War of words continues between Rick Scott, UF over presidential search

U.S. Senator Rick Scott continues to demand an explanation from the University of Florida amid the institution’s latest search for a President.

Scott has already gone on record seeking answers from Chancellor Raymond Rodrigues of the State University System of Florida regarding having named named Stuart Bell as its sole presidential finalist without any public input and a contractually-compliant payout for current UF interim President Donald Landry since he isn’t getting the permanent role. Landry is owed $2 million for being passed up for the UF President job, according to media reports.

On Saturday, the Naples Republican took issue with what he called a “fine crock of legalese” in a post to social media responding to a post Friday evening from the state’s flagship University.

Scott said UF’s statement did “absolutely NOTHING” to allay concerns about the candidate search.

“The multimillion-dollar amount, lack of transparency, and lopsided process here ALL still speak for themselves. Not to mention that this all appears to be a sham since the school is acting as if the new presidency is a foregone conclusion,” Scott wrote. “We’re talking about public funds and, more importantly, public trust. Both demand a high level of accountability, which simply hasn’t been satisfied at all by this so-called ‘response.’ The questions raised still stand, and they NEED to be answered.”

The Senator’s concerns come after UF dismissed, without naming him, his “false assertion that UF violated state law to avoid public transparency in selecting a presidential search finalist.”

UF asserted that state law requires confidentiality in the first phase of the process to ensure that candidates who might want to be considered can be without suffering unintended consequences that would keep them from participating.

“Committee members sign non-disclosure agreements, and candidate interviews, discussions, and the selection process are legally required to be conducted outside of the public view.  The law further provides that while a finalist may be publicly announced, information regarding other candidates and committee deliberations remain confidential.”

Last year, Scott was also critical of the school’s lack of transparency for trying to hire Santa Ono.

Ono’s hiring later collapsed in a public spectacle for UF, as questions about positions he took in previous roles mounted.

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Gabrielle Russon contributed reporting.