Roach Has ‘Different Vantage Point’ After Hurricane Ian

Rep. Spencer Roach, R-North Fort Myers, has had a rough stretch.

First, Hurricane Ian destroyed his home in September. Then, as he traveled to Tallahassee for Gov. Ron DeSantis’ inauguration, he needed an emergency appendectomy.

During a recent meeting of the House Select Committee on hurricane resiliency and recovery, Roach called the experiences and the assistance he has received humbling, adding, “To all those who are rooting for my demise, I’m sorry to disappoint you also, I made it back here.”

Roach said he hopes the select committee can “act as the conscience for the state’s response.” He said he has a new perspective, acknowledging he’s “somewhat ashamed” of himself for thoughts when then-Rep. Jay Trumbull, R-Panama City, emotionally talked about the need for relief after Hurricane Michael hit Northwest Florida in 2018.

“Now I understand that from a totally different vantage point,” said Roach, who spent a couple nights after Ian sleeping in his second-floor district office, which did not suffer water damage but lost power. The Category 4 storm made landfall Sept. 28 in Lee and Charlotte counties before sweeping across the state.

“Almost every person in my neighborhood is living in some form of a travel trailer,” Roach said. “Some people are in tents. There are actually some people that I know that are living in gutted houses. Still, and it has been a battle, full-time job battling with your insurance company, battling with FEMA [the Federal Emergency Management Agency], battling with the SBA [Small Business Administration].”

He estimated putting $40,000 on his credit cards.

“You have this period in the hurricane, right after it, where everyone’s kind of like, you know, ‘Kumbaya y’all, we’re gonna get through this together. Florida strong!’” Roach said. “Then after like two weeks, it turns into the Hunger Games, and people are competing for resources and drywall. So, we’ve seen sort of the arc of that come and go.”

SCOTT GEARS UP FOR 2024

U.S. Sen. Rick Scott’s reelection campaign is getting off the ground, with the race firmly on the “likely Republican” side of the ledger.

Sabato’s Crystal Ball, a political-prognostication site at the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics, on Tuesday rolled out its first ratings for U.S. Senate races in 2024. That includes 34 races, with 23 seats currently held by Democrats or independents and 11 by Republicans.

Sabato’s Crystal Ball listed Scott as one of two “plausible” Democratic targets, with U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, the other.

“Neither Scott nor Cruz is a perfect incumbent, and both are sometimes mentioned as possible 2024 presidential contenders,” Sabato’s Crystal Ball wrote. “We could envision one or both of these Senate races heating up if Democrats get impressive challengers and help from the environment.”

That may not be as easy as some expect.

Former Democratic Congresswoman Val Demings of Orlando lost by 16.4 percentage points in November as she challenged U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla.

Meanwhile, the Florida and Texas media markets are pricey.

“We suspect a strong Cruz opponent would have little trouble raising money from what has become a formidable national Democratic small-donor fundraising base, and that may be true for a Scott challenger as well,” Sabato’s Crystal Ball said.

THE RIVER OF GRASS IS WATCHING

After DeSantis called for lawmakers to budget $3.5 billion over the next four years on environmental projects, his office sent out a list of “What they are saying” quotes on the request.

Compliments came from the members of the Everglades Foundation, the Everglades Trust, Captains for Clean Water, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the St. Johns River Water Management District, Audubon Florida, the Florida Oceanographic Society, and Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium.

But not all organizations were on board.

Friends of the Everglades, created half a century ago by Marjory Stoneman Douglas, considered DeSantis’ order “vague” and said tracking how the money is eventually spent will be essential.

“He says this funding will be used for projects including those that protect, quote, water quality and water supply,” Friends of the Everglades Executive Director Eve Samples said in a video. “So, water supply is a term to key in on here. We often hear water supply being used to describe irrigation for large industrial sugarcane growers south of Lake Okeechobee. It’s kind of a code term. And unfortunately, those irrigation needs are often in direct odds with environmental needs.”

Samples also said DeSantis four years ago similarly proposed spending $2.5 billion during his first term, as waterways were plagued by toxic algae. DeSantis has touted that lawmakers exceeded that funding request by $800 million.

Samples said the “the follow-through on those promises fell short — particularly as it related to holding agricultural polluters accountable.”

REVERSING COURSE?

Florida Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson announced that he was reversing a policy against law enforcement. But his predecessor says the policy never existed.

In a Jan. 19 letter to Florida Department of Law Enforcement Commissioner Mark Glass, Simpson said he was revoking a “verbal” policy in which FDLE officers, including Capitol Police, were prohibited from entering the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services’ offices in the Capitol.

“Not only do I lift the prohibition, but I invite you and your officers to stop by our office anytime to enjoy a cup of coffee and a sincere thanks from our department for all you do,” Simpson wrote.

Simpson’s letter didn’t name Nikki Fried, a Democrat who served as agriculture commissioner the past four years. But he didn’t have to.

Shortly after Florida Voices, a website favored by DeSantis, posted Simpson’s letter on Monday, Fried tweeted, “Such a terrible policy that it didn’t exist.”

Fried added, “I’m sorry the new administration has to lie and make up issues.”

Jim Turner reports for the News Service of Florida.

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