Scott's appointments signal sea change in state government

Less than three days on the job, Gov. Rick Scott is busily applying his pro-business stamp to state government, naming a former development executive to manage growth management while placing a shipyard executive in charge of environmental protection.

News of the appointments came just before and after the governor also froze agency rulemaking and created a new office to identify rules for elimination - to the alarm of environmentalists, who fear Scott's war on regulation could severely hamper conservation.

Scott announced late Wednesday that he had tapped former St. Joe Co. vice president Billy Buzzett to lead the state Department of Community Affairs.

With its headquarters in northwest Florida, the St. Joe development business is Florida's second-largest private landowner. Buzzett, a civil engineer and land-use lawyer, was a vice president for strategic planning at St. Joe when he left in 2009.

This fall, he was among Scott's advisers urging to merge Community Affairs with the state's environmental protection and transportation departments, essentially creating a one-stop shop for businesses seeking permits to expand or relocate to Florida. Scott's written announcement of Buzzett's appointment described him as "well-positioned to manage the consolidation of (the Department of Community of Affairs) into other state agencies."

The Florida Chamber of Commerce hailed the appointment as "good for job creation."

Rick Scott "ran as an outsider, so it shouldn't be a surprise that he didn't pick lifetime bureaucrats to run these agencies," said Adam Babington, vice president for government affairs at the chamber.

Response from environmentalists was more muted as activists strove to remain positive, or at least open-minded.

Eric Draper, lobbyist for the Audubon Society of Florida, recalled negotiating with Buzzett over 40,000 acres that St. Joe Company agreed to place in a permanent conservation easement as part of a plan to build a new airport in Bay County.

"He's not exactly a walking-talking environmentalist; he's a business guy," Draper said. "But he kind of represents the green end of the development community. I am more comfortable with him in that position than I might have been with someone else."

Draper noted that Buzzett has worked in government before, both for the Legislature and the 1998 Constitutional Revision Commission. He also was an administrative law judge and associate general counsel for former Gov. Bob Martinez.

Manley Fuller, president of the Florida Wildlife Federation, called Buzzett a "friend" with whom he has sometimes agreed, sometimes sparred over environmental issues.

Buzzett has a pragmatic appreciation for the value of Florida's environment, Fuller said. He noted that Buzzett worked with him and other activists in 2009 - before the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion - on a proposed constitutional amendment to ban near-shore oil drilling.

Buzzett takes the place of former DCA secretary Tom Pelham. A land-use lawyer who resigned immediately upon Scott's election, Pelham complained bitterly that the incoming governor had made a scapegoat out of the agency for job losses.

News of Buzzett's appointment came days after Scott announced that Jacksonville shipyard executive Herschel Vinyard will lead the Department of Environmental Protection.

Vinyard, director of business operations at BAE Systems Southeast Shipyards in Jacksonville, also is an environmental lawyer who has advised Scott on economic development. His appointment is subject to Senate confirmation.

"He has a love for our great state's natural resources and a passion for job creation," Scott said of Vinyard. "He will effectively balance those interests for the benefit of all Floridians."

Draper and other environmentalists said they were less familiar with Vinyard, though they said he has won praise in the Jacksonville area for efforts to eliminate discharge into the St. Johns River.

Barney Bishop, president of Associated Industries of Florida, said both appointments signal to businesses - inside Florida and out - that Scott is serious about creating jobs. "This is an extremely big deal for the business community."

On inauguration day, the governor also suspended all rulemaking by agencies and created a new office to evaluate and recommend elimination of rules deemed to "hinder job creation."

"It's past time to demand that every regulation be re-evaluated," Scott said during his inauguration speech, in which he singled out government red tape as one of the "axis of unemployment."

The chamber's Babington called it "very significant" that after running on a pro-business platform, one of Scott's first official acts is to tackle regulation.

But Draper raised concerns about regulations that protect taxpayers from the long-term costs of pollution or poorly planned construction.

Not all regulation is at odds with Scott's focus on the economy, Fuller said.

"Florida's economy and its environment are integrally linked," he said. "A spring choked with algae, or a beach closed because of poor water quality, doesn't do anyone any good. ... We're going to have to make our case to the governor, that good water is good business."