Scott clashes with Wasserman Schultz over pace of Hurricane Irma debris cleanup

South Florida Sun Sentinel (FL)

Oct. 12--Frustration over the pace and price of Hurricane Irma debris pickup in Florida produced a political clash in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday.

During a meeting between Gov. Rick Scott and Republican and Democratic members of Congress in a House office building, U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz challenged the governor over Irma debris.

She said Scott bears some responsibility for the lingering piles of debris.

"Can you explain why you would stand in the way? There is debris all over the state, even in areas less hard hit, like mine," Wasserman Schultz told Scott. "Debris has become an emergency situation."

The Broward/Miami-Dade county congresswoman said she is concerned that people are having allergic reactions from debris piles that are beginning to rot and that if there is another storm before the end of the hurricane season "the debris will become projectiles."

Gov. Rick Scott sips water as U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz criticizes him during a discussion about Hurricane Irma recovery in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 11 2017. U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan sits between the two.

Scott rejected Wasserman Schultz's criticism. He said he was looking out for the taxpayers by refusing to go along with paying much higher rates to companies that don't live up to their agreements. "I'm always going to stand on the side of taxpayers and consumers, not on the side of somebody who wants to make extra money after a disaster," Scott said.

The root of Wasserman Schultz's complaint echoes local government officials. Many governments that contracted for debris removal before the storm have found the contractors aren't honoring the agreements because they can make more money working elsewhere.

The state has said it won't ask the Federal Emergency Management Agency for reimbursement of debris removal costs if the local governments decide to pay more than the pre-storm contracted rates.

"The counties have existing contracts. Companies committed to do the job," Scott said, adding that they should do what they agreed to do.

To Wasserman Schultz, that's "not really an answer." She wondered aloud how much tax money Scott was saving Florida since the federal government typically pays 90 percent of cleanup costs with federal money that comes from taxpayers across the country.

Scott and Wasserman Schultz are longtime political foes. She is a Democrat who represents parts of Broward and Miami-Dade counties and is a former chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee. He is a Republican, supporter of President Donald Trump and likely candidate for U.S. Senate next year.

They occasionally portray an image of common interests. For example, they appeared together after the Jan. 6 shooting at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport that left five dead.

More often, they're operating on different plains, as they did last year as the mosquito-borne Zika virus was causing alarm in South Florida. Each held their own seminars, events and expressions of public concern.

Wednesday fit the usual pattern. Sitting two seats away from Scott -- separated only by U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Longboat Key -- Wasserman Schultz pressed him during the Irma discussion in the Rayburn House Office building.

The animosity between the two was clear in a recording provided by Wasserman Schultz's office that dovetailed accounts from Washington-based news reporters who attended the session.

Wasserman Schultz told Scott that her office has contacted his Washington office several times by phone and email and not received any response. In addition, she said, "I have tried to reach you and I have gotten no response from you. So that's frustrating in and of itself."

Scott dismissed Wasserman Schultz's criticism. "If you contacted me. I don't have any evidence that you contacted me," Scott said.

The back and forth didn't do anything to accelerate debris removal. After about five minutes, Buchanan, who chaired the hourlong session ended the exchange. "Let's talk about that a little later," he said.

A central focus of the meeting was a push by Floridians of both parties for hoping for federal assistance to help parts of the agriculture industry hurt by the storm.

"Time is of the essence for supporting growers who have between 50- and 100-percent of their crop on the ground," Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam said. "So this is a broad calamity for the second largest industry in the state.

"The preliminary economic reports peg the loss at $2.5 billion. You can stand in any orange grove in Florida right now and listen to the fruit hitting the ground like rainfall because of the longer-term damage that continues to play out. You can walk through any grove in Florida and smell the rot of fruit that was just weeks away from being harvested."

aman@sunsentinel.com, 954-356-4550

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