Florida House should censure Rep. Randy Fine
Serving in the Florida Legislature is one of the state’s highest honors and a solemn public trust.
And when that honor is sullied and that trust shattered, there must be consequences.
Many Floridians familiar with state Rep. Randy Fine believe he hit that point a long time ago. The Palm Bay Republican has long been known for his outrageous, and often vengeful, behavior. But last week, he reached a new low.
Most news stories about the series of events start with the fact that he called a Brevard County School Board member a whore. But it wasn’t the first time he’d insulted Board Member Jennifer Jenkins in that inexcusable fashion. The two have a long-running feud.
However, the way that animosity erupted on this occasion merits special notice. In a series of texts to West Melbourne Councilman John Dittmore obtained by Florida Today, Fine said that the city’s police department “just put your project and Special Olympics funding on the veto list.” Their offense? Inviting Jenkins, but not Fine, to a charity event. Dittmore asked Fine if he would like to attend, but the lawmaker responded “I’m not going to jack s—t where that whore is at.” Fine continued, “You guys will need to raise a lot of money given that’s who you wanted to honor (Jenkins), not the person who got you money in the budget.”
Fine was apparently referencing a $460,000 flood-mitigation project for West Melbourne, along with the $1 million allocated to the Special Olympics — the charity the police fundraiser was supporting. How incredibly petty.
Speaking to Florida Today, Fine denied that he threatened the funding, but his words speak for themselves. Fine has been closely allied with Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has the ability to veto specific funding requests. Fine has frequently served as sponsor or co-sponsor for some of DeSantis’ top priorities, including legislation rammed through in last week’s special session that punishes the Walt Disney World resorts and theme parks for opposing legislation that was a DeSantis priority.
DeSantis is not known for his loyalty but seems to share Fine’s appetite for political payback. A word from Fine could potentially be fatal to either project.
Dittmore told Florida Today that, in a subsequent phone conversation, Fine objected to the release of the texts following a public records request, and said the West Melbourne city attorney should be fired. Fine told Florida Today he denies threatening the city attorney.
Retracing this series of events, here’s what we have: A state lawmaker calling another elected official vile names in a communication with a third elected official. A claim that Fine wanted the records of the exchange kept from the public. And worst of all, an implied threat to use Fine’s clout to crush funding for two worthy projects out of spite.
It’s a vengeful abuse of the voters who entrusted Fine with public office. House Speaker Chris Sprowls must take action.
An appropriate response
At the least, Fine should be censured. There’s precedent for this: In 2017, Sen. Frank Artiles, R-Miami, used racist and sexist slurs and highly inappropriate language in a conversation with two Black
colleagues. Senate President Joe Negron quickly condemned the remarks and announced that Artiles would be apologizing on the Senate floor. After the apology, Artiles resigned.
Sprowls should take similar action against Fine in the special session slated for May. Because Fine threatened specific appropriations, it would also be appropriate to strip him of the chairmanship of the powerful budget subcommittee he chairs.
Finally, DeSantis should make it clear that Fine is not permitted to communicate with his office about any specific budget issue, apart from staff-fulfilled requests for backup information.
It’s a harsh punishment. But appropriate, given the nature of Fine’s abuse of his position. Sprowls should also consider Fine’s history of offenses — often driven, as in this case, by intense feuds.
There’s his repeated characterization of people who oppose his legislation as “groomers” and “perverts.”
There are his repeated, vicious attacks on school board members who wanted children to wear masks in schools.
And most recently, his reposting of an attack on Black lawmakers who protested a congressional redistricting map drawn to favor Republicans and eliminate two of Florida’s minority-access districts. “We don’t even let demons stop us from doing the people’s work,” Fine commented, in an obvious reference to his protesting colleagues.
The tragedy here is that we know Fine can be better. He’s been an exceptionally passionate advocate for the restoration of the Indian River Lagoon. As COVID vaccines were becoming a
topic of hot-button controversy among the far right, he posted two pictures of himself getting vaccinated. Last year, he offered a stirring speech on the House floor in support of his bill (HB 1189) that mandated better support for victims of sexual assault including teams of trained nurses and investigators.
The bill, he said, was the result of a conversation with a rape victim who described being ignored and disbelieved.
Responsibility for threats
One recurring theme in Fine’s attackfirst strategy comes into play again and again: His tacit encouragement of political supporters who often take his angry taunts and run with them.
Jenkins requested that Fine be investigated for cyberstalking and other charges, saying she’d received death threats via email, a barrage of phone calls after Fine posted her cell phone number, and visits to her home by people who mentioned Fine as they threatened her.
Jenkins’ requests came to naught. A judge denied her petition for a restraining order, and State Attorney Phil Archer declined to press charges. Yet, reading the flood of invective following many of Fine’s posts, it’s very clear why Jenkins was afraid. As an elected official, Fine has a higher duty to quash any implied threats of violence or hateful, intensely personal slurs against fellow politicians. Instead, he sometimes led the charge, accusing Jenkins repeatedly and baselessly of being a “prostitute,” abusing children (through her support of masks) and other sins.
This is another area where legislative leaders and state ethics officials need to act. It is reasonable to expect elected leaders to rebuke supporters when hatred, bigotry and threats of violence surface on their own social-media pages. House and Senate rules, and state ethics guidelines, should make that duty clear.
Fine’s nonchalance toward the invective on his own posts stands in stark contrast to his speech on behalf of his sexual-assault bill. “I don’t frankly understand how anyone can do this sort of thing to a woman. It’s beyond my comprehension,” he said as he described how the woman’s attacker continued to contact and harass her.
How would Fine feel, to learn that one of these specialized teams he helped to create had been at the hospital the night before, taking care of someone he’d villainized? To learn that one of his enemies had been physically brutalized by a follower that he — in silence, and in active hate speech — had egged on?
That same duty to stop hateful behavior now rests on Sprowls’ shoulders . If Fine can’t see the dangerous situations he’s creating — or the stains he’s leaving on the reputations of his fellow House members — others must make that acknowledgement for him. His behavior does not reflect the values of the House and should not be tolerated. It’s up to Sprowls and others to make that clear.