New Lieutenant Governor picked by Scott after lawsuit

New Lieutenant Governor picked by Scott after lawsuit

By Roger Caldwell

After 10 months without a Lieutenant Governor, our Governor picks the first ever Hispanic in that position, Miami-Dade Property Appraiser Carlos Lopez-Cantera. Lopez -Cantera is 40, and his father, Carlos Lopez-Cantera, Sr., is a multi-millionaire owner of Pan American Companies which specializes in real estate investments and development.

“I’m very excited to be a part of the governor’s team and looking forward to getting involved in the action in Tallahassee,” says Lopez-Cantera. In his new position, his salary will be cut by $48,000, so he definitely is not working for the money. It is really interesting that many of the Republicans in the Florida legislature are independently wealthy, and don’t need the salary.

The question that is always being raised is why the Republicans in Florida are not responsive to the middle class, poor folks, and women issues in the state? It is very easy to understand when the Governor does not accept his salary, and now the Lieutenant Governor takes a cut in his salary, they are working for another reason. It would appear to me that they are working in Florida politics to expand their personal business and contacts.

It is very ironic Carlos Lopez-Cantera’s father owns a real estate company, and his son is a property appraiser for the county. In no way am him I suggesting that the new Lieutenant Governor is not an individual of high moral character, but I would suggest that the citizens keep their eyes open. Twelve months ago the governor was talking about the good job that the scandal plagued Jennifer Carroll was doing before she resigned her position.

“He is focused on how we can transform our economy so we aren’t just creating jobs. I’m confident we took the right a-mount of time in finding the right person to be our next Lieu-tenant Governor,” says Gov. Scott.

Everyone knows that the position has no real defined responsibilities, except to replace the Governor. But in the 2014 campaign, the Hispanic vote will become very important, and in 2010, Scott did not do well in Miami-Dade County. With this new addition on his team, he is expecting to do better with the Hispanic vote in 2014.

Lopez-Cantera spent eight years in the Florida House, rising to position of Majority Leader in 2010. He knows how to navigate his way around Tallahassee, and this is a plus for Gov. Scott. Scott has been plagued by scandal after scandal, and it was ironic that our governor made a selection after he was sued by a Tallahassee lobbyist.

Barbara DeVane, a Democratic activist/lobbyist filed the suit with the Florida Supreme Court claiming that Scott was breaking a state law that required him to appoint a Lieutenant Governor. Hopefully our new Lieutenant Governor has been vetted and his record is clean. There are always surprises with our Governor, but by appointing Carlos Lopez-Cantera as the Lieutenant Governor, he is complying with Florida Law.