Florida CFO Jeff Atwater Addresses So. Florida 912 Group

Florida’s CFO is making the rounds in South Florida this week and was in West Palm Beach last evening; and among several stops, took center stage at the Lantana Branch Library and spoke to the leaders of the South Florida 912, as well as a ‘Who’s Who’ of the leadership of the Grassroots organizations in the region.

The meeting opened as do all of the SF 912 meetings with brief opening remarks, prayer, and Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.  Co-Founder Shannon Armstrong discussed the new meeting schedule and format for the year, and put out a plea for new leaders to rise up to help with the tasks ahead.  

Shannon also updated the gathering on the success of the recent Christmas Toy Drive and shared some of the stories encountered at several of the hospitals that were visited.  

Before introducing Jeff Atwater, Dennis Lipp discussed an ‘Adopt a Road’ program and an upcoming Habitat for Humanity event, and asked for volunteers; of which many raised their hands.

CFO Atwater was as always very gracious and humble, and recalling a time not so long ago when neighbors helped each other, he was very pleased to hear of the community involvement of the group.  He very much understands that while the 912 and combined grassroots movement are certainly doing everything possible to hold elected officials to their word, they are also acting within their separate communities to make a positive impact.  Also noteworthy about his talk was that as always, he never used any kind of notes or cues of any kind, and clearly came across as a man that knows his game and information very well.  Even during the Q and A session at the end, he was steady on his feet and knew exactly what he was talking about.   

After acknowledging the community involvement, he began talking about his job and the numerous facets and responsibilities of it.  For starters, most of his counterparts in other states are referred to as State Treasurers, and many don’t assume as many roles as does he.  For example, among other things, he oversees Insurance Fraud investigation and Risk Management.  He is also the State Fire Marshal and head Mortician.

He talked about how the state is doing everything possible to create a better business environment, and when I asked him about the over-whelming business regulations, he said this is a very important issue and one the Governor takes very seriously, and a thing called ‘One Stop’ was put in place just for that reason; so that someone wanting to start a business or just get a professional license could make just one stop instead of visiting multiple departments in the bureaucracy.  

Among the stats he discussed was that:

A)  Florida has a $750B GDP which puts us in the top 20 on the planet. 

B)  Florida remains one of only 12 U.S. States with a Triple A rating.  

C)  During a recent international reading aptitude test, Florida entered as a separate entity from                 the U.S., and not one nation in the world beat us.

At one point during the talk, he had a chance to perhaps point a finger at individuals or parties about the mess we’re in as a nation, but he didn’t.  Instead, he rightly stated that over the past 70 years or so, every party has done their share to get us here.  He went on to say that it isn’t radical to talk about returning to the vision of the founders, or to simply follow the Constitution.

At the conclusion of his talk, Jeff took a number of questions from the audience ranging from Medicaid Expansion and responsibilities for state owned property and how that is administered, to unemployment extensions and how they affect the state economy.  He left to head off to his next engagement to a very appreciative round of applause.