all know, was coordinated and steered by hard-working
21 and dedicated staff who also deserve special recognition.
22 I want to give a special recognition to Billy Buzzett.
23 Billy is the most efficient commuter I have ever dealt
24 with. He sleeps on the beach, he comes to work in the
25 morning and somehow or other he is still around at night
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1 and he is back on the beach. He, as you all know,
2 commutes from over in Sea Grove Beach in Walton County.
3 But the work that Billy does and his ability to work
4 with people has caused our job to be much, much more
5 effective and easier to perform. He keeps up with what's
6 going on and he is very attendant to the needs of the
7 commissioners as well as to making sure that their views
8 are heard by everyone involved. Billy is a master at
9 saving public funds and I would recommend him as one of
10 the most tight-fisted people with government money that I
11 have dealt with in the many years that I have been here.
12 I'd like to give a special recognition to our
13 executive director, Billy Buzzett.
14 (Applause.)
15 CHAIRMAN DOUGLASS: I want you to know that 20 years
16 ago the executive director was Steve Uhfelder and he has
17 gone on to great things. He is in Holland and Knight.
18 And he did something else, too. Isn't he on the Board of
19 Regents or something like that? I think Billy will
20 probably go on to great rewards.
21 A special comment also must go to Deborah Kearney.
22 Debby was Deputy General Counsel when I was General
23 Counsel to the Governor. And I want you to know that Jay
24 Peterson and I shared one thing: Debby did all the work.
25 And we talked to everybody and got credit for everything
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1 that was good and blamed everything bad on Debby. And she
2 took it very well.
3 That continued here. Debby was always available
4 working into the night and she is one of the best lawyers
5 that I have had the privilege to practice with over the
6 years. And I am very proud to present our General Counsel
7 for recognition, Debby Kearney.
8 (Applause.)
9 CHAIRMAN DOUGLASS: Now don't take that too
10 seriously, Debby. It is time to go to work. We really do
11 appreciate it, Debby. And I think that applause says it
12 all.
13 Other staff members who have contributed to making
14 this run smoothly include my executive assistant, Suellen
15 Cone, who I also swiped from the Governor's office.
16 Suellen.
17 (Applause.)
18 CHAIRMAN DOUGLASS: I think she is responsible for
19 that horrible caricature of -- no, that was Debby -- of
20 Commissioner Bulldog and me out on the front. I didn't
21 see that. Commissioner Bulldog, in case you don't know,
22 is Barkdull, Commissioner Barkdull.
23 Lynn Imhof who was the person who balanced everything
24 and she worked for all of us in Billy's office. She
25 was -- we brought her from the House of Representatives
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1 and they were so kind as to let us have her as the, one of
2 our executive assistants. Lynn Imhof. Where are you,
3 Lynn?
4 (Applause.)
5 CHAIRMAN DOUGLASS: And two attorneys that, you know,
6 really worked hard throughout this process and were quite
7 effective, Debbie Ben-David. Debbie.
8 (Applause.)
9 CHAIRMAN DOUGLASS: And Chris Martinez. Chris.
10 (Applause.)
11 CHAIRMAN DOUGLASS: Our communications director, Ron
12 Morris. Ron? He is somewhere, he is up there.
13 (Applause.)
14 CHAIRMAN DOUGLASS: Our website coordinator Michelle
15 Taylor; interns Evan Borysko, Sheila Carpenter, Kyle
16 Mitchell, Monica Richter, and Scott Smith. That was our
17 entire staff and they just did a great job and we are very
18 proud to have worked with them. You will note that all
19 the work here was done by females and not males alike.
20 You might note that. Twenty years from now it may be the
21 other way around, we will never know. I sincerely
22 appreciate the contributions of these people and I'm sure
23 you join me in that.
24 Mostly, on behalf of the citizens of Florida, I'd
25 like to personally thank each member of the commission and
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1 I would like to present each of you with a token of
2 appreciation for a job well done. We commissioned John
3 Roberge of the Tallahassee Democrat to draw caricatures of
4 each Commissioner with a caption for each. I trust that
5 you will treasure this memento as much as I do a similar
6 drawing done from the 1978 commission. And I would like
7 to read each caption to you and say just a comment about
8 each commissioner and these drawings.
9 You will remember, I kept that one of mine in the
10 office. A lot of you have seen it. And I have to go back
11 to it every once in a while to remember who was on the
12 commission. As you get older, 20 years from now, you may
13 have to do the same thing.
14 Would somebody hand me one and I'll start reading
15 them. Everybody has got one but me, right? I hear
16 Clarence laughing already. Let's start with Clarence
17 since he is the first one. The caption on Clarence says,
18 "Clarence to Kelvin, come in Kelvin."
19 They don't allow these cell phones in the Senate
20 chamber, but Clarence didn't know that. He used it a lot.
21 I would like to say about Clarence that he brought to our
22 group a lot of information and knowledge that we, most of
23 us don't have about municipal government and local
24 government. And he also represented the rural parts of
25 our state very effectively. And was a real hard worker
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1 and made most of the meetings except when he played hooky
2 to get married and went on his honeymoon. Clarence, thank
3 you, personally, very much for the job you have done.
4 Next we have Commissioner Zack, "Can't we have Bern's
5 cater next time?" It's reflected by his amble girth. We
6 got him where it really counts and that's at the food bar.
7 But, Commissioner Zack, your constant speaking out for
8 fairness was appreciated by all of us. And your devotion
9 to the rights of individuals is legendary and certainly
10 you showed that to us. And we each appreciate it. And I
11 personally thank you for your service.
12 Commissioner Hawkes' says, "On behalf of Speaker
13 Webster." And Commissioner Hawkes was a good spokesman
14 for Speaker Webster, when it was necessary for him to do
15 so. He was also a good spokesman for the point of view
16 that he expressed on many issues, including taxation and
17 others. Commissioner Hawkes, thank you for your service,
18 and I'm sure Citrus County will be proud of you when they
19 find out all the good things you have done.
20 Next is Commissioner Scott. And he says, "If I would
21 have known that, I wouldn't have voted for it." Well,
22 Commissioner Jennings says that he says that quite often
23 in the Senate, that certainly we shouldn't think much of
24 that.
25 But Commissioner Scott served on two of our most
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1 important committees, Rules and Style and Drafting, and as
2 such was a major, major force in what we were able to
3 accomplish. And one of the things that most of you may
4 not remember, Commissioner Scott served on the planning
5 commission for this group. And he has put in many hours
6 not only with us but at the same time doing his job as a
7 Senator, representing one of our very largest and most
8 important areas of the state, as well as the whole state.
9 And, Commissioner Scott, we all thank you for your
10 service and your sacrifice and I personally appreciate all
11 you have done. By the way, I have another bull I would
12 like to sell you.
13 COMMISSIONER SCOTT: I want to know where your
14 caricature is.
15 CHAIRMAN DOUGLASS: I haven't found it yet. It is
16 there, though. Keep looking.
17 Next says, for Commissioner Thompson, "If I can keep
18 the peace here, they should send me to the Middle East."
19 He is best noted for his interpretation of Claude Pepper's
20 approach. If you all missed that, you really missed a
21 treat.
22 But also he was on the Rules Committee and he served
23 on many, many committees and brought a point of view to
24 our group that was very necessary and needed. It was
25 balanced and more centrist probably than many other views,
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1 but he certainly brought quality to our group. James
2 Harold, we all appreciate your sacrifice and service and
3 we know it was difficult for you to do that.
4 Then we have Debby Kearney's in the middle there.
5 And she is, "I have one more technical amendment." And I
6 hope not, we don't need any of those. But I have already
7 spoken to Debby.
8 Then we have Commissioner Jennings. And she says, "I
9 hope my Senators aren't picking up these bad habits."
10 And, Commissioner Jennings, we have already said some good
11 things about you. But I'll tell you that she was told by
12 Commissioner Scott, when she did some things that they
13 don't do in the Senate, such as suggesting somebody hadn't
14 voted and she was going to sit there until they did, and
15 somebody told her, well, you sure have picked up some of
16 Douglass' bad habits. And then of course the Secretary
17 never has to tell her that she has done wrong. I'm sure
18 that's true.
19 Commissioner Jennings, again, thanks.
20 Then Commissioner Freidin, "It's female and male
21 alike." Commissioner Freidin, a devotee of individual
22 rights, a person who is very passionate in her beliefs
23 that we should treat all people alike. And you certainly
24 brought that to us with great grace. Thank you.
25 Commissioner Barton. Hers is, "I finally made it to
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1 the front row." Well, Commissioner Barton, we are
2 delighted you did and that you became able to cast your
3 ballots. And she has a great history of public service
4 with both the Republican party and also with many other
5 efforts in the drug area and so on. And she brought a
6 great deal of class to our group and represented the
7 southwest coast very well. Commissioner Barton, thank
8 you.
9 And then we have Commissioner Nabors. "Surprise, I
10 have a new draft of the sales tax." Now, Commissioner
11 Nabors, you are not going to get 25 votes to go into that,
12 I can assure you. But here is a fellow that really
13 brought the fiscal policy of the state into question for
14 us, also was a great resource on local government. Thank
15 you, Commissioner Nabors.
