Florida in Five: Student Gators by day, civic watchdogs by night

Five stories to read from the past week in Florida politics.

Photo credit: Todd Van Hoosear

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Welcome to another installment of Florida in Five: Five* stories you need to read from the past week in Florida politics.

A special shoutout this week to the student journalists at the University of Florida, who are apparently all out of bubblegum.

This past week, the school’s student newspaper — the Independent Florida Alligator — blew open what is quickly growing into one of the biggest scandals of the year Florida politics: The obscene spending of since-departed University of Florida President Ben Sasse, the former U.S. Senator from Nebraska who was gifted the most prestigious job in Florida higher education after Republican leaders in Tallahassee changed the law so they could orchestrate his hiring in secret.

Sasse stepped down after just 17 months on the job — 17 months in which he somehow managed to spend more on travel than his predecessor had during his entire eight-year tenure as UF president (to borrow just one small detail from the Alligator’s impressive reporting).

The student paper is still digging, too.

That’s not all. A few days after the Alligator broke the Sasse scandal, a team of student journalists from UF and the University of Missouri won a national Online News Association award for “The Price of Plenty,” a 2023 series examining the influence and impact of the fertilizer industry.

The far-reaching series focused in part on the Mosaic Co., the Fortune 500 giant that strip mines vast swaths of west central Florida for phosphate rock and then turns it into fertilizer material at chemical factories near Tampa.

The students’ stories revealed important insights into one of Florida’s most consequential companies — a company that plays an enormous role in global food supply but also wreaks utter environmental destruction.

It’s quite timely, too. Because I suspect Mosaic — and all the toxic waste it produces at those chemical factories — will be a front burner issue in the Florida Legislature over the next year or two.

Also, one final reminder that Tuesday, Aug. 20, is the primary election in Florida. Voters across the state will decide, among other things, a bunch of important local races — for offices like county commission, school board, and elections supervisor.

So if you haven’t already: Make a plan to vote.

*To paraphrase Barbossa, five is more what you’d call a guideline than an actual rule.

Sasse’s spending spree

Sasse’s spending spree: Former UF president channeled millions to GOP allies, secretive contracts (The Alligator)

See also: Sasse stepped down. Donors and top officials say he was forced out. (The Alligator)

See also: Sasse’s response (Twitter)

Ben Sasse of the South

New College of Florida tosses hundreds of library books, empties gender diversity library (Sarasota Herald-Tribune) ($)

See also: Sasse, Corcoran neck and neck in race to be Florida's worst college president (Florida Times-Union) ($)

See also: New College's Richard Corcoran is a much better grifter than UF's Ben Sasse (Public Enemy Number 1)

Keep ‘em hungry

Florida opts out of summer food assistance for kids, once again (WUSF)

See also: Orange County approves plan to wipe out more than $400 million in residents’ medical debt (Orlando Weekly)

Keep ‘em fat

Jacksonville is raiding its pension fund to pay for $775m in Jaguars stadium upgrades (Field of Schemes)

See also: St. Petersburg officials receive big bonuses following Rays stadium deal (Tampa Bay Times) ($)

See also: DeSantis Awards $8M Road Grant for Stadium That Inter Miami Pledged Would Use "No Public Dollars (Miami New Times)

See also: City OKs up to $40 million in incentives for Orlando Magic's sports and entertainment district (Orlando Business Journal) ($)

Mass disenfranchisement

Trident Analysis: Two million Florida voters are being disenfranchised by write-in, ghost candidates (Florida Trident)

See also: Control of City Hall back on 2024 ballot amid dark money surge, 'ghost candidate' talk (Tallahassee Democrat) ($)

Perspectives

DeSantis didn’t deserve free pass on pricey gift (South Florida Sun-Sentinel) ($)

‘Big Sugar’ will leave a foul taste in your mouth (Orlando Sentinel) ($)