Jennifer Carroll was elected to the State House of Representatives in 2003 and represents Dist. 13. A year later, she was re-elected without opposition. Carroll is the first African-American female Republican ever elected to the Florida Legislature. Currently, Carroll is the Vice-Chair of the Ethics and Elections Committee and serves on the Finance & Tax, Growth Management and Business Regulation Committees, in addition to her duties as Majority Whip. She is also chair of the Duval Delegation.
Carroll enlisted in the Navy in 1979, and rose through the ranks from an enlisted jet mechanic to retire as a highly decorated Lt. Commander Aviation Maintenance Officer after 20-years service.
Monday, Carroll met with the editorial staff of the Daily Record to talk about the 2009 legislative session, some issues affecting Jacksonville, her opinion on other races and her political future.
You had a notable career in the U.S. Navy, advancing from a newly-recruited enlisted person to the officer ranks in 20 years. Tell us how that transpired.
It was about staying focused. The recruiter told me it would be easier to become an officer if I came in enlisted. That was my first mistake (Carroll laughed). But in hindsight he did me a favor. Becoming an officer by coming up through the enlisted ranks I got more respect from my subordinates because they knew I understood what they were going through. They looked up to me for guidance. The officers who had just gotten their commission right after graduating from college didn’t know anything about the military so they also looked to me for guidance.
The school of hard knocks worked well for me but I was focused when I enlisted on becoming an officer. That was the path I wanted to take. When they opened up Officer Candidate School, I already had my associate degree because I went to school full time while I was working full time. By the time I put my application in I had already done so much. I didn’t go to school for aviation mechanics in the Navy. It was all on the job training and I took the tests for advancement and passed them along the way. I didn’t realize I had so much going for me until I applied to Officer Candidate School. When I looked at the list of things I had done, it was a lot. But then I didn’t have a boyfriend, I stayed focused and I wasn’t going out partying or wasting my time because I knew the things I wanted to accomplish.
Why did you join the service to begin with? Is that what brought you to Jacksonville?
To get away from home. My parents were super strict. I was born in Trinidad, West Indies and my parents came to this country for a better way of life. I arrived in New York City at eight years old and went to public school. I graduated from high school and went into the Navy from there. My mother said I could go to college when I graduated from high school. I wanted to go away but she told me I had to go to college in New York. I thought ‘oh no – I’ll never get away from home.’ When I joined the Navy, my father didn’t like it. My mother said it was okay – so he blamed her – but after I stared advancing in my career he told people everybody should join the Navy.
After I completed Aviation Maintenance Officer school in Pensacola my first officer tour was in a squadron at NAS Jacksonville. This is where I’ve lived the longest in my entire life.
How did you get into politics?
(Carroll started as a biology/chemistry major before changing to political science.)
I was newly married and didn’t get to see my husband at all because he worked the night shift. A friend of mine was majoring in political science and I read some of the books and looked at the curriculum. Most of my credits would transfer, so it worked well. I worked (while in the Navy) as Adm. Kevin Delaney’s aide when I first got involved in politics.
I was not just getting him coffee and chauffeuring him around. I was his personal confidant. He really included me. I was the liaison between the issue and our congressional representative. We were at NAS Jacksonville, so our representative was Corrine Brown. But, the person who really helped us was (U.S. Rep.) Tillie Fowler.
If Brown decides to seek a Senate seat, would you consider running for her congressional seat?
I don’t know, but I wouldn’t close the door.
Was there any culture or political shock when you got to Tallahassee?
I didn’t go through that. The military has its own bureaucracy within itself. (In Tallahassee) I didn’t realize how prevalent it is behind the scenes. I get just a snippet of it at the state level. I can’t imagine the federal level. They don’t answer to anybody and there are no term limits.
There are a lot of problems in the federal government. Everybody has skeletons in their closet, but no one will speak up because they are afraid the bones will fall out. They can’t truly speak up because no one has any backbone. We are on the path of no return and it will be really, really bad.
How did the second half of the legislative session go and what was your opinion on how it all went?
The second half of session I was a bit disappointed. Because I felt that the first half, we were on the right track with regards to watching what were spending, being honest about what we were spending and removing some of those things that we didn’t have to spend monies on and have agencies do true due diligence with regards to the pocketbook. However, there were still some things that slid in the budget or were allowed to go that didn’t need to go.
What are some examples?
One of the things I was very disappointed about that we put on the table — and I know the American Heart Association won’t like this — was the tax increase for cigarettes. It’s kind of hypocritical on several fronts. The bill sponsor herself voted against the bill. I think that’s a bit disingenuous because if you’re going to bring a measure forward, you should believe in it and encourage people to support it because you believe in its merits. Second part is, if you’re saying that you want this money to help with the health care costs and advertisement to reduce young smokers, but on the other hand you’re saying because you increase it (tax) you’re wanting to reduce smokers, how can you get the revenue to pay for the health care costs and advertisement if you reduce the income coming from it?
I looked at some statistics and they showed that the less you make, the more you tend to smoke. So if we say we want to do things for these people (lower income) that won’t harm them financially, then why are we putting something in place that will harm them? For it to be put for us to vote at that nth hour without really digesting it and saying ‘Is this in the best interest for the state of Florida?’ I voted against it because I like to do my homework before I vote for something. I would have preferred to come back for a special session and get it completely right than try to rush something through and say ‘Ok, we balanced this budget.’
As a legislator or Legislature, how do you let the sponsor of a bill get away with not supporting their own bill?
Usually, you are carrying the water for someone else, someone in leadership, so it’s not so blatant. I think this is the first time someone in leadership didn’t vote for their own bill. The junior members (of the Legislature) were very dismayed. They felt betrayed. They didn’t want to vote for it, but they felt because the leadership sponsored it, they should vote for it.