16 And then there is Commissioner Evans who says, "Just
17 say no." Commissioner Evans was one of those 36 to 1's a
18 couple of times, but she convinced us all that she is a
19 person of great principle and she follows those even when
20 it seems hopeless. And she brought to us a point of view
21 we needed and we are very proud she was with us.
22 And her ex-officio member, her daughter, has been a
23 real influence to us all, and we were delighted to have
24 you both. Thank you.
25 And then we go to the executive director who says,
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1 "We are in great shape." Now, he says that when we are
2 totally destroyed. He comes in and says, we are really
3 rolling. That's when we are tied up for two hours. But
4 he is the eternal optimist, and that reflects that.
5 Billy, thank you again.
6 Then we go to Ander Crenshaw. Yeah, he is here,
7 there he is. He says, "My reapportionment commission bill
8 was different; the Democrats were in power then."
9 Commissioner Crenshaw, we were delighted to have your
10 resource of experience and background and also your point
11 of view on many issues. And thank you very much.
12 And then we have professor/commissioner/judge, many
13 other titles, Wetherington. You all know, he was just a
14 great person because he would get up with his sincerity,
15 he was hard to resist, even on some of those crack-brained
16 ideas he was talking about. He was a great member of our
17 commission. And he says, "What do you think about that?
18 Forget the rules." Now that's judicial experience that
19 got into that.
20 I think -- Justice Kogan and I were talking -- the
21 one you have all heard about the guy getting up in front
22 of the Supreme Court, the lawyer, and arguing, Well, you
23 can't do that because the rules say otherwise. And one of
24 the judges leans down and he says, The rules don't say
25 anything except what we say they say. And we all
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1 recognize that. And that's what we say about our
2 Secretary.
3 Now Commissioner Langley isn't here and I guess he is
4 out looking for some more natural persons, but he says,
5 "I've always known that females aren't natural persons."
6 I think that might have been a direct quote from his
7 argument, wasn't it, Commissioner Freidin? I'm sorry he
8 isn't here to respond, but he certainly brought home the
9 gender gap very firmly. I think he was going to impeach
10 Commissioner Jennings because, you know, she is the
11 president of an old boys club, he said, and that's not
12 fair.
13 COMMISSIONER JENNINGS: He is used to me.
14 CHAIRMAN DOUGLASS: Then we have -- let me see, who's
15 next here. Commissioner income tax, Commissioner Barnett
16 who brings a great deal of knowledge and experience and we
17 trust will be president of the American Bar Association at
18 some point. They would certainly be improved when she is
19 president. And we know that from having served with her.
20 We all recall with great delight the party you gave at
21 your home. And I would like to say that she says, "I'm
22 just building support for my income tax proposal,
23 Mr. Chair."
24 She just insists on calling me a chair. Martha,
25 thank you. I know it was a great sacrifice in time for
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1 you and all that pro bono work you are doing and so on.
2 Next, of course, is Commissioner Kogan and he says,
3 "And I thought it was rough getting seven people to
4 agree." Commissioner Kogan was not hesitant to tell us
5 what his view of the law was, and that was helpful because
6 a lot of times when you ask a judge his view of the law he
7 is like that professor we had who took ten minutes to tell
8 us he didn't know the answer. But not Commissioner Kogan.
9 He came through, as he should have, as a commissioner.
10 Also, he did a great job in selecting his two appointees
11 to serve with him.
12 Then we have Commissioner Mills. Commissioner Mills
13 is on the state payroll therefore has a lot more time than
14 everybody else. He is a professor, but he is an unusual
15 professor because he can give you an answer. We have been
16 delighted to have him as Chairman of Style and Drafting.
17 And I don't know how many of you know how much the
18 Style and Drafting Committee put in in the way of time and
19 effort, but they just deserve a special round of thanks
20 from all of us. And as their chairman, Commissioner
21 Mills, did a yeoman's job. And he also chaired the Select
22 Committee on Article V Costs. He has been a valuable
23 member. And he says, "Style and Drafting will meet
24 everyday this month, sun up to sundown." And that was
25 about right I think, wasn't it, Commissioner Scott? It
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1 was kind of hard to make those meetings.
2 Then we have our -- last night, you know,
3 Commissioner Smith made his greatest speech. It is
4 certainly one that Abraham Lincoln would have been proud
5 of. He has made many on this floor. And he says, "I'm
6 just trying to level the playing field." Well, when you
7 debate with Commissioner Smith, it is not level. It is
8 tilted in his favor. I think Commissioner Connor can tell
9 you that he is pretty good at worming those things around;
10 isn't he, Commissioner Connor? We are proud of you,
11 Commissioner Smith, and we appreciate your service.
12 And then there is the grandiose eloquence of
13 simplicity and his statement is, "Why use exiguous words
14 when grandiloquence will do?" And that, of course, had
15 been a very valuable person who was a great resource on
16 the Article V matters as well as others. Commissioner
17 Sundberg. And thank you, Alan, for your service.
18 And then Commissioner Argiz, his statement is, "Is
19 this my seat?" Commissioner Argiz, because of his many
20 commitments in court -- you know, you wouldn't think a CPA
21 would have to be in court all the time, but he was. A lot
22 of the time he couldn't be here and he was excused.
23 Commissioner Argiz, thank you for your participation.
24 And then there is Commissioner Corr who favored us
25 with his family. And all of you that haven't met them,
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1 they are a great group. And he says, "C-R-C, no, I mean
2 M-I-C-K-E." And he has his little things on there, on his
3 head. But Commissioner Corr, thank you for your service
4 and we appreciate it.
5 Then when we get to Commissioner West, he says, "I'm
6 so humbled by all the talent in this room." Commissioner
7 West, certainly you shouldn't have been because you carry
8 great talent yourself. And we are delighted to have had
9 you as a member with us.
10 And then there is the dog house kid, Commissioner
11 Henderson. He kept saying he was in the dog house, but I
12 think he was in another house, he just wasn't sure
13 sometimes. And he says, "I think that I shall never see a
14 commission that is as green as thee." Thank you.
15 And then, of course, there is that poor,
16 greasy-hands, overalled or cover-alled fellow that, you
17 know, has a few little car dealerships and used cars that
18 he sells, our good friend and great member, Commissioner
19 Morsani. Who says, typically, "I'm just an auto
20 mechanic." We will all remember that many times.
21 And then of course Commissioner Riley says, "Double
22 your fun at the Double Tree." Well, if you are around
23 her, you are going to have fun because she is her mother's
24 daughter, I'll tell you that. I have known the family.
25 Her, I guess, great-grandfather was one of the real
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1 pioneers in Okaloosa County. He developed or started the
2 development there. And she has been -- she is a fourth
3 generation, at least, Floridian.
4 But one thing that she is that we will all recognize
5 is she is really devoted to protecting the rights of all
6 people. And she has made that very clear with her great
7 efforts. Commissioner Riley, we appreciate your service.
8 And, of course, the next gentleman it says, "Ladies
9 and gentlemen, I submit to you a motion to reconsider my
10 motion for reconsideration." I have to tell you that's
11 Commissioner Connor, who if we had been on much more
12 extensive television, he would probably be running second
13 in the Governor's race by now. He would certainly be in
14 it because he was recognized by those that did watch us on
15 television as one of our most able members. Thank you,
16 Commissioner Connor.
17 And then, of course, Commissioner Rundle, who drifted
18 in late as usual, missed the party last night, broke the
19 windshield on the airplane so she didn't have to get here.
20 I'm teasing you, of course. But she says, "It is time for
21 my daily constitutional." If you don't recognize the
22 humor in that, I won't tell you.
23 Commissioner Rundle, taking time out from your very
24 difficult and important job as state's attorney in Dade
25 County, we appreciate your service and it certainly
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1 brought us great balance.
2 And then of course from Dade County as well we have
3 Commission Brochin who says, "They say playing Mozart in
4 classrooms raises test scores." I don't remember him
5 saying that, but I'll bet he would if we ask him.
6 Commissioner Brochin, thank you so much.
7 And then Commissioner Marshall, who says, "Hmm, all
8 these compliments. Something is fishy." I think
9 Commissioner Marshall made a real effort to be here at a
10 time when he was ill. He was a great contributor to our
11 group. And he brought many, many years of wisdom from
12 serving the State and serving public education and also
13 serving in the capacity as the head of the James Madison
14 Institute, a very important, nonprofit group in Florida.
15 Commissioner Marshall, thank you very much for your
16 service.
17 And then there is -- has to be my favorite
18 commissioner, I don't really want to slight anybody. But
19 every time I thought something was sort of going away,
20 when she got up, all of a sudden it became a very close
21 vote. She was a great contributor, she doesn't have one
22 ounce of partisanship in her at all. She was trying to do
23 what she thought we all recognized for the best of the
24 state. Whether you agreed with her or not, you have to
25 accept her depth of sincerity and background.
24
1 Commissioner Evans-Jones, who served on the Rules
2 Committee as well, and everywhere else she was asked,
3 thank you so much.
4 And then Commissioner Alfonso, who was probably one
5 of the most productive members who really supported the
6 commission and did many things for us. But one thing, of
7 course, he says here, "Has anyone seen the movie
8 'Groundhog Day?'" Well, I didn't know what that meant.
9 And they told me that meant it is the same thing everyday
10 when you get up over and over again. But that was sort of
11 a statement that somebody might have made about some of
12 our sessions. Thank you, Carlos, for being with us and
13 doing your great job.
