Christine Jordan Sexton
The Florida Cabinet on Tuesday agreed to Gov. Rick Scott‘s recommended appointments for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Department of Environmental Protection.
However, the Cabinet also made clear that it will do an official search for those positions which follows the hiring process for Cabinet level positions. The Cabinet is slated to approve the hiring process later in the day.
The Cabinet agreed to a May 31 deadline for any interested applicant to apply for the positions and set a goal of June 23 to make a final decision.
The new rules for hiring executives who report to the Cabinet and governor were a result of the ouster of Gerald Bailey. His departure caused a firestorm, especially after several Cabinet members said they were unaware that Bailey was pressured to resign.
Both FDLE and the Department of Environmental Protection are several agencies that report to both the governor and Cabinet. Many state agencies report to the governor only.
Scott reappointed 14 agency heads Monday morning after the Senate refused to confirm them during the 2015 session. TDEP Executive Director Jon Steverson and FDLE Executive Director Rick Swearingen were left off Scott’s initial reappointment list. Their appointments were added to the Cabinet agenda on Tuesday.
