TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - State Sen. Denise Grimsley would immediately order a “full audit” of Florida’s concealed-weapons licensing process, as well as examine the management structure of the program, if she is elected agriculture commissioner.
And the Sebring Republican is joined by two of her primary opponents, former state Rep. Baxter Troutman of Winter Haven and Plant City businessman Mike McCalister, in saying accountability for problems with background checks rests with Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam, a Republican who is running for governor.
Yet, Troutman accepts that Putnam, who has served as agriculture commissioner since 2011, has taken responsibility for heavily publicized issues in the licensing process.
“Setting an environment that demands accountability, productivity and success lies at the top --- the buck stops with the commissioner, which is something Commissioner Putnam has acknowledged,” Troutman said, when asked about Putnam’s degree of accountability.
The Tampa Bay Times reported last month that state investigators found a former Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services employee, who had been promoted from a job in the mailroom, failed for a year to conduct one of the national background checks for concealed-weapons licenses.
The Associated Press later reported state investigators determined that 48 employees had made mistakes in the review process, requiring the agency to revoke two concealed-weapons licenses and an armed security guard license.
The Times has also reported that Putnam’s agency paid $30,000 to settle a lawsuit with a former employee who claimed she was required to meet a daily processing quota and that she had been advised “she worked for the NRA.”
This year’s fourth Republican candidate for agriculture commissioner, state Rep. Matt Caldwell of North Fort Myers, did not respond to the questions last week about the
