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| FAMU honors Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll for keynoting its 2012 Black History Month Convocation |
Last year, a Rattler Nation editorial remarked that Jennifer
Carroll’s resignation as lieutenant governor was “just another example of how [Gov.
Rick Scott] requires 100 percent loyalty from his appointees while demanding
that they expect none in return.”
The editorial added that: “She defended his integrity when questions
were raised about his embarrassing financial past as the head of Columbia/HCA. Scott
rewarded Carroll’s loyalty by kicking her to the curb in the wake of an alleged
scam that pales in comparison to the one that led to his exit from the health
care company he ran years ago.”
It looks like there’s someone else who shares this view:
Jennifer Carroll.
Carroll opened up about her years as lieutenant governor in
a May radio interview.
“I gave him 100 percent of my loyalty, even though we didn’t
know each other prior to running, and he had his issues with HCA and Medicaid
fraud,” she said. “I never asked him a question about that. Never.”
“I felt so betrayed,” she said. “I felt that the loyalty
that I gave I didn’t receive in return.”
Carroll resigned from the lieutenant governorship on March
12 after federal investigators questioned her as part of a probe into an
alleged $300 million, illegal gambling ring. Back in 2009 and 2010, Carroll did
consulting work for the company that is accused of running the operation. She
does not face any criminal charges.
What happened to Carroll should serve as a warning to Rufus
Montgomery, Scott’s go-to trustee at FAMU. Rufus has led the way in trying to
help the governor gain control of the university. But despite his claims that
he has the ear of the governor, he was completely useless in protecting FAMU
against Scott’s decision to line item veto $2,514,769 from the university's budget in 2011 and $1,500,000 in
2012.
Scott finally put away his veto pen this year now that he’s
running for reelection.
The governor’s relationship with Rufus is every bit as one-sided
as his former relationship with Carroll. Rufus just does what he is told with
no questions asked. FAMU has gotten absolutely nothing out of this deal.
Instead of doing everything he can to please a governor who
has no loyalty to him, Rufus should try to start thinking for himself.