The Florida Cabinet discussed performance metrics Tuesday for reviewing the work of agency heads. The protracted venture stretches back to the bungled ouster of former state law enforcement chief Gerald Bailey.
Florida Gov. Rick Scott has courted controversy in recent months thanks to his secretive approach to replacing appointees. In January it came to light Scott was laying the groundwork to replace Kevin McCarty—head of Florida’s office of insurance regulation—with an official from Louisiana’s insurance agency. Facing pushback from the Cabinet, Scott instead proposed annual reviews, and at Tuesday’s meeting the Cabinet settled on performance metrics for its first three agencies. Despite spending the past few months in the crosshairs, McCarty wants to retain his post.
“My mother said do something important with your law degree, and she said that means more than going out and making a lot of money,” McCarty says Now there’s nothing wrong with going out and making a lot of money, but public service is something very important to me,” McCarty says. “And it’s a privilege and an honor to serve as the insurance commissioner of the state of Florida. As I mentioned before we are on the cutting edge of innovation in our state and around the world.”
The wheels began turning in December when Scott forced Gerald Bailey to resign his post as chief of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Scott presented the departure as voluntary to avoid the required cabinet vote.