14 Then we get to, in the back -- I'm going to save you
15 until last, Madam Secretary. And then they have me there.
16 I say, "I'll refrain from debating from the chair, but."
17 Well, I never did that. I deny that, even if it is on the
18 record.
19 And then Alternate Logan, who isn't here, she says,
20 "Next time I'll get to vote." But she won't if she
21 doesn't show up.
22 Then Carlos, Commissioner Carlos Planas says, "Can
23 you buy a house in Miami for under a million dollars?"
24 And that may be true. None of us could dispute that up
25 here. Carlos, you brought meaning to the word of how you
25
1 can, with great effect and great reason, represent an
2 ethnic group without representing the ethnic group to the
3 detriment of the rest of the group. And we were proud to
4 have you as a member of this commission.
5 And then, Commissioner Mathis -- this is my favorite
6 of all of these. She says, "Okay, who has got my shoes?"
7 We were laughing about that. And her husband says, The
8 only time that she wears shoes is when she is pregnant.
9 We all know that she was a great contributor to our group
10 and was not at all afraid to get up and express her point
11 of view to us and was very influential in our work.
12 And then there is Commissioner Butterworth who says,
13 "Who appointed me to this?" Well, Chesterfield Smith and
14 Barkdull and that group did it in 1968, that's who did it.
15 And you, sir, you weren't quite as active as Commissioner
16 Shevin, but he lost the next election, if you recall. We
17 trust that will not happen to you, Commissioner
18 Butterworth. And we appreciate the sacrifices that you
19 made. And while he was doing this, he settled the tobacco
20 case. And at least he is still trying to settle the
21 attorneys' fees. You keep up the good work, Commissioner
22 Butterworth.
23 My next one is my old friend, long-time friend, back
24 to college days, he was way ahead of me in college. He
25 was, you know, a lot older than I am. But it is -- and I
26
1 love his picture, if you will look at his collar there,
2 that's where I got the bulldog. I never realized that's
3 what he was until they put that collar on him. And he
4 says, "This is not how we did it 20 years ago."
5 And in the cartoon in '78, it says, "This is not how
6 we did it in '68." So Commissioner Barkdull is at least
7 consistent in his views.
8 The next gentleman says, "They should have moved the
9 capitol to Orlando." Well, he doesn't really think so
10 because he loves to come up here. And we are delighted to
11 have him up here. Of all the people that, Commissioner
12 Jennings, that you appointed, Commissioner Lowndes has to
13 be the one that put in the most hours because he put in
14 the most hours of just about anybody that was appointed.
15 He worked so very hard on Style and Drafting, and still
16 is. And we just appreciate Commissioner Lowndes being
17 with us and thank you so much.
18 And then there is Commissioner Ford-Coates who says,
19 "I am not a lawyer." Now, none of us believe that. She
20 says that for political reasons because she is a candidate
21 for reelection and she doesn't want anybody to know that
22 she really is a lawyer. If you served on any committees
23 with her, she kept up with what was going on better than a
24 lot of the lawyers.
25 And if you don't believe she can give you the entire
27
1 debate that occurred in Style and Drafting, she has got
2 it. And it is on her little computer. So she has been
3 one of the hardest working members. She hasn't missed a
4 minute that I know of. And she has a husband who has been
5 with her who doesn't tell her what to do, we know, because
6 none of us have been able to tell her what to do. So
7 thank you very much, Commissioner Ford-Coates.
8 And Commissioner Leesfield is not with us. And he
9 says he has floor privileges. And he is using them today.
10 And Commissioner Sullivan says, "I'm really sorry,
11 but I have to Outback, er, back out."
12 And finally, but not the least, is our wonderful
13 Secretary Faye Blanton and she says, "Mr. Chairman, you
14 can't do that." She said that many times and I never
15 listened.
16 (Off-the-record comment.)
17 CHAIRMAN DOUGLASS: What I said, The heck I can't, we
18 just did it and then we went back and corrected it. All
19 right.
20 Now, let's move to the order of business and I would
21 like to recognize on the reports of committees at this
22 time. Commissioner Mills, for a report of the Committee
23 on Style and Drafting. Commissioner Wetherington?
24 COMMISSIONER WETHERINGTON: Point of personal
25 privilege.
28
1 CHAIRMAN DOUGLASS: We are going to have a time when
2 everybody gets to speak.
3 COMMISSIONER WETHERINGTON: I know that, this is
4 something else.
5 CHAIRMAN DOUGLASS: Okay. You are recognized,
6 Commissioner Wetherington.
7 COMMISSIONER WETHERINGTON: I want to say on behalf
8 of my fellow commissioners and myself what a wonderful job
9 you've done and we all want to be just like you. So we
10 are going to now -- we want to demonstrate our loyalty to
11 you at this time.
12 (Laughter.)
13 CHAIRMAN DOUGLASS: All right. Commissioner Scott,
14 you stand up too. Thank you, Commissioner Wetherington.
15 I would say it is paper thin, but that would be an
16 improper comment. You certainly have been loyal to your
17 work and I appreciate it and you've made my job turn out
18 to be a very good one and be recognized better than I am.
19 Thank you, Commissioner Wetherington.
20 Now, Commissioner Mills, for a report of the
21 Committee on Style and Drafting.
22 COMMISSIONER MILLS: Mr. Chairman, pursuant to the
23 direction of the commission, Style and Drafting reviewed
24 the proposals for any technical changes, there have been
25 some made, those were forwarded. There are no substantive
29
1 changes. And it is my understanding there are no motions
2 or amendments on the desk. And therefore, I would move
3 you, sir, that the Commissioners proceed to sign the
4 letter transmitting our recommendation for the revisions
5 to the Secretary of State.
6 CHAIRMAN DOUGLASS: All right. If there's no
7 objection, we'll all proceed to vote. Unlock the machines
8 and let's vote.
9 (Vote taken and recorded electronically.)
10 CHAIRMAN DOUGLASS: All right. Has everybody voted?
11 Well, one is absent, but somebody hasn't voted. The Chair
12 voted.
13 Nabors. Well, I'll tell you, we'll just let him
14 correct the vote. Lock the machine and announce the vote.
15 SECRETARY BLANTON: 36 yeas, no nays, Mr. Chairman.
16 CHAIRMAN DOUGLASS: All right. So we have adopted
17 the revisions that we have previously voted for.
18 Now, as our final act of the commission, though we'll
19 have some other things afterwards, which we are going to
20 take an official picture in here, we are also going to
21 have an opportunity for everybody to speak. But as our
22 final official act, I would like each member to come
23 forward as called and sign the forwarding letter to the
24 Secretary of State. A copy of the letter is on your desk
25 and I'd like to make a brief statement about the language
30
1 in the letter that was done by staff and with Style and
2 Drafting Committee's understanding.
3 The signing of the letter does not mean that the
4 individual commissioner thereby approves or endorses any
5 proposed amendments. This is an act of certification to
6 the Secretary of State.
7 Now, what we will do is, start with the first row and
8 ask -- is the table set up for it to be signed? It is up
9 front. Those of you that have trouble signing your name
10 mark an X, put a curly Q on it if you're a lawyer to
11 indicate you're a lawyer. Commissioner Anthony, would you
12 lead off, please. Followed by Commissioner Zack, if you
13 would come up.
14 COMMISSIONER ANTHONY: Kelvin, is it okay to sign?
15 CHAIRMAN DOUGLASS: Kelvin says it is okay.
16 (Laughter.)
17 CHAIRMAN DOUGLASS: Commissioner Hawkes, you will
18 follow Commissioner Zack. Commissioner Scott, you will
19 follow Commissioner Hawkes. And Commissioner Thompson,
20 you will follow Commissioner Scott.
21 Commissioner Jennings, you can come in behind
22 Commissioner Thompson followed by Commissioner Freidin,
23 Barton, Nabors, and Evans. Commissioner Nabors, do you
24 move to have your vote recorded?
25 COMMISSIONER NABORS: Yes, I did.
31
1 CHAIRMAN DOUGLASS: Without objection, Commissioner
2 Nabors has recorded his voting aye on the last motion.
3 All right. Commissioner Crenshaw, would you lead off
4 the next row, please? Followed by Commissioner
5 Wetherington, Commissioner Barnett and Commissioner Kogan.
6 Commissioner Mills, you can lead off your row behind
7 Commissioner Kogan, followed by Commissioner Smith,
8 Sundberg, Argiz and Corr. Anybody that wants to get a
9 picture of an individual person signing, you are perfectly
10 welcome to come up and do it.
11 CHAIRMAN DOUGLASS: Commissioner West, you'll lead
12 your row off and you will follow Commissioner Corr.
13 Commissioner West will be followed by Commissioner
14 Henderson who will be followed by Commissioner Morsani,
15 Riley and Connor.
16 Commissioner Rundle, you will follow Commissioner
17 Connor. Commissioner Brochin, Commissioner Marshall,
18 Commissioner Evans-Jones. Commissioner Alfonso will
19 follow Commissioner Evans-Jones. Incidentally, while
20 we're doing this, I'd like to remind you that we are being
21 hosed at a luncheon at the president's box at FSU by
22 former chairman of the commission, D'Alemberte, and all of
23 the commissioners and their wives or families are invited
24 and there will be transportation from here for those that
25 need it. And that we will go after we adjourn here. We
32
1 will proceed out to the stadium where we will have the
2 luncheon in the president's box.
