"Armageddon was yesterday -- today we have a serious problem." ... by gimleteye

I was reading a recent opinion by one of the financial analysts who publicly anticipated the Great Recession, Satyajit Das. His editorial, "The Botox Economy" concludes, "The summary of 2009 and the outlook for 2010 may be the logo on a black T-shirt worn by Lisbeth Salander, the heroine of Steig Larsson’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo: "Armageddon was yesterday -- today we have a serious problem." Oh Mr. Das. I invited you along with all the economists tugging on the pipe dreams of reviving the markets for mortgage securitization, to come to Florida. It is a great place in February. The Super Bowl is today. Federal and state law enforcement are out there, protecting the public from underage prostitutes and The Miami Herald is filled with stories of all the swell parties and celebrities running into the early morning hours.

This seems as good an introduction as any, to news about a former Florida county commissioner from Hillsborough, Jerry Bowmer. Bowmer went to prison along with two other county commissioners in the 1980's for extortion, as they took bribes to approve land deals. In the early 90's, Bowmer was charged with racketeering and running a cattle rustling operation and did 12 years in prison. Then in 2006 he was investigated by then-Attorney General Charlie Crist for selling property that can't be developed.

The news story from Tampa reports that Bowmer is back at it, selling swampland for development. It is happening, of all places, in a 2,600 area used by recreational off-road vehicles. (For the whole story, click read more). Bowmer would fit right in, in Miami-Dade, with the unreformable majority of the county commission. After all, consider the Miami-Dade commissioner from the lowest lying swampland in the county, Jose "Pepe" Diaz -- angling for his new Lowe's Home Department store outside the Urban Development Boundary-- who egged on Collier County to pass an amendment to the growth plan that could allow off-road vehicles to roam in the middle of the Everglades. Diaz and Bowmer could find something common, don't you think, yee-hawing through the mud.

The person who sent me the article on Bowmer is Dr. Sydney Bacchus. Five years ago Dr. Bacchus was the victim of a hit-and-run by the engineering cartel in Florida. The attack occurred in one of Florida's lightly populated places, Putnam County, where she represented a group of intrepid citizens trying to stave off a large industrial sand mine. The mining company, through its surrogates, petitioned to have Bacchus charged with practicing professional geology without a license which they alleged she did when she testified at a public hearing against the proposed mine.

Based on their complaint, in February 2006, the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation issued an order instructing Dr. Bacchus to ‘cease and desist from the practice of unlicensed’ professional geology. The order specifically cited her remarks at the Putnam County public hearings. The criminal charges and fines levied by the state agency against Dr. Bacchus alleged that she “had presented a physical groundwater model, geologic cross-sections and other geologic data… the information and interpretation that she prepared and presented at the hearting should have been prepared, presented, signed and sealed by a licensed professional geologist.”

The issue of protecting aquifers and water quality, for people and for the environment, is a big part of Dr. Bacchus’ life work. She is a charter member of the small and intrepid community of scientists in Florida who are willing to be expert witnesses for public interest organizations suing the government to enforce laws enacted to protect the environment. Among scientists, she is the fiercest critic of industrial techniques approved by the state and federal government to exploit Florida’s once pristine limestone aquifers. And for the most part, her published work and testimony in court has been belittled by the engineering cartel.

Meanwhile, former county commissioners who have done time in prison come out, and do it all over again.

The vindictiveness against Bacchus, who is little known beyond the confines of the fraternity that pokes at Florida for more places to exploit and mine, de-water aquifers and otherwise dump pollution into aquifers in order to facilitate cheap growth, was the direct result of a political atmosphere intensely hostile to science that Jeb Bush cultivated in his two terms as governor. That political atmosphere unleashed Bush's appointed state managers on the business of "rationalizing" the deregulation of the environment by a faith-based zeal in the "free market". Good and competent scientists employed by the state and federal agencies, during the Bush terms, feared for Monday mornings.

