In The News
What was on Crist's to-do list in black book
The plain black book may look innocuous, but it's the ultimate to-do list, an insider's guide to Gov. Charlie Crist at work.
Former chief of staff George LeMieux carried the book with him everywhere during Crist's first year as governor. The governor's top aide and long-time political strategist filled it with notes of daily encounters with legislators, lobbyists, bureaucrats and others. He wrote reminders to himself and to Crist, made lengthy lists of tasks for his deputies and jotted down political advice from others.
A lawyer used to keeping notes on legal pads, LeMieux decided his best strategy, as he raced from one issue to the next in 2007, was to keep all his notes with him.
He took the book to the Middle East, where he met Israeli leaders and King Abdullah II of Jordan; to a drill in Tampa Bay on planning the first steps Crist would take after a major disaster; to meetings with Seminole Indians as they negotiated a casino gambling compact, which the Florida Supreme Court rejected on Thursday, saying Crist had no authority to negotiate games not already legal in the state.
It's an intriguing record of Crist's earliest days as governor. Crist's predecessor, Jeb Bush, sent dozens of e-mails daily. But Crist prefers the phone, a technology that leaves no written record.
LeMieux, who left the governor's office Jan. 1, initially refused to disclose the contents. Crist's office insisted the book was not a public record, even as Crist has promoted greater openness in government. After months of off-and-on negotiations, LeMieux agreed to copy most of the contents for the St. Petersburg Times.
LeMieux said he withheld only notes of personal or nongovernment political matters. He also was reluctant to provide the last few weeks of notes, saying he did not want to upstage future policy announcements Crist has yet to announce.
Now chairman of Gunster Yoakley, a South Florida law firm, and still a force in Republican politics and a Crist adviser, LeMieux called the book invaluable. "I would talk to the governor on any given day four or five times," LeMieux said. "Most everything had to pass by him."