3 The next and last row, I believe, is Commissioner
4 Planas followed by Commissioner Mathis and Commissioner
5 Butterworth. Following Commissioner Butterworth will be
6 Commissioner Barkdull, Lowndes and Ford-Coates.
7 All right. If you will come to order. As soon as
8 Commissioner Ford-Coates -- she has got a long name. If
9 you will come to order, please. If everybody could take
10 their seats.
11 All right. Many commissioners have expressed an
12 interest in establishing an organized campaign to educate
13 our citizens on the proposed amendments prior to the
14 November election. Of course, I think that's one of our
15 duties that has been established by precedent. In many
16 ways our work with the commission concludes today, in
17 other ways, it is just beginning. From now until the
18 November 3rd election, the Commission is charged with
19 educating the citizens of Florida about the nine proposed
20 amendments that will appear on the ballot.
21 There is an outline of strategy for educating
22 citizens on the amendments and I urge you to read the
23 outline carefully and contribute to this campaign as
24 freely as possible. This effort will be an ongoing
25 process. If you have ideas or suggestions how we can
33
1 better get the word out about the amendments, call staff
2 members who will still be here manning the office.
3 Commissioners can most contribute to the cause by
4 speaking to groups in the areas of the state where you are
5 as frequently as possible. Without any coordination, just
6 go and do it when you get invited to civic clubs or other
7 clubs or make offhand pieces in the newspaper or whatever.
8 We have organized a Speakers' Bureau that you can
9 read about in the outline you've been furnished. And to
10 help implement this program, I am appointing a committee,
11 although we are operating as a committee as a whole in
12 this regard, we are going to have a steering committee or
13 a public information committee as a special committee to
14 coordinate this and meet to make sure that what we are
15 doing is correctly done and that we are following what
16 programs we should in this regard.
17 They can use this draft document as a starting point
18 for their work, and the committee will include, as
19 chairman, Commissioner Mills. Commissioner Alfonso will
20 be on the committee, Commissioner Barkdull, Commissioner
21 H.T. Smith, Commissioner Kogan, Commissioner Freidin.
22 Anybody else that wants to serve, let us know, we
23 will be delighted to have everybody involved in this
24 effort.
25 This committee will meet at the call of the chairman.
34
1 And the vice chairman of that committee will be
2 Commissioner Lowndes. So we have certainly three people
3 who served on Style and Drafting that are most familiar
4 with the exact language of this and we have others that
5 can bring a very good overview to our efforts. I
6 appreciate each of you agreeing to serve.
7 After we complete this next segment of our program, I
8 don't know, I think we might -- well, let's go ahead and
9 complete this. Before I make final remarks, of my own, I
10 would like to recognize any Commissioners who wish to make
11 final comments for the record on this last meeting of our
12 historic 20-year effort.
13 I will recognize any commissioner who wishes to rise
14 to make any comments about our service. Does anybody want
15 to be heard? Commissioner Sundberg.
16 COMMISSIONER SUNDBERG: Mr. Chairman, I would like to
17 do each of those things if I may. I would like to place
18 in the record a statement of intent by myself and by
19 Commissioner Mills who served as chairman of the Select
20 Committee for Article V Costs. This statement has been
21 agreed to by all the constituent parts of the judiciary
22 who were involved and the state's attorneys. And so if I
23 may -- if you will indulge us that, I will offer it to the
24 Secretary to be placed in the record.
25 CHAIRMAN DOUGLASS: All right. Without objection,
35
1 the statement offered by Commissioner Sundberg and Mills
2 will be placed on the record.
3 COMMISSIONER SUNDBERG: And then as a matter of
4 personal privilege, I have had the great good opportunity
5 in my lifetime to serve on many groups such as this and I
6 would simply like to say that the quality of debate, the
7 goodwill and the collegiality that has been contained in
8 this group is as high as any I've ever served. I am
9 extremely proud to have been a part of this process and to
10 have served with each one of you in putting this product
11 forward. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
12 CHAIRMAN DOUGLASS: Thank you, Commissioner Sundberg.
13 Does anybody else -- Commissioner Ford-Coates.
14 COMMISSIONER FORD-COATES: Mr. Chairman, as a point
15 of personal privilege, I would like to introduce a couple
16 of people that have made my service on this commission
17 possible. I know many of you are amazed to find out that
18 there is a Democrat elected in Sarasota County and I have
19 three people here today who are the real reason why that
20 situation exists for me as tax collector.
21 My staff has done an incredible job of holding down
22 the fort while I've been gone, have been willing to come
23 in with me on weekends, work evenings so that I could get
24 the job done there and the job done here. I'd like to ask
25 them to stand in the gallery.
36
1 My administrative assistant couldn't come today
2 because of a family problem, Sharron Alden, but I have
3 with me Colleen Coleman who is director of our general
4 services. Colleen takes care of everyone on my staff to
5 make sure they have all the things they need to serve the
6 customer. And so often during the process when I was
7 exhausted packing again to go to Tallahassee, Colleen
8 would remind me of the importance of the process and what
9 we were all here for.
10 Next to her is Diana Acorn, next to Diana is Liz
11 Clabor. Diana and Liz are my chief deputies. They are
12 the ones that manage the day-to-day operations and see to
13 it that we do a good job. They know how I think and what
14 I need and I really would like to give them my personal
15 thanks.
16 (Applause.)
17 And finally, Mr. Chairman, I would like to give
18 public recognition to the unpaid staff member who has
19 attended every session of the Commission, who is my
20 chauffeur, my critic -- and he does try to tell me what to
21 do, it doesn't seem to work but he does try -- my friend
22 and my husband, Brian Ford-Coates.
23 (Applause.)
24 CHAIRMAN DOUGLASS: Okay. Commissioner, is it
25 mechanic, grease monkey, or Commissioner Morsani? You are
37
1 certainly recognized.
2 COMMISSIONER MORSANI: Thank you. Actually, I think
3 I want to echo what Mr. Alan said about the collegiality
4 of this group. I have been privileged for, or I was
5 privileged for some 20 years, to have been the periphery
6 of public policy in Washington and had many, many, many,
7 many, many meetings, various industry groups, political
8 powers of Washington, both on a national basis, on an
9 international basis and been in an awful lot of these kind
10 of sessions but never with the magnitude of the group of
11 people that I think that we have enjoyed for the past 11
12 months.
13 And I want to go on the record saying that I think
14 that we can all be proud of the association we have as
15 human beings and that really it has been in the interest
16 of the citizens of Florida that we have worked and I think
17 all of you, you should take your hats off to yourselves.
18 I think, Mr. Chairman, that the state and the people that
19 appointed this group can be proud of the product and proud
20 of the individuals in this room and I thank you for being
21 able to be associated with you very much. Thank you.
22 CHAIRMAN DOUGLASS: Thank you, Commissioner Morsani.
23 Commissioner Barkdull.
24 COMMISSIONER BARKDULL: Mr. Chairman and members of
25 the commission, I want to thank each of you for becoming a
38
1 part of my extended constitutional revision family which
2 now reaches 108. You will find as the years go by that
3 you appreciate the relationship more than you do today.
4 And I want to thank all of you for the courtesies that
5 were extended to me during this service and wish you good
6 luck.
7 CHAIRMAN DOUGLASS: Thank you, Commissioner Barkdull.
8 Anybody else? Commissioner Henderson.
9 COMMISSIONER HENDERSON: Mr. Chairman, thank you.
10 Like Commissioner Sundberg, I previously submitted notes
11 regarding Revision 1, the environmental measure, and would
12 like that to be a part of the record in terms of our --
13 the drafter's notes and putting that together.
14 CHAIRMAN DOUGLASS: Without objection.
15 COMMISSIONER HENDERSON: With regard to the -- this
16 is -- I spent, like most of you, I've spent the last month
17 getting reacquainted with my family and my staff and my
18 work. And the tough part of that, going home people have
19 said, Where have you been the last six months? And I have
20 been with this staff and I want to tell you how much I
21 appreciate the service.
22 I also want to share a story with you because
23 sometimes you learn a little something when you talk to
24 the kids. I know that it was a highlight for my son to be
25 here last time and he was very disappointed that he
39
1 couldn't come up here today. But, you know, they didn't
2 give him an excused absence when he was here last time and
3 so he couldn't get another unexcused absence for coming
4 here so he couldn't be here today.
5 But during the break at the last session, we went
6 over to the Old Capitol and I went to the old Senate
7 chambers and there's a section in there that has the
8 Constitutions, all the Constitutions that have been
9 previously adopted, laid out there on the display. And I
10 showed him where my great, great grandfather, Alexander
11 Bell, signed the Constitution of 1865. And I said, you
12 know, what's important about this, as you notice to do
13 that, he was swimming against the grain, he was running
14 against the grain. He probably didn't fight for the
15 confederacy to be a part of that constitutional
16 convention. And I said what I have learned from there is
17 that the important thing is to be on the right side of
18 history.
19 And, you know, they did two things in 1865, not bad,
20 they abolished slavery and voted to rejoin the union,
21 those were pretty important things. This has been an
22 extraordinary time and I think that we are on the right
23 side of history.