When Charlie Crist became governor, it is generally believed he sought to calm the waters roiled by the frenzy that Bush had helped to unleash. But the Bacchus case was well below that fine grained resolution on the public radar. Bacchus says, today, "Crist refused to instruct the state agency to withdraw it's Cease and Desist Order against me."

In April 2007, on Earth Day, Dr. Bacchus--at a real cost to her pocketbook and peace and equanimity-- filed suit in federal court against the state and those responsible, seeking injunctive relief and damages. "When the state learned that the judge would not withdraw Bacchus' case, and that Governor Crist would be held personally liable, Crist hired his own attorney who recommend that he settle case immediately," Bacchus says. The court opined, “When it filed its administrative complaint, DBPR apparently took the position that speaking at a public hearing on topics within the domain of a geologist constituted the practice of professional geology and thus could be done only by a person holding the required license. So far as this record reflects, DBPR has never attempted to square this view with the First Amendment... Telling members of the public what they may and may not say at public hearings is not the role of a prosecutor.”

I would put it differently: if you want to excel at selling swampland in Florida, you had better be a former, convicted public official but if you want to testify against land speculators, you better have a Phd degree and your passport stamped. But then again, I'm not a judge.


Disgraced commissioner now selling swamp land in Florida
Mike Deeson MDeeson@tampabays10.com

Jerry Bowmer who was the mastermind behind the biggest political scandal in
Hillsborough history is now selling swamp land in Florida

Tampa, Florida -- It's an area off the beaten path, about four miles off the
main road in Polk County that attracts hundreds each weekend.

Dusty Steverson, who comes to the area regularly, says people come to the
2,600 acres to ride dirt bikes, play in the mud and camp out.

Just getting back to the recreation area is an adventure itself. The rough
road can make driving to the property difficult; it can take 30 to 40
minutes because you have to drive so slowly.

But according to an ad on Craig's List, the property will be worth $50,000
in the future, when it is buildable.

When we told the man selling the property it didn't look buildable, he
admitted at this time it is not, but it definitely will be someday.

The man selling the property is Jerry Bowmer. That's the same Jerry Bowmer
who was the mastermind of one of the biggest political scandals in
Hillsborough history.

Bowmer went to prison along with two other county commissioners in the
1980's for extortion, as they took bribes to approve land deals. In the
early 90's, Bowmer was charged with racketeering and running a cattle
rustling operation and did 12 years in prison. Then in 2006 he was
investigated by then-Attorney General Charlie Crist for selling property
that can't be developed.

Bowmer says it is good recreational property and he is not taking advantage
of anyone.

While the former commissioner readily admits the swamp land can't be used as
a home site today, he maintains it will be in the future and bring at least
a $50,000 price tag. That is the same thing Bowmer said in 2006 when he was
investigated by the Attorney General's Office and signed a consent order
saying he would never do it again.

Bowmer says the state can do what it wants to do, but he is no longer bound
by the consent order, because that statute was eliminated. However, the
state did step in for some who bought the swamp land and weren't happy. It
made Bowmer buy it back.

Bowmer admits it is swamp land now, but maintains that's what upscale Tampa
Palms was years ago.

But those who use the recreation area say it is no Tampa Palms.

When we told Tom Rhoden that Bowmer is saying the property will be worth at
least $50,000, he laughed. Rhoden, who uses dirt bikes on the area, says if
you can sell swamp property for $50,000 he'd like to sell some too.

The Polk Property Appraiser agrees, describing the land as low or
inaccessible and appraises it for $625, which Bowmer doesn't deny.

Bowmer says it's $10 a year in taxes and asks, "What does that tell you?"
However, Bowmer is selling the tracts for $4,500 or $4,000 in cash.

Bowmer says he is just a retired guy selling a little real estate and has
put his troubled past behind him, and there is nothing wrong with the
property he is selling. But since we started investigating, Bowmer's Craig's
List ad is no longer running, however the ex-con former commissioner is
still selling swamp land for more than seven times its appraised value.