BY FAX&U.S. MAIL

Governor Charlie Crist

State of Florida

PL 01, the Capitol

400 South Monroe Street

Tallahassee, Florida 32399-0001

Dear Governor Crist,

While I appreciate how important it is to hope for the best, I believe we still need to prepare for the worst. In the wake of Hurricane Andrew, there were real issues relating to how we’d rebuild South Florida. We had little experience in cleaning up that magnitude of disaster and it took Miami Dade months and years to organize itself and, in the process, our residents felt more pain and critical resources were wasted. Much of the problem was that government, business and community leadership lacked a unified structure within which to organize resources and relief. We lacked a plan for the day after.

I fear that this same lack of coordination will define Florida’s effort should what was once unimaginable happen in the Gulf. Money for tourism ads is not a solution, and having our state leaders randomly circumnavigating the state receiving briefings is only modestly helpful, if that. I think we need to start putting our arms around what we do the days after the unthinkable happens.  Where will the ideas come from; what resources will we need; who will lead. It may be an environmental disaster; but it will be an economic crisis. Will we have a unified voice?

In short, we need a plan for the days and months, and even years, after the oil arrives.

I urge you to immediately stand up a working group within government and outside of it, whose mission is to develop the best approach and smartest answers to how Florida responds and moves forward should we face an unprecedented environmental and economic disaster. It needs to have relevant agencies represented, but it also needs the business community, local government, citizens, and academics at the table.  And it needs to be open and transparent. The legislature must be involved, but it is too political, too cumbersome and too prone to regional favoritism to lead.

There are already so many questions that remain unanswered. Will we be able to guarantee that BP is held accountable for their negligence including for the direct and indirect economic damage; how will relief resources be divided and delivered; what will we do to help those industries that are hurt; how will local government be included in this effort; how will local and state resources interact with the various federal assets; aside from the short term goal of minimizing the oil that reaches our shorelines, what are our medium and long term goals. We may need to convene the legislature (or a committee) to begin thinking about the budget issues that may be implicated by this disaster.

I also believe that you should being thinking about the structure by which the state and other victims will be compensated. We may need to create a compensation mechanism or commission similar to the September 11 Compensation Fund established for the victims of 9/11 to guarantee that the appropriate financial resources are available from those responsible for the oil disaster. As courts begin to consider lawsuits from the state and private parties and classes, it may make sense to have in place a commission with someone like former Attorney General Bob Butterworth as its Commissioner.

It is not too early to begin preparing. I recognize that the BP spill has come at a time when so many state leaders are involved in the vortex of a political campaign. That’s a challenge but not an excuse. The truth is that our response must transcend politics as this event may straddle more than a couple election cycles, if not, generations.

I pray that this request and resulting preparation may prove unnecessary because our Florida is spared. However, we need to prepare for the worst even as we hope for the best.

Thanks for your attention to this matter,

Senator Dan Gelber

Florida Senator, District 35