Whispers About State Sen. Lauren Book Unfair
BY BUDDY NEVINS
Newbie Democratic State Sen. Lauren Book of Plantation has no experienced in elected office.
Yet she was elected unopposed to an open seat this year because of her charisma and the deep pockets of her Daddy, multi-millionaire lobbyist Ron Book.
Book’s first committee assignments have been announced. Her collection of first rate committee jobs – unprecedented for a freshman Democrat – has Tallahassee whispering.
Book is the new chair of Environmental Preservation and Conservation. She is also the vice chair of the Appropriations Subcommittee on the Environment and Natural Resources.
So Book, a Democrat, will have a lot to say where dollars on spent on preserving Florida’s resources.
She also snared key posts on the powerful Appropriations Committee, Appropriations Subcommittee on Health and Human Services, Health Policy Committee, plus the all-important Rules Committee, which helps decide what bills are heard on the floor.
Remember again that Book is a freshman Democrat in a Republican Senate.
Critics around in the capital say that Lauren Book was given the assignments because of her Daddy’s generous campaign donations. Lobbyist Ron Book controls not only his own wallet, but also has a big say on the political spending by his well-heeled clients.
The talk about Lauren is unfair.
Lauren Book
Lauren Book is her own person. She’s a whip smart 32-year-old who can hold her own without her Daddy’s help. She built her nationally-known child abuse awareness organization Lauren’s Kids from the ground up.
Yes, Daddy’s money helped.
But Lauren Book would have gone nowhere if she wasn’t a forceful, persuasive advocate.
Now what she has to do in Tallahassee is prove her independence. She needs a very public issue to support that would put her in opposition to Daddy and his clients.
In the meantime, expect Lauren Book to be one of Broward’s most effective voices in an often-hostile Capital.
Payback By Gary Farmer?
Gary Farmer, another newly hatched Broward Democratic state senator, received one committee assignment that piqued the interest of a Browardbeat.com source.
My source for this is a person intimately familiar with the committee assignment process. If the source is correct, Broward-based non-profit Keiser University will be in for payback from Farmer.
Farmer was appointed to the Appropriations Subcommittee on Higher Education. In this position, Farmer will be part of the committee for places like Keiser, which although private needs the good will and some goodies from government.
According to Browardbeat.com’s source, Senate President Joe Negron has no love for Keiser or the university’s head honchos Art and Belinda Keiser.
The word is that Negron wants Farmer to use the new committee perch to give Keiser University a hard time, the source said.
The report could not be confirmed. Negron and Farmer could not be reached for comment.
However, Farmer might not need much encouragement to hassle Keiser. Remember the Democratic primary?
Farmer won after a hard-fought, nasty fight against Jim Waldman. Waldman is Keiser University’s general counsel.
Hmmmmm.
December 1st, 2016 at 3:49 pm
I don’t know Lauren Book and this isn’t anyway an indictment of Ms. Book, but a comment on the process, and voters mindset, knowing something about election ballot access having banged on about 4000 doors this past year to get myself on the general election ballot against Alcee Hastings.
Ms. Book, other than pose for pics knocking on doors to use with campaign literature, most likely never knocked on another door. What she did was spend a fortune sending out brochures with candidate petition included (postage back to her, pre-paid) … petition already filled out, minus voter’s signature and date. And that was preceded by literally non-stop tv ads touting Ms. Book. This leaves me wondering this: in a gerrymandered district could a rock win state Senate with the right family connections and money?
The only thing I have in common with Ms.Book is we both sat down with the ultra Democratic biased Sun-Sentinel.
December 1st, 2016 at 4:23 pm
Sounds like the whispers have it exactly right. I’m just glad we the people were able to stop this phony and her daddy from naming Federal Highway through downtown Fort Lauderdale after herself. The trouble with the Books is that sometimes cockroaches get so big and dominate over other cockroaches that they actually think they no longer have to scurry when the homeowner turns the kitchen light on. Hopefully that delusional hubris is their undoing.
December 1st, 2016 at 5:49 pm
I wish my daddy could buy me a State Senate seat like Book’s dad did or how Patrick Murphy’s dad did.
December 1st, 2016 at 6:02 pm
Buddy, you’re dreaming. With Daddy’s money & influence behind her, she coulld have the personality of a sock puppet and still enjoy the very same cornucopia of outlandish privileges. And “sock puppet” is exactly what the people giving her all these goodies are thinking. It’s all about buttering up Daddy’s little girl to reap all the rewards of both her vote and Daddy’s lobbying.