24 And there are things, there are some of these things
25 I didn't vote for. But I'm going to tell you that I am
40
1 going to spend all of my waking hours between now and
2 November 3rd, if that's when it is, we have to get that
3 clear in our mind, working to pass every one of these
4 constitutional amendments, every waking hour.
5 And I hope to see all of you, some of you, all of you
6 out there with us on the campaign trail. We have done a
7 wonderful thing. We have done an extraordinary thing, and
8 now we have to let 14 million Floridians in on this
9 wonderful vision that we have given them for how Florida
10 will venture into the 21st century.
11 CHAIRMAN DOUGLASS: Thank you, Commissioner
12 Henderson. Commissioner Riley.
13 COMMISSIONER RILEY: Mr. Chairman, I'd like to thank
14 you first of all. I'm sure there is not one in our group
15 that wouldn't like to have strangled you at some point or
16 the other, perhaps some more than once. However, you have
17 truly steered us out of harmful waters many times and I
18 think we owe you a debt of gratitude.
19 I am honored to have been a part of this group. It
20 is, as the others have said, the most political
21 nonpartisan group. All of us are political, but we have
22 put those aside and looked at the needs of the state of
23 Florida and its citizens. And as I said to a group I was
24 speaking to recently, You didn't elect me. But there
25 wasn't one thing that I voted on that I didn't have you in
41
1 mind. Of course I can now never get elected in the
2 Panhandle, but that's all right, I couldn't have gotten
3 elected before probably. But it has been an honor to be a
4 piece of history.
5 And like Commissioner Henderson, I am very proud of
6 what we have come out with. Some I would stand behind a
7 little more than others but there is nothing in here that
8 I don't look forward to voting for on the ballot in
9 November and intend to work very hard to make sure that
10 the other people of Florida understand that there is
11 nothing on here that's harmful.
12 There are some excellent changes in here for the
13 state and for the citizens. And I sincerely hope that on
14 the date that we all vote, we can celebrate the passage of
15 all of them.
16 CHAIRMAN DOUGLASS: Thank you, Commissioner Riley.
17 Anyone else? Commissioner Smith.
18 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Let me
19 also take this opportunity to thank you for your
20 leadership and thank all of my colleagues for enriching my
21 life with your life's experiences, with your stories, with
22 your pain, with your vision of Florida and with your
23 efforts to try to be on the right side of history on a
24 very wide range of important issues.
25 Probably for Bobby Brochin and I the single most
42
1 powerful evidence of our trying to do what is right and
2 not do what appointing authorities want or what political
3 parties want or what other groups want, almost every
4 important issue that came up for debate Bobby Brochin and
5 I turned and looked at each other and said, You just never
6 know. Because somebody voted totally opposite of what we
7 thought because of what the issue was. Almost every issue
8 we did that. Because we really had a group of independent
9 thinkers who were truly trying to do what is right.
10 In preparation for my service on this body that meets
11 once every 20 years, I asked our executive director to get
12 me all the Constitutions and I read all the Constitutions.
13 But then I went back and I read the Declaration of
14 Independence, probably one of the greatest documents in
15 the history of the world. And of all the things in the
16 Declaration of Independence, one of the things -- I don't
17 know how I missed this before and probably you have seen
18 it -- that caught my fancy as I was serving, was the last
19 line. Think about this now, this is the aristocracy of
20 the day, the most powerful people of the day, the richest
21 people of the day, who were about to do something if they
22 were wrong would wind up on the guillotine. And they
23 ended by saying, We mutually pledge to each other our
24 lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.
25 Fortunately for us in our time we didn't have to
43
1 pledge our lives because we were not at war nor were we
2 anticipating war. And a few of us have to apologize for
3 not having riches to pledge. Some of us are not good auto
4 mechanics. But I think by our service, by our
5 collegiality, by our ability to respect the diverse
6 opinions, by our ability to understand that you really
7 don't have to get unanimity, but just solidarity to move
8 forward on important issues and by our committed service
9 that we have in fact to each other and to the people of
10 the state of Florida, we have pledged our sacred honor.
11 And so that's why I feel good about the proposals
12 that are going forward. I don't know what's going to
13 happen. But I know that the process was a good process, a
14 fair process, a committed process. And I know that each
15 of you, the way you treated me, the way you treated each
16 other, pledged your sacred honor. And I think there can
17 be no greater commitment to a process like this than your
18 sacred honor. Thank you.
19 CHAIRMAN DOUGLASS: Thank you. Commissioner Evans.
20 COMMISSIONER EVANS: I just want to thank all of you
21 for welcoming my ten-year-old daughter. I know that there
22 are many places in our society where children aren't
23 particularly welcomed by adults. And I think that it is
24 an incredible learning experience to have a child be able
25 to learn from adults, to be immersed into the adult
44
1 community and learn all of these lessons.
2 As Paul West would say, it is a room filled with
3 incredible talent. And to have you to be her teachers for
4 this year has been a blessing to us. Thank you.
5 CHAIRMAN DOUGLASS: Thank you, Commissioner Evans.
6 Commission Planas.
7 COMMISSIONER PLANAS: Thirty-eight years ago, my
8 family brought me to this great country. We were escaping
9 a Communist regime. It is a great pleasure to serve with
10 you all. To Senate President Tony Jennings, what a great
11 confidence you had in me. Thank you very much for this
12 honor you gave me. And thank you very much for everybody
13 here to give me this honor to serve with you guys, ladies
14 and gentlemen.
15 And I hope that one day I will be able to invite you
16 to write the new Constitution of a free Cuba. Thanks a
17 lot.
18 CHAIRMAN DOUGLASS: Thank you, Commissioner Planas.
19 Commissioner Anthony.
20 COMMISSIONER ANTHONY: Thank you, very much,
21 Mr. Chair. I too want to stand and thank you-all for your
22 service, but also thank you for listening sometimes to the
23 passion and compassion of many of us who really had real
24 commitment to certain issues, but were available to listen
25 to others in terms of their perspective.
45
1 You know, I think that many of us have such -- or
2 many citizens in Florida have such a negative view of
3 public officials, public servants. And I think that many
4 of you who when you first came to this process, you
5 oftentimes said, You know, politics is bad. Public policy
6 is bad. But as you served, and I heard the change in
7 terms of the decisions that you had to make on behalf of
8 people of this state, and you started realizing how
9 balancing the needs of this state with your own personal
10 opinion sort of changed many of us through this process.
11 As an elected official in the state, let me tell you
12 I am so proud to serve with many of you because you have
13 done an outstanding job of making Florida citizens proud
14 of the public process and the public policy process.
15 There is no greater impact that you can have on this
16 state than the service of being a public official. And I
17 mean that with all my heart. I love it and I know that I
18 do make a difference in this state and what you have done
19 has made a difference. But many times we don't get thank
20 yous for the people and the things that we do as public
21 sector servants.
22 So I want to thank you on behalf of the little girls
23 and boys back home that you stood up and fought for. I
24 want to thank you on behalf of business people who were
25 concerned about things that we were doing. I want to
46
1 thank you on behalf of the elderly because you tried to
2 protect the future that they have left in this state. I
3 want to thank you on behalf of the minorities in this
4 state that really sometimes were concerned that they did
5 not have a voice or enough voice in this process.
6 And I want to thank you on behalf of my family who
7 says, Don't send him home yet. Keep him busy. But truly,
8 God has blessed me to be able to get to know each and
9 every one of you and to make sure that people of this
10 state realize that being a public servant is one of the
11 most valuable experiences that one can have. And you have
12 had that experience and I personally thank you for it.
13 CHAIRMAN DOUGLASS: Thank you, Commissioner Anthony.
14 Commissioner Mathis.
15 COMMISSIONER MATHIS: My granddaddy sent me here to
16 get his 40 acres and a mule.
17 (Laughter.)
18 COMMISSIONER MATHIS: We didn't necessarily address
19 those issues, but I want to thank you for being a part.
20 Each of you individually have enriched my life.
21 But I also want to share with you how sometimes we
22 don't realize how we impact other people. When I was a
23 law student at FSU, my wonderful husband and I -- I thank
24 my husband too for being here -- my wonderful husband and
25 I had to put me through law school. It was something that
47
1 I had dreamed about since I was three years old.
2 And the opportunity just hadn't presented itself.
3 After working three jobs to get through undergraduate
4 school, it is kind of difficult to go right to law school.
5 And we were able to come up with my tuition at FSU for the
6 first semester, but we didn't know where the money was
7 coming from for the second. And I got through the first
8 week of classes on that second semester still not knowing
9 how we were going to pay my tuition, knowing that I may
10 have to leave school on Friday.
11 And I got a scholarship that I didn't apply for. It
12 was the James Harold Thompson Scholarship. And James
13 Harold Thompson had been the Speaker of the House at that
14 time and had put in place at FSU College of Law five
15 $1,000 scholarships. And James Harold Thompson maybe
16 didn't recognize what he was doing then and maybe would
17 have done it differently had he known who was getting that
18 scholarship at that time.
19 (Laughter.)
20 CHAIRMAN DOUGLASS: It was the other four.
21 COMMISSIONER MATHIS: But, you know, I never had a
22 problem paying my tuition after that. That was a key
23 turning point in a life. And to then have the opportunity
24 to serve with Commissioner Thompson here on this
25 commission, it just seems like life is good.
