Daryl Jones, the Florida state senator who represents the Keys and parts of Miami-Dade County, is running for governor. But somewhere along the way, he may have to explain about how he used his influence as a senator back in 1994 to help a Miami law firm sign up the City of Key West as a client.
Although he represented himself to Key West officials as an associate in the firm, he was, in reality, simply a "rainmaker", a consultant who would reportedly get 15 percent of the fees paid by the City if his sales effort were successful. That effort was successful. Here's the story.
When Attorney Ginny Stones resigned as Key West City Attorney in 1994, the City Commission went through a lengthy screening process which resulted in local Attorney Joe Allen and the Miami law firm of Fowler, White, Hurley, Brown, Bannick and Stickroot being selected as the top two candidates.
On the night of the vote, however, City Commissioner Emery Major was absent— and the vote split 3-3 between Allen and Fowler, White.
During the two-week period before the next Commission vote, Fowler, White sent Senator Jones— who is black— down to Key West to lobby Major, who is also black. Shortly after Jones' visit, Major announced that he would vote for Fowler, White. And Allen withdrew his name from consideration.
Major would say later that he had definitely been influenced by the fact that Jones was a state senator— and that he thought that if Jones were associated with Key West, he could help the City in Tallahassee. "I thought he worked for Fowler, White," Major said. "I didn't realize that he was just a consultant."
Fowler, White lasted less than a year as Key West's City Attorney. The firm resigned in August 1995 after City Manager Felix Cooper complained that their fees were too high. During the firm's short tenure, the City was billed an estimated $400,000.
Based on that figure, Senator Jones' commission may have been as much as $60,000.
Attorney Valerie Settles, who served as the firm's day-to-day representative in Key West, told Key West the Newspaper that Jones' fee had directly impacted on the firm's fees and its relationship to the City.
"The terms of Daryl's agreement with Fowler, White were confidential," Settles said, "but I was told that it impacted on the profitability of the Key West account and I was under pressure to increase billings."
She confirmed that Jones' initial trip to Key West was a lobbying effort and that he spent little or no time on the Key West account.
In September of 1995, Jones told KWTN that he was "embarrassed" about his involvement in the Key West account solicitation.
"I would hesitate to do it again," he said.
He denied, however, that he was being paid to use his influence as a senator. "But being a state senator is hard to hide," he said.