Well.
Someone else has noticed a certain lobbyist bating for both teams.
The Miami Herald, Ron Book agrees to stop lobbying for pretrial measure (3/23/10):
(...)Yet, eleven years later, he's still employed by Broward County. Book earns $53,000 a year plus $2,000 in expenses to lobby in Tallahassee.Flagged by Broward officials for a conflict of interest, county lobbyist Ron Book has agreed to stop pushing for a new state law that county officials say would seriously undermine Broward's pretrial intervention program and cost local taxpayers millions.
The new law is being sought by another of Book's clients, the Florida bail bond industry. It would restrict access to county-run pretrial release programs by establishing new, statewide eligibility requirements for defendants seeking to get out of jail, forcing the county to spend more in keeping inmates behind bars.
County support for the pretrial program has wavered over the years; nevertheless, critics say Book should not be involved in representing the bail bond industry on the issue. ...
At Tuesday's commission meeting, Commissioner Lois Wexler said that, if passed, the law would ``decimate'' local pretrial release programs and place huge financial burdens on counties across the state.
Wexler added that she wants her money's worth from the lobbyist that many consider to be the most influential in Florida.
Broward commissioners passed an ordinance in January 2009 restricting access to the program run by the Broward Sheriff's Office. The proposed change in state law would further tighten the bondsmen's noose on the pretrial program.
``I guess the bail bond companies didn't get richer or increase their bottom line enough by what we did a year and a half ago, so now they're going in for the kill,'' Wexler said in an interview.
``This bill makes money the determination of justice,'' said Broward Public Defender Howard Finkelstein.
(...)Book may be out of the legislative game on the pretrial detention bill, but his sympathies were clear in a parting shot Monday at Finkelstein -- his chief Broward antagonist.
``Public policy is on our side. And contrary to what Howard Finkelstein thinks, nobody died and left him in charge of what's right and wrong in this world,'' Book said.
This isn't the first time Book's work for the bail industry has put him at odds with his clients at county hall.
The January 2009 vote was accompanied by intense behind-the-scenes lobbying and public controversy. And 11 years ago, Book apologized when Broward commissioners asked him to explain why he had pushed a bill that would have weakened the county's pretrial detention program and cost the county millions.
Peruse the rest of Book's client list here.
