ST. AUGUSTINE - Gov.-elect Rick Scott said he had not seen Times-Union stories that show altered documents helped Jennifer Carroll, his lieutenant governor-elect, get into a Jacksonville contract program.

When asked about the issue Wednesday after a meet-and-greet with local lawmakers in St. Augustine, he dodged the issue.

"Jennifer is a wonderful person," he said during a brief news conference. "I'm sure she wanted to do the right thing."

The altered documents, which include a lease and a letter, allowed Carroll into a program that sets aside city contracts for small and emerging businesses. Her company never sought contracts through the program.

In a statement, a Scott spokesman said they remain confident in Carroll.

"Lt. Gov.-elect Carroll has made it clear that she followed the rules of the program," wrote Brian Burgess, responding to follow up questions sent after the meet-and-greet.

Scott was in St. Augustine as part of his promise to traverse the state and hear the ideas of members of the state Legislature before taking office Jan. 4.

In a casual setting - the meeting was much less scripted than events held during the campaign - area lawmakers chatted with Scott about a host of issues ranging from the role of government to port security.

If the meeting had a central theme, however, it was education - specifically, how to improve education in black communities in Jacksonville and beyond.

"When you look at these graduation rates, it does not matter if it is 35 or 50 percent, the problem is that it's terrible," Sen. Stephen Wise said.

Wise, who chairs the Education Pre-K-12 committee, recommended using a panel already set up under the Attorney General's Office - the Black Men and Boys Commission - to craft recommendations that can be brought back to Scott.

Rep. Mike Weinstein said that though a host of issues should be on Scott's plate, it was appropriate that education dominated the discussion.

"If you don't educate the population then we will first of all politically fall apart," he said. "It's also very important for well-paying jobs."

Weinstein, who is part of Scott's transition team, for the most part remained quiet throughout the 45-minute discussion, allowing others in attendance - Wise, Rep. Bill Proctor, and Sen. Tony Hill, the lone Democrat - to pitch ideas to Scott.

"Some of those guys had not had a chance to meet the governor," Weinstein said.

Reps. Mia Jones, D-Jacksonville, and Janet Adkins, R-Fernandina Beach, were scheduled to attend but did not.

The one idea Weinstein did push was the notion that the government should find a few areas to fund at high levels rather than spreading financial support across a wide horizon of issues.

"We have to decide if we want government to be a safety net. [If we do] then we should continue to do all the things we are doing to make people's lives easier," he said. "Or do we want to do what government was originally structured to do?"

He said that original structure involved allowing people on their "own initiative to go after life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."

Another brief issue of debate was the duplicative nature of port security in Florida. Other states only require a federal identification badge to get into ports. In Florida, however, each individual port has a badge that needs to be purchased, plus the additional cost of buying a federal badge.

"It's been a real cash cow for the ports and to [the Florida Department of Law Enforcement]," Hill said.

He and Wise have worked to overturn the rule in over the past two years in the Senate. Though it has brought the ports money, Hill said that they are on board with doing away with the measure because the increased hassle can cost them business.

matt.dixon@jacksonville.com, (904) 359-4174

http://jacksonville.com/news/florida/2010-11-25/story/governor-elec...