Tampabay.com
NOVEMBER 17, 2006

So you wanna keep your government job?

It looks like roughly half of Gov. Jeb Bush's agency heads might have a shot if Charlie Crist's transition team looks at political loyalty as any guide.

Buzz found eight of Bush's appointees gave money to the Crist campaign -- though nearly all of them waited until after Crist's slugfest with Tom Gallagher was over to even step into the fray, including Christa Calamas at AHCA, Tom Lewis at DMS, Warren McPherson of Veterans Affairs, Lucy Hadi of DCF, James McDonough of Corrections and Colleen Castille of DEP.

But two deserve special mention: Christopher Knight at Highway Patrol was a supporter early on, and the most generous, giving a combined $1,000 since March. And Thaddeus Cohen at Community Affairs, we're not sure what he was thinking. On Oct. 18, he gave Crist $500. On Oct. 26, he gave Democratic rival Jim Davis $500, too.

This little exercise also highlighted the incredible irregularites in the data submitted by campaigns. Only three of the eight donors (Castille, Hadi and McDonough) were listed as "state employees" and Knight was listed as "law enforcement."

Cohen was listed as an architect (which he is) and as retired (which he isn't). McPherson's occupation was "management." Calamas was listed as an attorney (which she is). And Lewis, as an "insurance executive," which as far as Buzz knows, the former Disney executive and former Graham administrator has never held THAT particular occupation. Oh, we should also mention that frequently, the occupation field was blank altogether.

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For Florida political news today, the Buzz is your can't-miss-it source. Tampa Bay Times writers offer the latest in Florida politics, the Florida Legislature and the Rick Scott administration. Keep in mind: This is a public forum sponsored and maintained by the Tampa Bay Times. When you post comments here, what you say becomes public and could appear in the newspaper. You are not engaging in private communication with candidates or Times staffers.

E-mail Times political editor Adam Smith: asmith@tampabay.com

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