EDITORIAL: After sweet deal, Speaker Sansom must choose

Even before he became speaker of the Florida House last month, Rep. Ray Sansom, R-Destin, had been a friend to Northwest Florida State College in Niceville.

Earlier this year, when the Legislature was busy slashing nearly $5 billion from the state budget (including $332 million from K-12 education), Sansom was able to secure $750,000 for a “leadership institute” at the college. But that pales in comparison to the newest revelation: that the school received $25.5 million this year for building projects. According to the St. Petersburg Times, that is $24.5 million more than what initially had been requested, and is the single-largest public education capital outlay for community college projects this year.

Now the school has returned the favor.

On Nov. 18, the same day that Sansom was sworn in as speaker, he was hired by the college to be its vice president of development and planning, a job that pays $110,000 annually.

Both Sansom and college President Bob Richburg deny there was any quid pro quo. Richburg said the job wasn’t even open when they worked on the appropriations.

However, the vacancy was never advertised, nor were applications solicited. Furthermore, Sansom’s hiring wasn’t on the agenda for the Nov. 18 meeting of the college’s board of trustees. It just came up, was voted on and approved.

So a powerful state lawmaker who recently has moved millions of tax dollars to Northwest Florida State College is hired by that same school in a sudden and quiet fashion, and Sansom and Richburg act surprised and hurt that their motives are being questioned?

There is no evidence that anyone did anything illegal. But that doesn’t make this convenient arrangement appropriate or acceptable. The secrecy behind Sansom’s hiring is bad enough. It should have been done more openly, with his candidacy announced well before the board meeting.

Even if the process had been transparent, though, the hiring creates a potential conflict of interest involving one of Florida’s most powerful legislators. Sansom is a state lawmaker working a second job at a state institution over which he has legislative influence. That arrangement invites too many questions of propriety. Sansom must decide which is more important — the speakership or the job at the college. He shouldn’t do both.

The choice should be obvious.