Miami Herald by Lawerence Mower
May 10, 2018
Just hours after criticizing the state’s banking regulator for his “lack of cooperation, responsiveness and communication,” Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis refused to meet with him, citing concerns about violating the state’s sunshine law.
Last week, Patronis sent a surprise email to Office of Financial Regulation Commissioner Drew Breakspear, telling him he no longer had confidence in Breakspear’s leadership and that he planned to bring it up at next week’s Cabinet meeting.
His email was then sent out to the press.
A few minutes after that, Breakspear emailed Patronis: “Do you have time to meet today or tomorrow as I would like to have the opportunity to discuss this with you?”
No, Patronis awkwardly replied nearly four hours later, according to the email exchange:
“Thank you for your reply,” Patronis wrote. “I do not want you to serve, deliberately or inadvertently, as a conduit with another member of the commission prior to the Cabinet meeting. In order to ensure a transparent process conducted in the sunshine, I will discuss my concerns during your assessment review.”
Patronis spokesman Jon Moore said Wednesday that the CFO “has developed growing concerns regarding the Commissioner’s ability to serve Floridians,” and that he wanted to address them in public only.