The stench surrounding a Jeb Bush regulatory agency
Harry Hope
The action came only after the restaurant appealed directly to
Henderson, soon after Gov. Jeb Bush appointed her head of the
regulatory agency.
From The Tampa Tribune, 6/28/99:
http://www.tampatrib.com/news/mond100u.htm
State serves tax break to Malio's
By MICHELLE PELLEMANS of The Tampa Tribune
TALLAHASSEE - Cynthia Henderson says she's been to Malio's restaurant
but had no role in the tax decision.
Malio's Steak House, a popular spot for movers and shakers, had a
$184,000 tax debt wiped clean by the Department of Business and
Professional Regulation shortly after Tampa lawyer Cynthia Henderson
took over the state agency.
But the Tampa restaurant's good fortune didn't end there.
Henderson's agency not only cleared the tax debt owed on alcohol sales
but also gave the restaurant a $6,263 refund.
In an interview last week, she said she personally played no role in
the decision to remove the debt and award Malio's the refund.
The action came, however, only after the restaurant appealed directly
to Henderson, soon after Gov. Jeb Bush appointed her head of the
regulatory agency.
The Malio's case raises new questions for a department already
grappling with the appearance of conflicts of interest and favoritism
in a growing number of regulatory decisions.
In April, Henderson flew to the Kentucky Derby aboard a private jet
owned by a company her department regulates.
She was the guest of a horse racing organization seeking state
business.
And her expenses were paid by her boyfriend developer, whose business
her agency also regulates.
Following her appointment, the department also fired four lawyers and
an investigator who had been probing allegations of shoddy
construction by a company owned by the president of the politically
influential Florida Home Builders Association.
The probe of Edwin Henry was subsequently halted and all disciplinary
actions against him dismissed.
The refund issued to Malio's was calculated by a consultant and an
accountant hired by the restaurant and uncontested by the agency.
``Although there are no records to support these figures, our client
believes ... the Division owes them a refund of $6,263,'' a
high-powered consultant hired by Malio's wrote the agency earlier this
year.
The consultant, John Harris, formerly headed the agency's Alcohol,
Beverages and Tobacco bureau - the same agency division that audited
Malio's.
He did not respond to requests for comment.
The continuation of a well-known Bush family tradition.
Harry
"And let me say in conclusion, thanks for the kids. I learned an awful
lot about bathtub toys - about how to work the telephone. One guy
knows - several of them know their own phone numbers - preparation to
go to the dentist. A lot of things I'd forgotten. So it's been a good
day."
Daddy George at a Head Start center in Catonsville, Maryland
chewbaca
moralize about other politician's breach of public trust? You made your bed
for the times to come and now lie in it! Hell, Jeb should have rented
public property and should have had the state support fund raisers for drug
dealer's favors and Chinese operatives! You guys have already spent that
"nickel" many times over. You need to wait a long time before you want any
form of governmental ethics from any Republican...period!!!
Harry Hope wrote in message <37780154....@nntp.ix.netcom.com>...
Harry Hope
chewbaca
heard this garbage for nearly 7 years. Now we need to start playing by the
rules? Of course the rules of credible government and personal honor now
apply..why...because it is a Republican calling the shots. I can still hear
Lawton Chiles when confronted with issues of his leadership say in a
cavalier way.."tick tock tick tock." It was a simple way of saying that his
term was nearly up and who cares. So what if Jeb does as he damn well
pleases? He is just taking after the Clintons!
Harry Hope wrote in message <37782a13....@nntp.ix.netcom.com>...
Larry Hewitt
chewbaca <Chew...@nospam.com> wrote in message
news:So8e3.3681$gI5....@news4.mia...
> So what, it is a coincidence! This is only a partisan attack! We have
> heard this garbage for nearly 7 years. Now we need to start playing by
the
> rules? Of course the rules of credible government and personal honor now
> apply..why...because it is a Republican calling the shots.
Nope. It is merely a case of those who live in glass houses not throwing
stones. If repuglicons call a particular behavior reprehensible of criminal
then they DAMN WELL better not commit a similar act and expect a walk.
All this does is show repuglicons to be the hypocrits the left has said they
were for years. They don;t give a hoot about the law, morality, or america.
All they care about is personal gain.
Larry
juddb...@my-deja.com
all wrong.
Just days after her appointment as head of the
Department of Business and Professional
Regualtion, a letter from Malio’s accountant (one
of many that had been written) arrived on
Secretary Henderson’s desk complaining about how
the restaurant was being treated by the
department’s Tampa office. This was one of MANY
that had been directed to the department, but
apparently the first to be answered.
Now, put yourself in this situation…what if the
IRS audited you and found you owing a tremendous
amount. If you felt the audit was conducted
unfairly, you would appeal to some level above
the auditor with whom you had been dealing. The
result may or may not be in your favor, but at
least you could have the satisfaction of knowing
there was some avenue of appeal.
Well, under the old administration, there was no
avenue of appeal for Malio’s. Just a dead end—
just more oppressive government issuing edicts
and offering no recourse.
Cynthia Henderson, on the other hand, brought
with her a policy of answering EVERY letter and
requiring the appropriate regulators at least
examine every taxpayer complaint. That’s exactly
what happened here. Malio’s complained, and
Henderson passed the complaint along to the
appropriate regulators. Once there, it was
determined that the restaurant had reason for
appealing its surcharge tax assessment, and the
debt was dismissed.
Once Henderson learned of the reversal (which
was, obviously, a little out of the ordinary),
she demanded that a third party examine the
results and have the final say. Her inspector
general decided that there was justification for
reversing the six-figure tax debt levied against
Malio’s. Based upon that, the debt was reversed,
and a small credit was issued, because Malio’s
had been making double payments in the months
prior to the audit.
In summary, Cynthia Henderson made two decisions
in this case: (1) to pass the complaint on to the
appropriate regulators, and (2) to ask her
inspector general to review the results. The
inspector general, buy the way, was a Chiles-era
appointee.
You may not agree with the decision in the
Malio’s case, but you can be sure of two things:
(1) That if you ever find yourself feeling you
have been treated unfairly by the Department of
Business and Professional Regulation, you may
complain and your complaint WILL be addressed.
(2) That regardless of whether the debt reversal
decision was ultimately the right one (only God
knows the truth), Secretary Henderson had nothing
to do with it, other than asking her inspector
general to have the final word.
I hope this information sheds some light on what
was a truly biased hatchet job of a newspaper
story written by a reporter with a virulent
agenda who has never let the truth get in the way
of a good story.
Judd Bagley
Public Information Specialist
Department of Business and Professional Regulation
In article
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