by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
It would be really easy for Gov. Jeb Bush to put things on cruise control. After all, he’s got 121 days left in office and after nearly eight years of running the state of Florida it would be understandable if Bush sat back, enjoyed football season, the election and took his time packing up his office.
Instead, Bush views his last four months in office as a chance to really put an exclamation point on his tenure as a two-term governor. He has three things on his agenda before the year ends: push through several more initiatives, find somewhere to live come Jan. 1 and start thinking about his next career move.
“I haven’t given much thought to what I’ll do next but I’m working on finding a place to live,” said Bush, who was in town Thursday for several events including a press conference at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida to promote the First Coast Business Leadership Network and a luncheon at Mussallem Galleries where he was the guest of honor at a fundraiser for the Florida House in Washington, D.C. “I have a 900 square foot condo right now. We are looking to move back to Miami.”
Bush said he’ll spend the next four months pushing for progress on several initiatives he started late in his second term. Those include a bill on education reform, environmental issues, the property insurance crisis in Florida and what he calls “four or five good-sized” economic development projects he’d like to resolve before his term is up.
“There’s a tendency late in your second term to just cruise and let things slide,” said Bush. “Regardless who it is, I do not want the next governor to have to deal with these things.
“The opposite is actually true. You want to finish strongly. I have a calendar that started at 1,000 days and it’s been counting down. The clock is running out.”
Bush said he hopes he is remembered as being an activist and someone with the courage of his convictions.
“I tried to make the state a better place,” he said, pointing to education reform as a major accomplishment. “We also revamped the social services system and we reformed higher education. I think we’ve done a pretty good job, but you can always do more.”
And is “more” a run at the White House one day?
“It’s entered my mind,” said Bush, whose father was president from 1989-93 and whose brother is currently in the White House. “There’s been a lot of speculation. But, my passion was to be governor. Right now, it’s time to get off the stage a little bit. It’s time to get out of politics for a while.”
Other items from the luncheon:
• Local Republican Party Chair Mike Hightower noted that many were getting their first look at the gallery and said, “I understand Mrs. Bush has gone around and picked out some things the governor is going to take care of.”
• The fundraising goal for the luncheon, according to Hightower, was $45,000 — a goal he called “a stretch.” Consider it done and then some. “We passed $55,000 for the Florida House and we’re still counting,” he said.
• Mayor John Peyton was also on hand and got a subtle hint from Bush on the way to the podium. “The governor said, ‘Be brief, I’m hungry’ so I’m going to be brief.” Peyton kept his word and spoke for not much more than a minute or two.
• Peyton also took a lighthearted shot at Hightower who, in addition to being the local Republican Party chair, is also Peyton’s campaign manager. “It’s amazing anybody returns his calls because he’s shameless about raising money.”
• Bush had his light moments, too. “Has anybody seen Mike Hightower not wearing a suit? I have known him for 13 years and he is always dressed impeccably. I have never seen him wear a shirt that was one color.”
• Bush also noted a few members of the Duval legislative delegation in attendance and reminded them of the law forbidding free lunches. “I hope you guys wrote personal checks to come to this event. You can afford it, with all I’ve done for you the past few weeks.”
• According to Bush, the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, D.C. is about to unveil what he called the “finest collection of Latin-American art” ever at the museum and he attributes that the work of his wife, Columba.