Backroom Briefing: ‘The Very Best’ or a ‘Mess’

By Dara Kam & Jim Turner, The News Service of Florida

TALLAHASSEE — Department of Management Services Secretary Pedro Allende got a grilling this week as a House budget panel digs into his agency’s employment of out-of-state workers, spending on travel and other hot-button issues.

Allende’s appearance before the House State Administration Budget Subcommittee followed an inspector-general report that found his agency, which bills itself as “the business arm of Florida government,” could not account for more than 2,200 state-owned vehicles. The vehicles were purchased for more than $57 million.

Subcommittee Chairwoman Vicki Lopez, R-Miami, questioned Allende, who worked for the U.S. Department of Energy during President Donald Trump’s first term, about his hiring of Edward Rhyne as the agency’s chief data analyst in 2023. Rhyne, who lives in Maryland and makes more than $200,000, worked alongside Allende at the federal energy department. Rhyne has billed the state for more than $42,000 in travel expenses since he was hired.

Three other high-level department employees who earn more than $100,000 a year also live outside Florida.

Allende defended the out-of-state hires, saying they were “most qualified” people for the posts.

Travel expenses incurred by Department of Management Services executives including Allende, who lives in Miami, included trips to a U.S. Department of Energy lab in Idaho, according to travel documents provided to the House panel. The lab helps Department of Management Services staff members assess the state’s cybersecurity efforts, Allende told Lopez.

The chairwoman asked Allende if his “prior employment” at the federal energy department “color any of these relationships or decisions you’re making” about hiring and contracting.

“Absolutely it colors my view,” he said. “I bring the very best of the folks that I had worked with.”

Lopez also repeatedly pressed Allende about his agency’s progress on a contract to update the People First system used to track state employees’ payroll and benefits, among other things. The deadline to finalize the contract, ordered by state lawmakers, was July 1, 2024.

“We are almost into quarter four of our fiscal year. Can you tell us why this has not been accomplished?” she asked.

Allende called the software project “a monumental undertaking.”

“The complexity of these kinds of projects … cannot be overstated,” he said.

But Lopez wasn’t satisfied. She asked Allende to return to the panel next week.

“I’m just gonna tell you we’d like an update very quickly. The Legislature authorized this to be done by a certain date and it has not been done,” Lopez said.

Lopez also wanted to know why Allende’s agency canceled a lease with the Florida House for offices on the 21st floor of the Capitol. The House was notified this month that the lease would expire on April 1, Lopez said.

“I’ll get back to you on that, as well,” Allende said, when Lopez asked if anyone from the department communicated with House leaders about the cancellation of the lease.

According to Lopez, the House leased the office space and provided it to former U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, who resigned early this year after being appointed as Trump’s secretary of state.

Speaking to reporters after Wednesday’s meeting, Lopez said it appeared Allende “does not know what’s actually going on” at his agency.

“Whenever I talk to him about anything related to software, it just gets convoluted, and I don’t know that any of us walk away understanding what the department is doing and what they’re not doing,” Lopez said.

Lopez called the agency “a mess.”

“That’s what a lot of people are saying, because … there’s hundreds of millions of dollars going through that agency, and yet he hasn’t been able to tell me where the 2,200 cars are that equal $54 million. So it seems like everywhere I look, there’s an inefficiency on the DMS part, and every time I try to get more information about it, I get more confused. I feel like I’m no further along today than I was yesterday.”

SHORTENING THE LIST

It might get harder to be inducted into Florida’s Veterans Hall of Fame.

The Senate on Wednesday approved a bill (SB 116) that includes capping the number of nominees sent each year by the Florida Veterans’ Hall of Fame Council to the governor and Cabinet. The bill will go to the House.

Currently, up to 20 nominees can be forwarded. The new cap would be five.

Sen. Danny Burgess, a Zephyrhills Republican and former executive director of the Florida Department of Veterans’ Affairs, said the council requested shorter lists.

“We want it to be a very distinguished thing,” Burgess said. “It’s been around for a number of years. So, you don’t have to have 20 people that get submitted every year just because that’s the directive.”

Twenty inductees have been added each of the past two years.

According to the Department of Veterans’ Affairs website, the hall is “not a traditional military hall of fame, as it focuses on post-military contributions to the State of Florida.”

OJ FLOWS IN THE CAPITOL

During the legislative session, the Florida Department of Citrus has started a pilot program at the Capitol that expands on the orange juice given free to travelers at welcome centers on Interstate 10, Interstate 75 and Interstate 95.

Celéste Jo Walls, a spokeswoman for the Department of Citrus, said in an email on Tuesday the distribution is “a complement to our existing contract with the Visit Florida Welcome Centers.”

Last year, the Citrus Commission approved a $225,000 contract with Visit Florida about the welcome center refreshments.

SOCIAL MEDIA POST OF THE WEEK: “Today, I sent a letter to the Fort Myers City Council. Sanctuary policies are illegal in Florida. Your vote last night makes you a sanctuary city. Fix this problem or face the consequences.” — Attorney General James Uthmeier (@AGJamesUthmeier) after the council deadlocked Monday in a vote over the proposed partnership between the city and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.