Building an organization from the ground up – sure, Buddy, sure, just like every non-privileged entry-level worker does, right? What a load of bullshit! It’s a fake career, 100% bought & paid for by Daddy dearest. When you can use Daddy’s money to hire the best people to build an organization up for you, that really says nothing, other than: “It’s great to be rich! The world is my oyster!”
FROM BUDDY:
I have known lots of rich kids who had the world handed to them and fell on their faces. Maybe you have never met Lauren Book. If you had, you couldn’t help but be impressed.
If she can’t handle the committee jobs given her, they will be taken away. All of Daddy’s money won’t protect her if she flubs it, because the state Senate is a nest of vipers and a lot of them are waiting for her to fail.
December 1st, 2016 at 7:16 pm
Lauren Book is a smart, hard working woman. Congrats to her Dad for doing a great job bringing her up.
December 2nd, 2016 at 12:00 am
Buddy’s devotion to Ms. Book is charming, but as M. King observes, the whisperers seem right to be concerned.
December 2nd, 2016 at 7:58 am
Say what you will – she”ll show you once she gets to Tally and you’ll be glad she was elected to reperesent you and has some power in the Senate. Can’t win with some of you, but know positive Broward-based leadership is in your future as long as Ms. Book is involved. Love or hate Ron, this girl is NOT her father…not even/especially on sex offender issues. Just watch.
December 2nd, 2016 at 8:16 am
I dont know the Books n opposed naming a street after her BUT Charlie King smears everyone without an ounce if evidence or EVEN COMMONSENSE
December 2nd, 2016 at 9:03 am
Regardless of whether she got the job because of her father, she seems like a smart kid. I bet she’ll do a great job and prove her critics wrong.
December 2nd, 2016 at 1:16 pm
Buddy:
Have not participated in a while.
I’ve met personally with Senator Lauren Book twice. We talked about many things and I found her to be smart and caring, sincere, attuned to her community, refreshingly authentic, easy to talk to, and instantly likable.
On that basis I think she’s on her way to becoming a star in Florida politics. For sure, she has that potential.
As a daughter, I’m sure she’s proud of her parents however she seems to very much be her own person. In particular, I found her to be a political moderate which gives me hope she might just get things done in a state capital nearly fractured along partisan and ideological lines.
So I have every hope for her success in office.
You know, there’s a buddy of mine who comes to mind and we’ve known each other for years.
He’s from a very wealthy and influential family. Whenever I see him, I joke that in my next life I’d like to come back as him and he always responds that when he come back, “I want to be me also.” It’s a running joke we share.
He’s rich but he also happens to be a very regular guy. There’s no pretense about him, he works hard for his family but is also about helping and working with others. He wants to help make Broward a better community also. He’s never once lied to me and keeps his word. I’ve always found him to be sincere in what he says. He has a sense of humor but a handshake is a serious thing to him. It means something.
I suppose most of us hope for those qualities in others. He may disappoint me someday but there’s no sign of it anywhere. Here’s the point.
Rich or poor, this or that, when people lack those qualities they get sorted out differently. I’ve been disappointed by some state legislators before. It is a job that tries to twist people into becoming things they’re not. It is a test of character to be an elected official at any level, including that one. I’ve seen it change people terribly and sometimes bring out the best in them.
I see good things in Senator Book and think she will pass those tests. I expect her to be a star performer for Broward in Tallahassee. We sure could use it.
Angelo
December 2nd, 2016 at 5:35 pm
@4 Buddy – Daddy isn’t just providing money.
Daddy the lobbyist will coach his daughter every step of the way. With her expert father providing the perfect answer to every question, writing every speech to be delivered, and plotting the perfect strategy for every vote, all she really has to do now is just keep on being Daddy’s good little puppet.
And meanwhile, Daddy’s lucrative lobbying firm is now equipped with not only the power of her Senate vote, but also full real-time access to the innermost details of the Senate. Ka-CHING!!!
December 3rd, 2016 at 6:59 am
Whether you agree with Charlie King or not, he always has a great way to phrase things to make his point. Love the cockroach analogy.
December 3rd, 2016 at 9:55 am
The committee assignments are interesting. We’ll have to see what happens with the Lake O water storing controversy as well as homeless issues. Then we’ll be able to judge where her loyalties lie and the extent of her effectiveness.
There’s no doubt that her dad’s influence was a major factor in everything that she’s accomplished. There are many hard working, intelligent people who don’t have a snowball’s chance without influential backing.