48
1 And what we do for people, we may never know the
2 ramifications of some of what we have done, but I know
3 that each of you, along with me, have struggled to do what
4 we think is right and what we think is best for
5 Floridians. And I appreciate being a part of that process
6 and I admire each of you being given the opportunity to be
7 a part of that process.
8 But I don't think it ends here. I think it now goes
9 out to the individual people of Florida who will vote in
10 the November election, for us to educate them as we have
11 educated ourselves on these key issues. And I pledge my
12 support and would encourage each of you to pledge your
13 support in educating the people of Florida and encouraging
14 them to make substantive decisions on these proposals and
15 not a knee-jerk no reaction.
16 And so I thank you and I have enjoyed it. And I will
17 have to buy 40 acres of land for my granddaddy.
18 CHAIRMAN DOUGLASS: All right. Thank you very much,
19 Commissioner Mathis. Commissioner Alfonso.
20 COMMISSIONER ALFONSO: Very quickly. I think it
21 happened last night but I'm out of the movie. And it is a
22 new day today. And it is different. And I'm just glad to
23 be moving forward and it has been a great honor.
24 And I wanted to take the time personally to thank the
25 staff again; Billy for his organizational skills and
49
1 especially Debby Kearney for her great help on the
2 Committee on the Executive because she really played a big
3 part in the work of that committee. And Chris and Debbie
4 for their work on Style and Drafting. So I really want to
5 make a special point to thank them.
6 And thank all of you. It has been an honor.
7 CHAIRMAN DOUGLASS: Thank you. Commissioner Mills.
8 COMMISSIONER MILLS: Mr. Chairman, I want to testify
9 again that probably all of us did want to strangle you at
10 one time or another but we're glad we didn't. I thank you
11 for your leadership and your strength and your wisdom.
12 Staff compiled a few things, while we love to hear
13 each other debate that there were a few things that they
14 didn't want to hear anymore and that probably we don't
15 want to hear anymore. The camel's nose is under the tent;
16 I am not a lawyer, but; the Legislature can do this; the
17 Legislature can't do this; I am here to level the playing
18 field; does this really belong in the Constitution; and of
19 course those tried and true statements, last time we did
20 it this way; and last time we didn't do it this way.
21 But as a matter of service in a collegial body, which
22 I had the opportunity to do for ten years, and I respected
23 that body and still do, the ability to serve in a group
24 like this that operated on principle and values and on
25 history is a unique opportunity. Those of us, when we're
50
1 elected, are judged by the electorate.
2 Those of us who have had an opportunity to serve in
3 this body will be judged by history. And the people that
4 are judging us are in elementary school and are in diapers
5 and cradles and helped us say the pledge of allegiance
6 today. And that's quite an opportunity. And as a couple
7 of people have said, we have done a pretty good job up
8 until now. And now is the time to continue that march.
9 We have participated in a lot together. And we have
10 argued, we have fought and we have agreed on some things.
11 And when I talk to people about this group I say, even
12 though there are some things I don't necessarily agree
13 with, if 22 people from this group agree that something is
14 a good idea, it deserves your attention.
15 And it has been an honor to serve with you. I think
16 Caesar going into battle once said, Whether we shall
17 survive, I know not, whether we meet again, I cannot say.
18 But if we do, we shall smile, and if not, this parting has
19 been well made. So it's been a pleasure meeting all of
20 you and I look forward to the rest of the battle. And we
21 shall smile. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
22 CHAIRMAN DOUGLASS: Commissioner Scott.
23 COMMISSIONER SCOTT: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I
24 really hadn't planned on speaking today, but I am reminded
25 thinking of this group, it has been a great pleasure
51
1 getting to know all of you and serving with and re-serving
2 with some who we have traveled many miles with.
3 One of my favorite poems is by G. K. Chesterson about
4 building. And I want to make an effort to remember it
5 here. I saw them tearing a building down, a gang of men
6 in an angry town, with a ho heave-ho and a lusty yell,
7 they swung a beam and a side wall fell. I asked the
8 foreman, are these men skilled, the kind you hire if you
9 want to build? He laughed and said, why no indeed, just
10 common labor is all I need. They can easily wreck in a
11 day or two what it has taken men years to do.
12 So I asked myself as I walked away, which of these
13 roles have I played today? Am I the builder who works
14 with care, working hard with my fellow man, carefully
15 doing the best I can? Or am I the wrecker who roams the
16 town, content with the labors of tearing down?
17 And I think all of us here and all of you really can
18 be proud of the fact that you are builders, you have tried
19 to be builders. We have often disagreed, and the chairman
20 and I never disagreed on anything. But we have often
21 disagreed about how to get there and what's best. One of
22 the things that I note, and I want to thank all of you and
23 especially the ones who may not have served in public
24 office, was a willingness to listen to some of us who have
25 and still do.
52
1 Your willingness to place confidence in our
2 representative form of government, leaving to the
3 Legislature in many instances. And so I really -- it has
4 just been a tremendous pleasure. It was very hard at
5 times doing all of the roles, including trying to lead
6 into the Legislative session for me and I'm sure for
7 President Jennings. But it has just been a tremendous
8 experience getting to know you.
9 And we will see what the people think. Like
10 Commissioner Mills, some parts of it I don't totally agree
11 with, but I think there is a lot of very good things in
12 here. And I just wanted to thank you for putting up with
13 me and all of my continued -- I'm not one that doesn't
14 say, you know, when I disagree with something. But it has
15 just been great. And I think all of you can be proud that
16 you have done your part to help continue to build our
17 state and get it ready for the 21st century.
18 CHAIRMAN DOUGLASS: Thank you. Commissioner
19 Marshall.
20 COMMISSIONER MARSHALL: Mr. Chairman, sometime last
21 fall, I think along about Daytona Beach, I felt some
22 concern about the quality of our interactions with some of
23 the people who came to the hearings. Those concerns were
24 accommodated.
25 And Mr. Chairman, as many other commissioners have
53
1 said, the quality of the interactions here have been
2 cordial and considerate and statesmanlike. And I'm sure
3 they have. I think the major share of the credit for that
4 goes to you. I would like to thank you for what I believe
5 to be an even-handed, fair, considerate, really superior
6 job of chairing this body. And I commend and thank you.
7 CHAIRMAN DOUGLASS: Thank you very much, Commissioner
8 Marshall. That's very deeply appreciated. Commissioner
9 Zack.
10 COMMISSIONER ZACK: There is a Chinese blessing or a
11 Chinese curse, I never was quite sure which it was, that
12 says, May you live in interesting times. And we most
13 certainly in this state, in this country live in very
14 interesting times.
15 And I believe the important issues of our times,
16 which were extremely heartfelt by each one of us in this
17 chamber, were debated properly, sometimes with great
18 passion, but always with great dignity. And reflecting on
19 my experience in this chamber, and looking at our work
20 product -- and I believe that I probably lost more than I
21 won, which was probably the right thing, also -- but won a
22 few along the way.
23 And looking at the work product, I do really believe
24 that our collective wisdom was much better than any of our
25 single thoughts when we came into this chamber. And I am
54
1 indeed proud to have been part of this process.
2 I remember, Mr. Chairman, when you called me and told
3 me that I was appointed. And I asked you who I was going
4 to serve with. I knew probably a third of the members
5 here previously, but there were two thirds that just were
6 names that were mentioned. I had no idea who you folks
7 were.
8 And you have become friends. And you have become
9 people who I will call on time and time again throughout
10 my life when I have questions of importance. Because
11 whether we agreed or not, the way that you came to each
12 issue, and the discussions that we had about them
13 enlightened me and made me a better person. And I thank
14 each and every one of you for the opportunity to have
15 served with you.
16 And I believe that I can speak for each of us who
17 just voted unanimously to support what we did, that we
18 believe we have a good work product, that we did our job.
19 But now, frankly, the next part begins. And as Clay said
20 so eloquently, we have got -- as tired as we may be. And
21 a lot of us are pretty tired. And a lot of us have
22 clients and friends and family that would like to see a
23 lot more of us. And we came up here and we said, Well, we
24 are coming up to the last meeting. And there were some
25 people that felt pretty good about that.
55
1 But it isn't the last meeting. We are going to have
2 lots of meetings between now and the vote with the
3 citizens of the state of Florida. And we have got to
4 trust them and respect their judgment and educate them why
5 this product is good for our state and for the future of
6 Florida.
7 CHAIRMAN DOUGLASS: Thank you, Commissioner Zack.
8 Commissioner Evans-Jones.
9 COMMISSIONER EVANS-JONES: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
10 And I do want to thank you, Mr. Chairman. You have been a
11 wonderful chairman and a very interesting man to know.
12 I also want to thank all of the constituents here.
13 It has been a wonderful experience for me to serve with
14 each and every one of you. And I remember when our
15 chairman said, you are going to really get to know each
16 other and it is going to be a very special experience for
17 you. And I thought oh, come on, you know. I am not sure
18 that's going to be true.
19 But boy was I wrong. It has been such a joy to know
20 you and to admire so many of you who have just contributed
21 so much to this state. And I think there are some
22 politicians and then there are some statesmen. And I
23 really see a great many statesmen in here.
24 And I would love to see some of you really consider
25 going into higher office and running because you are the
56
1 kind of people that we truly need to serve. We don't need
2 politicians, they are a dime a dozen. But we do need
3 statesmen. And there are so many of you in here, what a
4 joy to have known each and every one of you. What's a
5 mother to do but to love you.
