Michael J. Scott

Infobox Officeholder
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name =Michael (Mike) Scott
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party =Republican
term_start =January, 2005
term_end =January, 2009
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predecessor =Rodney Shoap
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constituency =Lee County, FL
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Michael Joseph Scott known as Mike Scott, (born 1963) is the current Sheriff of Lee County, FL. Scott is the 12th person to head the Lee County Sheriff's Office since it began in 1887. [ [http://www.sheriffleefl.org/about/sheriff.aspx] ] The county makes up the entirety of the Cape Coral-Fort Myers MSA, and is the most populous county in Southwest Florida. Its county seat is Fort Myers, and its largest city is Cape Coral. [ [http://www.floridacountiesmap.com/lee_county.shtml] ] Mike Scott is a Republican and has held the office of Sheriff in Lee County since 2004. He is currently seeking re-election this Fall 2008.

Early life

Scott was born and raised in Lee County. He is a third generation Lee County resident. Scott is married to his wife Krista and they have 2 daughters. [ [http://www.sheriffleefl.org/about/sheriff.aspx] ]

Education

Scott graduated from North Ft. Myers High School in 1981. He has a bachelors degree in Political Science from University of South Florida. Scott also has a Master's Degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Public Administration from IMPAC University. [ [http://www.sheriffleefl.org/about/sheriff.aspx] ]

Professional

In 1988, Scott joined the Lee County Sheriff’s Office, after working as a Probation and Parole Officer for the State of Florida for 2 years. During assignments as Public Information Officer, he was spokesperson for the Sheriff’s Office on a wide variety of matters. He also served as the Law Enforcement Coordinator for the Southwest Florida Crime Stoppers Program. [ [http://www.sheriffleefl.org/about/sheriff.aspx] ]

Locally, the Children’s Home Society presented Scott the 2006 Safe At Home Award for his efforts to keep all children safe in Lee County. In his first year in office, the Florida Crime Prevention Association awarded him the 2005 President’s Award, the highest honor given to any chief or sheriff in Florida for his or her progressive actions in the area of crime prevention. [ [http://www.sheriffleefl.org/about/sheriff.aspx] ]

Florida’s fellow sheriffs in August 2007 elected Scott to the Florida Sheriff’s Association’s Board of Directors. [ [http://www.flsheriffs.org/index.cfm/referer/content.contentItem/ID/405/item/277/] ] In addition, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement in 2006 appointed Scott co-chair of the nine-county Southwest Regional Domestic Security Task Force. [ [http://www.sheriffleefl.org/about/sheriff.aspx] ] [ [http://www.fdle.state.fl.us/Domestic_Security/Library/RDSTF.pdf] ]

Public office

Scott left the Southwest Florida Crime Stoppers agency to campaign in 2003 as a Republican candidate for Sheriff and won his first term as Sheriff of Lee County.

In August 2008, Scott won the Republican primary for re-election in August 2008 with over 90% of votes. [ [http://www.leeelections.com/download/elhis08/080826/result2.html] ] Scott is running against independent candidate Christian Meister. [ [http://www.news-press.com/article/20081011/COLUMNISTS01/810110472/1075] ]

Controversy regarding use of Barack Obama's middle name

At a rally for John McCain and Sarah Palin, Scott, appearing in unform, referred to Barack Obama by his middle name, telling the crowd of nearly 9,000 McCain-Palin supporters, “On Nov. 4, let’s leave Barack Hussein Obama wondering what happened.” Scott’s remarks came as part of a string of warm-up speeches while Palin attended a private fundraiser in nearby Naples, FL, over an hour before she had arrived at the event site. Many citizens and media outlets have decried the remark as divisive and unacceptable for an elected public official. The McCain-Palin campaign issued a public statement distancing itself from Scott's comments. [Naples Daily News, 10/06/08 [http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2008/oct/06/lee-sheriff-mike-scotts-remarks-political-rally-ca/] ]

On October 6, 2008, Scott said, "I absolutely, unequivocally don’t regret saying it. In order to be a speaker at this event, I had to give my full name — Michael Joseph Scott — to the Secret Service, even though I’m the sheriff of Lee County. So why would I apologize?" The New-Press also reported that when asked why he then didn’t use Palin’s middle name, Scott admitted he didn’t know it. “I just wanted to use his full name,” Scott said. “And frankly, if this is such a hot-button issue, he as a Harvard lawyer could have changed it if he didn’t like it.” [ News-Press, 10/06/08 [http://www.news-press.com/article/20081006/NEWS0107/81006002/1075] ]

On October 7, 2008, the Office of Special Counsel, a federal agency, announced that Lee County Sheriff Mike Scott is under investigation for wearing his uniform to speak before a public rally for vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin on 10/06/08 in Estero, FL. Anthony Guglielmi, spokesman for the OSC, said, "We are launching a formal investigation into Sheriff Scott today on the basis of possible violation of The Hatch Act." [Naples Daily News, 10/07/08 [http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2008/oct/07/feds-investigate-lee-sheriff-scott-palin-rally-app] ]

"He's kind of a public official," Guglielmi said of the office of sheriff. "People respect him. When he stumps for an official candidate, it can be seen that he puts the weight of his office behind that." Once investigators conclude the case, they will deliver it to an independent board to decide possible punishment. The Merit Systems Protection Board, which is outside the OSC, could find for no punishment or they could dismiss Scott. They might also revoke federal funds to the Sheriff's Office to the amount of two-years-worth of Scott's salary. According to Hans von Spakovsky, a former U.S. Department of Justice official and a traveling fellow at the Heritage Foundation, he believed Scott would be exonerated. [Naples Daily News, 10/07/08 [http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2008/oct/07/feds-investigate-lee-sheriff-scott-palin-rally-app] ]

According to the Florida Sheriff’s Association in a sheriff can wear his uniform however he sees fit. “It is up to his discretion,” said William Powers, general legal council for the association. “Deputies can not campaign in their uniforms, but the incumbent can, because he’s an elected official.” [News-Press, 10/08/08 [http://www.news-press.com/article/20081008/NEWS01/81008001/1002/NEWS01] ]

References

External links

* [http://www.sheriffleefl.org] Lee County Sheriff Web Site