Some disturbing rumors about FSU repeating their mistake of hiring another politician as their president.
TK did many things for FSU as a politician, much like John Thrasher has, but this does not equal a qualification to serve as president for a research university. Sadly, in Tallahassee, all that is truly needed is membership to the 'good ole boy' club. FSU paid the price for TK's presidency, and it looks like it is going back for seconds.
If there is any doubt, loyal Seminoles might find this interesting:
Trustee for FSU lobbies for UCF
TALLAHASSEE - Five years ago, then-House Speaker John Thrasher led the battle to add a medical school to Florida State University.
His fight was successful but not without controversy. It led to the dissolution of the state's Board of Regents after they refused to sign off on the plan.
Now, Thrasher is fighting for another medical school and again it has brought controversy.
This time he has been hired as a lobbyist by the University of Central Florida in Orlando, raising eyebrows among some at FSU, where Thrasher is a member of the board of trustees.
"I'm not very comfortable with it," said J. Stanley Marshall, former president of FSU and a member of the Board of Governors, which replaced the Board of Regents as the overseer of the state's 11-university system.
Thrasher tried to schedule a meeting with Marshall to discuss the proposed medical school, but Marshall refused, saying he preferred to get a non-biased opinion.
"I told him I didn't think it would be a very good use of his time," Marshall said.
Others have questioned whether it's a conflict for a trustee to lobby the higher education community, a practice Senate President Tom Lee tried to wipe out last year with a bill banning lobbyists from serving as university trustees.
But Thrasher, president of the Southern Strategy Group lobbying firm, said he doesn't think he's doing anything wrong.
"I think as far as a medical school goes, there's enough resources for all of them to exist," he said. "There's a definite need."
Both UCF and Florida International University in Miami are asking the Board of Governors for permission to build medical schools, bringing the state's total to five.
It's an expensive proposition. According to a proposal presented by the universities to the Board of Governors, each school would require about $20-million a year to operate. Some board members have questioned whether the cost is justified.
Officials from UCF and FIU argue the medical schools would address a rapidly growing doctor deficit in the state.
Thrasher is one of eight lobbyists registered to represent the University of Central Florida Foundation.
Dan Holsenbeck, a University of Central Florida vice president, said none of the lobbyists can discuss the medical school with legislators until it is approved by the Board of Governors.
However, they have been encouraged to talk to board members.
"We told them that if you have a personal relationship with a member of the Board of Governors, then by all means express your support," Holsenbeck said. "We've asked them to find out what the issues are so we can address them."
Thrasher said he's met with a couple members of the Board of Governors and that the university gave him several "specific, targeted" tasks, although he declined to discuss them.
He said he hasn't heard from anyone from FSU voicing displeasure about his dual role.
But Dr. Raymond Bellamy, a Tallahassee physician who teaches at the FSU Medical School, said Thrasher is violating the spirit of the law passed earlier this year prohibiting lobbyists from serving as university trustees.
The law was proposed last January by Lee, who said he wanted to build a "fire wall" between the Legislature and the state university system.
The new law, which took effect in June, does not apply to current trustees, including Thrasher. But Bellamy said it still looks like a conflict.
"I don't know if there should be another medical school, but this is the wrong way to find out," Bellamy said. "It should be done by study and careful analysis."
Others from FSU say they don't see anything wrong with Thrasher's position, including Jim Smith, former attorney general and chairman of FSU's board of trustees.
"The fact is, the truth is, we got ours through raw politics, so we have no room to object if somebody else does the same thing," he said. "It would be hypocritical in my opinion."
