Thurman: Sansom's Resigning From NFSC "Too Little, Too Late"

Renews Call for Sansom to Step Down as Speaker

NEWS FROM THE FLORIDA DEMOCRATIC PARTY

For Immediate Release: January 5, 2009

Tallahassee, FL - With embattled Speaker Ray Sansom announcing his resignation from Northwest Florida State College, Florida Democratic Party Chair Karen Thurman released the following statement:

"Today, Speaker Ray Sansom took a good first step in lifting the ethics cloud that has been lingering over the Florida House during his time as Speaker by leaving his part-time, $110,000 job at Northwest Florida State College but this action is too little, too late for Sansom. By leaving the college, Sansom does nothing to answer the many questions that have been raised about his dealings with the college, with his major donor Jay Odom, and his possibly steering state money to his former employer for Sansom's recent junket to Europe.

"Besides delivering more than $34 millions to NFSC before being given his job, it is clear than Sansom was allegedly involved in a criminal corruption conspiracy. Sansom delivered more than six million tax-payer dollars to build a private airplane hangar for Jay Odom, in exchange for Odom donating hundreds of thousands of dollar to both Sansom and the Republican Party of Florida.

"As the Legislature meets this week in Special Session to deal with our state's budget crisis, it is clear that Sansom does not have the credibility to lead our state through these though times. Therefore Sansom should step down from his role as Speaker so the Legislature can move beyond Sansom's ethical problems and get to work fixing Florida economy.

"While Sansom's ethical lapse is glaring, Floridians should be especially disappointed in Governor Charlie Crist, Attorney General Bill McCollum, and other Republican leaders, who have done nothing to end the corrosive corruption that has been festering in the Republican Party. Because they don't have the courage to stand up and root out corruption in their party, the Florida Democratic Party will continue aggressively holding the Republicans accountable for their corrupt and out-of-touch ways."