St. Lucie County sheriff retirement, appointment mysterious; other local ones also iffy

'Twas the fortnight before Christmas and all through the house, politicians were stirring, calling one man a louse.

They say the appointment was made by the governor without care, in knowledge a man named Mascara would no longer be there.

Even in the time of Clement Clarke Moore, who reportedly recited his now-famous poem, “A Visit from St. Nicholas," to his children on Christmas Eve 201 years ago, politics were full of shenanigans.

History shows that. But in my 40-plus years as a journalist, I can’t remember covering any departure as convoluted, controversial and mysterious as St. Lucie County Sheriff Ken Mascara’s abrupt “retirement.”

It wasn't the first questionable departure or appointment on the Treasure Coast.

Mascara’s departure was announced by Gov. Ron DeSantis’ office late Dec. 1, a Friday. The governor, overlooking top command staff, immediately appointed Lt. Keith Pearson.

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After the announcement, Mascara released a letter saying he retired to deal with health issues. Neither he nor the governor have responded to repeated media inquiries.

It was controversial in that Pearson and Mascara, were accused, but not charged, by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement with putting up a ghost candidate to run against the sheriff in 2020. The ghost candidate was installed reportedly to defeat a credible candidate in the Republican primary.

Although Pearson held a press conference the following Monday saying transparency would be his top goal, the public has not received much information regarding his appointment. That day, he announced he was running for sheriff as a Republican in 2024.

The St. Lucie County Republican Executive Committee then held a press conference blasting Pearson and suggesting DeSantis had not seen the FDLE report. The committee had already endorsed another candidate.

In past years, several highly paid public servants on the Treasure Coast ― including elected officials — “retired,” some quietly, under Florida’s Deferred Retirement Option Program., then went back to work. Until the program was amended, officials of a certain age and length of service could “retire,” earning a deferred pension, take some time off, then return to their jobs.

All perfectly legal, sanctioned by the state.

At least three more departures raised questions, but were made by public officials saying they used principle and Treasure Coast residents’ best interests as part of their decisions.

Ken Pruitt resignation leads to second Senate presidency

In May 2009, Sen. Ken Pruitt, then 52, R-Port St. Lucie, after serving 19 years in the state House and Senate, including two years as its president, announced he’d leave office that August instead of completing his term.

Pruitt said he left early to give his successor a seniority advantage. State Rep. Joe Negron, R-Stuart, who, like Pruitt, represented parts of Martin, St. Lucie and Indian River counties, won a special election to replace Pruitt. In part because of his prior House experience and seniority, Negron also became Senate president.

A year later, Indian River County Supervisor of Elections Kay Clem resigned, weeks after the deadline had passed to trigger an election to fill her post. Instead, Gov. Rick Scott filled the post with Leslie Swan, who has done an exemplary job.

Seven months before he would have to seek re-election in 2018, Circuit Judge Paul Kanarek, two years shy of mandatory retirement at 70, let Scott know he would resign.

The result: Instead of an election where voters would decide his successor, Scott selected a new judge after vetting by a local panel of attorneys. The benefit, Kanarek said:

“My experience has taught me that, on a statewide level, elections might be a good way of determining whether you want to keep judges, but a disproportionate number of judges who’ve obtained the position by election have found themselves in trouble with the Judicial Qualifications Commission, generally as a result of the election," Kanarek told TCPalm.

Other situations didn’t pass the sniff test.

Controversy, tragedy at tax collector office

By early June 2008, Indian River County Tax Collector Charles Sembler, a former state representative, continued to dodge questions about whether he’d run again.

Few experienced candidates (though an inexperienced political newcomer had already qualified) would have run against Sembler, whose two-decades-long tenure was noncontroversial.

So what’d Sembler do? A few days before the qualifying deadline, Sembler announced he wouldn’t run. Sliding into the election, on the Republican side, was his state House, term-limited, successor, Stan Mayfield.

A month earlier, Mayfield said he would not run because his wife was running to succeed him in the state House.

Carole Jean Jordan, the state’s former Republican chair, also came up with almost $7,000 in filing fees at the last minute. Mayfield was elected in an open primary, but died of cancer before he could take office. The local GOP executive committee tapped Jordan as his successor.

Setting heirs apparent up for success

In hindsight, things worked out well. At the time, Jeff Smith, a responsible deputy to Sembler, was his heir apparent.

Instead, Smith left the office and worked under Jeff Barton, Indian River County clerk of court. In 2011, Barton announced he would not seek re-election in 2012, and endorsed Smith, who had become his chief deputy and who ran unopposed.

In 2012, Barton retired several months early to save more than $200,000 used to keep five employees from being laid off, TCPalm reported. Smith was appointed to the position.

Smith announced his retirement earlier this year and recommended his chief assistant, Ryan Butler, for the job. Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed Butler, a former assistant state attorney who plans to be on the ballot in 2024.

The Pearson case isn’t the only time a likely successor was not tapped by a governor.

In 2019, Scott ignored recommendations from former Gov. Jeb Bush and longtime Indian River County Property Appraiser David Nolte to appoint Helen "Sissy Long" Black, his second in command, following his death. Instead, Scott appointed Wesley Davis, an auctioneer who spent 18 years on the Indian River County School Board and County Commission.

While Davis seemingly has done an adequate job, one has to wonder about how thoroughly Florida governors vet applicants.

Why was Pearson appointment a fait accompli?

In the Pearson case — unlike many other vacancies the governor’s office has had over the years — there was no option to vet multiple applicants.

Pearson's appointment, it seems, was a fait accompli. What stinks, is, as of this writing, neither Mascara nor DeSantis has explained how it went down. Pearson said he heard about it only 30 minutes before DeSantis' announcement.

As we enter this magical time of year, with news cycles slowing and politics being on the back burner, I wonder when or if we’ll ever know what happened.

I just know that, barring further explanation, Pearson’s appointment smells more like the trash after a large holiday feast than the peppermint in a warm cup of cocoa. The public deserves more transparency.

This column reflects the opinion of Laurence Reisman. Contact him via email at larry.reisman@tcpalm.com, phone at 772-978-2223, Facebook.com/larryreisman or Twitter @LaurenceReisman.

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This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Mascara, Pearson, DeSantis GOP controversy not first unusual departure