In your opinion, what are some things that could be done differently that aren’t being done?
I don’t think we spend enough time in crafting policy that will bring about and generate revenue in this state. For example, there were many good measures put on the table for tax credits or incentives. If we say we want to be a research and development state and we do have the universities that can be very involved in that with our student population and create the jobs here, then we should be putting measures in place that would encourage those R&D (research and development) companies and collaborative to come here. Somewhere in our university system where we can capitalize on that revenue. Another thing is the film industry. They’re going to make films, but where? I don’t think there’s a place better suited in the country than Florida. They want to come here. What do we do?Just put a little crumb toward a tax credit that would bring revenue generation. When they come, the ancillary businesses that will develop from those productions will really generate revenue.
What was the experience like being chair of the Duval Delegation and what’s an example of working together for the region?
It was very rewarding. The chair of the delegation, it’s so funny ... I know some people don’t care for the Outer Beltway discussion but when we had the hurricanes and everyone was stuck on I-10 and couldn’t get out, we said we needed the access. Then we had companies attracted to Cecil Field but they couldn’t get from here to there on a two-lane road. It was stopping West Jacksonville and Clay County from developing economically. The Delegation saw it was an issue that the roadway was ready to go, but we couldn’t build it statewide because we didn’t have the funds. We have momentum because of the agreement between Duval, St. Johns and Clay counties. So we needed a public-private partnership. Then it became a tax issue. The private investors wanted the same privilege as the state. The governor could have said by executive order that they get this. He chose not to. Through the Delegation I asked everyone to sign a joint resolution to show him what it means to us, and they said yes. I turned the resolution into a bill and it was passed unanimously in the House. It was pulled (in the Senate) but State Sen. (Jim) King attached it to his JTA bill and passed. It’s a huge project for us, thinking of the economics that could be realized.
Did Jacksonville benefit from the session?
Jacksonville will. Some of the cuts they were talking about early on — like with FCCJ and the school district — we didn’t realize as much (of a cut). Even in the school system there is waste. We send money to the school system and they decide where the money goes. If the administration is top heavy, don’t blame the Legislature.
Should the school systems be audited?
I don’t know if they are, but I know there are line items in our budget that are not audited. (Carroll talked about Miami-Dade getting the most funding and how many times the money is allocated for things other than what was requested).
Is that an audit issue or an accountability issue?
Both, and there is more of that.
What do you think of Gov. Charlie Crist running for the Senate?
Do I have to answer that? I will answer it. I think he should stay and do the job. There is a crisis in this state and as head of the state he needs to focus on measures to correct the problems that affect every Floridian. He is abandoning his duties and that is not good for the trust of the people.
Jacksonville’s Ethics Commission is exploring the idea of becoming an independent agency. As a former vice chair of the House Ethics and Election Committee, what are your thoughts on the commission becoming an independent agency?
The more removed the Ethics Commission is, be it the federal, state or local level, from the purse strings or the power, the better. We’ve had some ethics complaints in Tallahassee that have been very valid, that you don’t even hear about. Regardless of who you are, you should not be above the law and if the complaint comes in, valid or not, it should be researched and investigated. If there is something there, then that person should be called to task.
Where do you stand on dipping into trust funds to help balance the state budget?
We can’t bond our way out. We can’t borrow our way out. We have to balance the budget. Under Gov. (Jeb) Bush we didn’t have the downfall that we have, but we had the vision in a leader that saw one day we may need to do something to have a cushion. I was his Secretary of Veterans’ Affairs at the time, and we had monies coming in at the time. Every agency had to reduce their budget between 5 and 7 percent. We didn’t miss a beat and he was able to put money in trust funds across the board.
After 9-11 and the economy went south, we weren’t one of those states that were down at the bottom, we were on the top. The trust funds should not be tapped into because they are set for specific need and use; particularly trust funds where you pay a fee to manage and regulate a specific industry.
When you are in a crunch like we are in now, where do you get the money when you can’t bond your way or borrow your way out and you can’t provide the services that people are accustomed to? Well, if you have extra money sitting in a fund over there, you grab from that. That’s where we get into the problem of not having the vision and the foresight, like we should’ve done this session.
That lack of vision is going to be our downfall for building that revenue pot that we need.
What can be done to help the state court system?
I had a bill (HB 407, Proceeds of Forfeitures) that would have taken some monies from forfeiture and put it into helping out the Public Defenders Office, etc., as well as putting more money into preventive programs to stop the revolving door, these kids going in and out of the system.
Well, the sheriffs (from across the state) were very territorial with those monies. I went out to all the major areas to find out what the sheriffs were doing with those confiscated dollars. Everybody had a hodgepodge of different things, most of it was being spent in house, but Jacksonville is doing pretty good. All the others are spending the money in house, like buying new weapons, not really trying to stop what is happening on the street like community organizations, nonprofit organizations that are involved and engaged in preventing criminal activities.
I was going to make an amendment to the bill to have 10 percent of those monies go directly to the Public Defenders.
The sheriffs didn’t want to relinquish this money and I asked them ‘How are you going to stop these guys then?’
I told them, ‘Your role should be going out of business, not staying in business. Because if you prevent them from coming in your doors then you are working your way out of business.’
Because of their attacks on the bill, it didn’t go very far.
(HB 407 died in Public Safety & Domestic Security Policy Committee May 2.)
Do you have any political aspiration beyond State Representative?
If I say ‘no’ I would be lying. We all have aspirations and ambitions. I am qualified for whatever comes my way. The Lord opens windows and you have to be prepared to step through them. We do things as a family consensus and if it feels right, I’ll do it. I got a call this morning from someone asking me to run for the State Senate. I have no interest. I am not going to be pushed into anything I am not interested in.