6 (Laughter.)
7 CHAIRMAN DOUGLASS: Well if your mother doesn't love
8 you, nobody does. That's true. Commissioner Connor.
9 COMMISSIONER CONNOR: Mr. Chairman, I'd like to thank
10 you and the other members of this commission for the
11 opportunity to have served with you. It has been a
12 profoundly enriching experience for me. You have
13 certainly sharpened my thinking and on many occasions
14 pricked my conscience and caused me to reflect deeply
15 about the things in which I believe.
16 As I have looked around here, I have looked at people
17 and thought not only about the proposals that they have
18 won, but some of those which have been lost as well.
19 Commissioner Evans-Jones on the legislative
20 reapportionment reform, Commissioner Zack on tort reform,
21 Commissioner Barnett on tax reform. And I couldn't help
22 but think about a few of those that I lost myself.
23 And I couldn't help but remember John Adams'
24 statement when he said that duty is ours, consequences are
25 God's. And I believe our success is measured in this body
57
1 not necessarily by what we achieve, but by what we
2 advocated. And I believe that we leave here with a clear
3 conscience having articulated those things in which we
4 believe and we fought for those things that we thought to
5 be right and true.
6 The Welsh poet Elthuwin Wetherall [phonetic] wrote a
7 poem that has become for me somewhat of a credo. I share
8 it with you in hopes that you might be encouraged by it.
9 The poet said this: My orders are to fight. Then if I
10 bleed or fail or strongly win, what matters it? God only
11 doth prevail. The servant craveth naught not except to
12 serve with might. I was not told to win or lose, my
13 orders are to fight.
14 I honor you and thank you for fighting for those
15 things which you hold dear and true and I look forward to
16 carrying the fight with you beyond these walls. Thank you
17 and God bless you.
18 CHAIRMAN DOUGLASS: Commissioner Connor. All right.
19 Commissioner Kogan.
20 COMMISSIONER KOGAN: I always felt I had to follow
21 Commissioner Connor. Well one thing that I think that all
22 of us have learned throughout this entire exercise is
23 exactly how diverse a state and citizenry that we are.
24 Ideas from one end of the spectrum to the other. And we
25 all learned that the strength of this state and the
58
1 strength of this country, our great democracy is in that
2 very same diversity.
3 There are very few of us in this room that can claim
4 that our ancestors were here when Columbus landed in the
5 new world. We all come from different backgrounds,
6 different religions, and most certainly, different ideas.
7 And we all came here and we all decided we were going to
8 give our ideas. But yet at the same time, by listening to
9 what everybody else had to say, I think it makes us all
10 cognizant of the fact that this is perhaps one of the few
11 nations in the world where people can have these diverse
12 ideas, vote on it, lose, and yet be satisfied that they in
13 fact had a chance to be heard.
14 Other nations are not so fortunate. When they lose
15 something, they go and they get the guns. And the
16 revolution or the civil war starts. That's not our
17 history. We have learned that whenever we change power
18 from one party to another, that that is a peaceful
19 transition. And we have learned that we can come and we
20 debate, we talk about these matters. And in the long run,
21 we do what we think is best. And whether it is on our
22 side or opposed to us, that's our system. And it has held
23 us in good stead for lo these many, many years.
24 Let's all remember that and carry that with us
25 throughout our lives in all of our dealings with our
59
1 neighbors, with our friends and political situations,
2 whatever it may be.
3 And, finally, let me say it has been a great honor
4 and a great privilege for me to have served with all of
5 you because I have learned a tremendous amount by just
6 being here with you. And my philosophy in life always has
7 been, when you stop learning, you must be dead. Because
8 we learn up to the last second of our life. And I thank
9 all of you for helping me in that great learning process.
10 And I wish you-all Godspeed in the future, whatever you
11 may do. Thank you.
12 CHAIRMAN DOUGLASS: All right. I'd like to make my
13 closing remarks and start off by saying that we set out
14 deliberately to make sure that we operated as a committee
15 of the whole. In effect, that nobody's idea could be shut
16 out by a chairman or a chairwoman or a chair, that we have
17 rules that allowed everybody to bring forward their views.
18 That has not always been the case in bodies like
19 this. I felt, and I think the committee that worked on
20 this agreed, that we should not have a chairman that
21 operated the same way that you have to operate in the
22 Legislature with the Speaker of the House or the President
23 of the Senate. We would not allow committees to shut off
24 the consideration of matters, but they would be heard.
25 I also, based on my experience in the past, felt that
60
1 one of the things that would distinguish us from our
2 predecessor 20 years ago would be to create an
3 extraordinary vote in order to put something on the
4 ballot. I think that was probably one of the wisest
5 things we did. And it was universally supported, I think,
6 at the time. And it turned out to be probably the most
7 important thing that we did.
8 You know, when we looked at this and how it was set
9 up to begin with, you had almost an even split on
10 political parties from the affiliations of those involved.
11 And if we ever put it into a test where it was voted on
12 political party lines, we would have resolved, I think,
13 into partisanship that would have resulted in great
14 detriment to our consideration and work.
15 Fortunately we had people from both parties who
16 recognized that and were willing to accept the proposition
17 that we had to have at least three-fifths of us agree on
18 something before we reached finality. And that became, of
19 course, a very great factor in our work.
20 But more than that, that one thing along with making
21 sure that the chairman did not have unfettered power but
22 had to diffuse it among many, resulted sometimes in
23 inconvenience, lengthening of sessions and things of that
24 nature and probably consideration of matters that could
25 have been cut off and not considered for debate and might
61
1 have worked more efficiently. But it won't have been
2 appropriate for consideration of the Constitution, in my
3 opinion.
4 And I want to thank Commissioner Barkdull and
5 Commissioner Scott, Commissioner Mills, Commissioner
6 Evans-Jones and others who worked for the rules that we
7 did adopt for adopting those rules.
8 And I think, too, the other difference that that
9 created, having these things in place, was the guarantee
10 that we would have to get along with each other. It
11 resulted, I think, to some extent in an issue-oriented
12 debate. If there was one distinction between our debates
13 and those of a parliamentary body, whether it be the
14 House, Senate or any other type, it was the almost total
15 lack of personal argument, of holding someone up to
16 ridicule.
17 And when we did point out somebody's prior
18 inconsistent positions, it was usually done with humor
19 rather than with rancor. There were no mean-spirited
20 people in this group. And it made my job much, much
21 easier.
22 I might say in response to those who wanted to
23 strangle me, I wanted to strangle you.
24 (Laughter.)
25 And, you know, we withheld that from each other. I
62
1 decided maybe I was a little old to get in a strangling
2 match. But there are most of you here I believe I could
3 have held my own with. Certainly the ladies I might have.
4 But in any event, one thing that I also felt was of
5 great use to us in our deliberations and public hearings
6 was the good nature of our body. The use of humor became
7 a real tool in preserving order, particularly in our
8 public hearings. And, you know, I was a little rough
9 presiding, I'll admit. When we started out in these
10 public hearings we were feeling our way, trying to figure
11 out how to do it. We finally got it down to where the
12 last two or three we had were really very well done.
13 And I think people who came to our public hearings
14 felt for the most part that they were treated fairly after
15 we finally figured out how to do it and I learned how to
16 use that bell thing that I have, which I now have bronzed,
17 thanks to those who gave it to me.
18 The other thing that we did that was required, and
19 I'm not sure that we always thought in these terms, a
20 constitutional consideration should never be for the
21 moment. It is absolutely essential that you change your
22 thinking from now and this year to 20, 30 years down the
23 road.
24 You cannot operate and properly consider and make
25 significant, good changes in the Constitution in an
63
1 atmosphere which is dependent on your return to some sort
2 of power or your response to somebody's political
3 pressure. You have to consider what is best for the
4 future.
5 And the only advantage of living a long time is that
6 you not only have become more aware of history and
7 probably more respectful of it, is that you recognize in
8 the overall scheme of things that when you change the
9 Constitution, next year is not the time that it is felt.
10 It will be 20 years from now, 15 years from now. And
11 therefore it is required that you think in those terms.
12 If we went back in history you would find, I think
13 Commissioner Smith probably found this, in 1835 lawyers
14 were quite in favor; bankers were not. The Constitution
15 provided that no banker could hold public office.
16 So it all -- what goes around, comes around. And
17 when you look back and look forward, you see this happen.
18 And so when you make fun of lawyers, don't worry, we will
19 still be there because people will still be having
20 troubles and financial travails. And religious
21 institutions will need defense. The poor and the innocent
22 will need defense.
23 And we will still have doctors because people will
24 still be dying and sick. We will still have newspapermen
25 who may work for, more now than they did 20 years ago, for
64
1 the concept of sensationalism or the tabloid-type press,
2 which we had in the '20s. And it all goes around, it
3 comes around. And we have changed our entire process in
4 the last 20 years and how we look at things. Television
5 controls our lives, controls our government, controls our
6 people. What we see in the several hundred channels that
7 are available distracts us from matters of moment.
8 We concern ourselves with how much money we made this
9 week, how much the stock market did today, what Chairman
10 Greenspan did to kill the market today or to raise it
11 tomorrow, what the independent prosecutor had leaked
12 today, what the President had leaked tomorrow. And all of
13 these things have become distractions for us all, in
14 whatever party we are in.
