Chase enraged Rep. Nancy Argenziano, R-Crystal River, by watching the House debate on television in the lawmaker's own office. This is a place where an Orange Park senator held hostage transportation money for Leon County unless the speed bumps that slowed his ride to the Tallahassee airport were removed. This is a place where lawmakers insult each other in public and stab each other in the back in private. The mood was especially ugly during the denouement of the 60-day legislative session that ended yesterday. The 12-hour, frenzied days have taken a toll.
Tempers are short.
Partisanship trumps policy. Annexation proved to be one of the most divisive issues for the Broward delegation. Members sparred over the annexation of several working-class, predominantly black neighborhoods unwanted by their municipal neighbors. Sorensen chairs a committee that weighs annexations and strongly objected to Dawson's proposals. In another affront to Dawson, Rep. Matt Meadows, D-Fort Lauderdale, a member of Sorensen's committee, sat silently during the harangue against Broward's annexation proposals.