15 But the people who run this country ultimately are
16 the people. And if they are informed, the people will
17 reach the right decision. And it is now our duty to
18 inform them of what we are proposing that we revise in our
19 Constitution.
20 And I am confident, as I'm sure each of you are, if
21 we get our message across, that whatever the decision, it
22 will be the right decision. And it will be made by the
23 people and not by some lobbyist group, not by some
24 financial group, not by somebody that is seeking power,
25 but the people. And that is our job is to get that done.
65
1 I don't want to sound too critical of our
2 institutions such as the press because they, within the
3 framework of their own limitations, do a great job. The
4 editors, however, are not the reporters. And the
5 columnists are not the ones that cover the day-to-day
6 activities, but they are the ones that have great
7 influence on people like us, and they should. And
8 therefore I don't want to be said to be in any way
9 opposing any kind of First Amendment rights of anybody
10 that is connected with informing us of what's going on.
11 The other thing that I would like to say in closing
12 is, you know, when you are in the twilight of a mediocre
13 career, to be selected to do something like this is -- you
14 keep wondering if it is an honor or is it an imposition on
15 others or how in the world did anybody select you?
16 And, of course, it is pretty clear how I was
17 selected. The Governor selected me. And we go back many
18 years and I have great respect for him and consider him,
19 probably within my lifetime, the greatest public official
20 that we have had.
21 And I was really honored that he selected me. And
22 I'm sure that those of you that were selected by
23 Commissioner Jennings felt equally honored and by the
24 Speaker, and of course by the Chief Justice. And I know
25 that we did all we could to carry out the confidences
66
1 expressed by them by appointing us.
2 I do want to say that looking ahead is the only way
3 to go. Don't -- you have to look back to see that you
4 don't fall in the same hole. We will fall in the same
5 holes. We will make the same mistakes as we go along
6 because people do not have a vivid recollection of some of
7 the things that put us in the hole that we got out of.
8 Having been raised in the Depression, gone through
9 World War II, served in the Korean War, which was not a
10 popular war, very much a precursor to Vietnam, and then
11 living through the Vietnamese War and all of these various
12 things, I can tell you there is not a great deal of
13 difference between our political figures and our heroes.
14 There is not a great deal of difference in any of us
15 when we get down to the basic rights of freedom and the
16 right to live with our families as we see fit. It has
17 been our job, and I think we served it well, to protect
18 those freedoms and rights.
19 I don't have any poems. Mine are all on the wall and
20 I never can remember them, like the Yellow River Code.
21 The Yellow River Code was something that was made up,
22 somebody told me, by Senator Wig Barrow that when you
23 hemmed him up, he always had something from the Yellow
24 River Code to come back with.
25 But there are a few things that I do remember from my
67
1 upbringing. Not the least of which was the first thing I
2 can remember learning about how you set your life was when
3 I was taught the catechism when I was about four years old
4 in a Presbyterian Church in those days. I don't think
5 they have this anymore, I can't find it anyway. They had
6 the child's catechism. And my mother had me memorize it.
7 And I think when I was four or five years old I knew it
8 pretty good. I probably have forgotten a lot of it.
9 But the one thing I do remember is how it started
10 off. It said, Who made you? And the answer is God.
11 Well, he made us all. He made us black, he made us white,
12 he made us liars, he made us people who cheat, he made us
13 with all of the infirmities of life.
14 But he also made us kind. He made us, gave us the
15 ability to love. He gave us the ability to respect. And
16 all of those things go together.
17 I can say for this group that the last things I said
18 are the things I carry with me. If any mean people were
19 here, I never found them. Maybe we were all mean once in
20 a while but that's part of our nature. But when we got
21 through, everybody I think in this group voted their
22 convictions.
23 And our product -- while it may not be sexy and
24 include legalizing marijuana, which would get headlines
25 tomorrow, it may not have been sexy and abolished the
68
1 death penalty, which would have gotten a great deal of
2 condemnation and praise. But these are issues that would
3 have put us in the front page. And we dealt with those,
4 of course.
5 And that was the only thing that was ever reported in
6 some instances were people that would come with these
7 things, instead of some of the people that came with great
8 thoughtfulness, that surprised us with their depth of how
9 they dealt with these issues. And those aren't things
10 that attract attention.
11 But what will attract attention is 20 years from now,
12 when I'm serving in the next commission, along with
13 Commissioner Barkdull, that we can look back and say, The
14 way we did it then was the right way.
15 And I think I'll close this thing the way I started
16 it by trying to quote, I believe it was Benjamin Franklin
17 when they finished the Constitution in 1789 when he --
18 somebody said to him, there was a picture behind the wall
19 with the rising sun or a sun in the picture. And he said,
20 Well, I certainly hope it is rising and not setting. And
21 I think that we leave our job with the same hope and with
22 the pretty certain knowledge that it is, in fact, rising
23 because of our work.
24 And to all of you that are here, thank you for
25 allowing me to be your chairman and to in my sometimes
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1 very inept and meat-ax ways of getting things on the road,
2 thank you. And God bless all of you.
3 And now I'll give you some announcements that will
4 break this a little bit. We are going to take our
5 pictures when we finish here before we adjourn. And then
6 we will adjourn after we take the pictures.
7 First of all, I was told by somebody that I didn't
8 announce that John Lowndes was on the committee. But I
9 thought I announced that he was not only on the committee,
10 he is the vice chairman of the committee; did I not? See,
11 I told them. They don't ever listen to me down here.
12 They always tell me to put it in the record. So, John,
13 you are in the record several times as being on this
14 committee.
15 COMMISSIONER LOWNDES: Thank you.
16 CHAIRMAN DOUGLASS: I'm going to sign the letter and
17 then we are going to ask everybody to do three -- we are
18 going to do three pictures. We are going to do one
19 picture with just the commission and the staff director
20 and the general counsel; is that right? We are going to
21 do one picture then with the commission and the Senate
22 staff, which will include the Secretary. And then we are
23 going to do the third one. What is it? The third picture
24 will be the commission with the Constitution Revision
25 staff, total staff; is that right? Which will also
70
1 include the Secretary.
2 And we are going to have those three available for
3 you as permanent things to have to remember your service
4 by. What we were going to do, after I go down here and
5 Faye and I sign this document you have already signed, is
6 ask everybody to come to the front. Everybody under 5'9",
7 up to 18, will be standing in front of the dais there.
8 Everybody that's bigger than that or taller -- H.T., you
9 have got to go down there with me -- will be on the second
10 level. And that will be the commission, stay on those two
11 levels.
12 So you know how tall you are. And then if it comes
13 out wrong, Mr. Tournay, who is our official photographer,
14 E.T., Eric, will tell you to move. And we are going to
15 try to get everybody in a proper line. Don't worry,
16 Jacinta, you can take your shoes off because your feet
17 aren't going to show in this picture. You can do whatever
18 you like. So when we sign this, I'd like everybody to
19 come up front and all the people under 5'9" get on the
20 front.
21 (Pause.)
22 COMMISSIONER SCOTT: We were wondering if we could
23 revisit this leasehold interest and sovereign immunity and
24 a couple of things like that before we close up here.
25 CHAIRMAN DOUGLASS: Certainly. If you have 25 votes,
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1 we can move on.
2 (Laughter.)
3 CHAIRMAN DOUGLASS: There are others that we might
4 revisit too, Commissioner Scott. You jest of course. We
5 are at the end and we are all going to go out to FSU
6 stadium -- Commissioner Riley.
7 COMMISSIONER RILEY: If I may ask those who did not
8 have an opportunity last night to sign the chair to the
9 Chair. It is in the back with the colors of permanent
10 marker pens and ask them to please do that before they
11 leave today.
12 CHAIRMAN DOUGLASS: Thank you. That's a very nice
13 memento. And I get to sit on some of you in that chair,
14 and lean back on others. Commissioner Kogan signed it on
15 the back so I could not sit on him or lean back on him.
16 All right. If everybody is ready, I am going to call
17 on, guess who? Commissioner Barkdull is recognized for a
18 motion.
19 COMMISSIONER BARKDULL: Thank you, Mr. Chairman and
20 Members of the Commission. I now move you that we adjourn
21 to reconvene upon the call of the Chairman or to expire
22 sine die upon the date of the 1998 general election. All
23 right.
24 CHAIRMAN DOUGLASS: All right. All in favor say aye;
25 all opposed no.
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1 (Verbal vote taken.)
2 CHAIRMAN DOUGLASS: It carries unanimously and we are
3 adjourned under those conditions. And I will see you out
4 at the stadium.
5 (Session adjourned at 11:30 a.m.)
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1 CERTIFICATE
2 STATE OF FLORIDA:
3 COUNTY OF LEON:
4 I, JULIE L. DOHERTY, Court Reporter, certify that I
was authorized to and did stenographically report the
5 foregoing proceedings and that the transcript is a true and
complete record of my stenographic notes.
6
DATED this ______ day of ____________, 1998.
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___________________________________
9 JULIE L. DOHERTY, RPR
Court Reporter
10 Division of Administrative Hearings
The DeSoto Building
11 1230 Apalachee Parkway
Tallahassee, Florida 32399-3060
12 (850) 488-9675 Suncom 278-9675
Fax Filing (850) 921-6847
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