Message from Secretary-Designee Michael W. Sole

What a great honor and privilege it is to be asked to serve Governor Crist and Floridians as Secretary of the Department of Environmental Protection. I have had the benefit and pleasure to have worked for the Department in varying capacities over the last 16 years. During that time, I have truly gained a respect and admiration for this agency’s mission, as well as its people.

Honesty, integrity and a true desire to do what is right for Florida is what will make us successful. These are the qualities that I expect the Department to implement in the programs that protect, conserve and manage Florida's natural resources, enforce the State's environmental laws, conserve environmentally sensitive land, manage our award-winning parks and trails and restore our water resources.

Under the leadership of Governor Crist and Lt. Governor Kottkamp and with the ingenuity, resourcefulness and determination of the Department’s employees, I am confident that we will be successful in accomplishing this very important mission.

We are fortunate to live in a state that is surrounded by water, is rich in cultural and historical resources and for two decades has kept in place the largest land conservation program in the nation – preserving more than 2.3 million acres that will be forever safe from development.

While I have been with the agency for several years, I am always amazed at how much I learn every day. As such, I will continue to prioritize agency issues to ensure that we succeed or make changes where necessary to achieve the greatest benefit. During the next several months, we will refine our priorities and strategies as we chart the new course for the agency. Some of the items that I am anticipating to be of high priority include:

• A successor program to Florida Forever;
• Maintaining and increasing public access to our parks and trails;
• Protecting Florida’s surface and ground water resources;
• Restoring the Everglades and improving the health of Lake Okeechobee; and
• Enhancing our use of alternative energy to protect the environment and our energy interests.

Governor Crist has spoken of several guiding principles that he looks forward to achieving. Many are relevant to our agency and I strongly share these principles.

1. Government exists to serve the people.
   Occasionally, in our rush to do our jobs, we lose sight of this simple concept. It is a friendly reminder of why we exist and who we serve.
2. Government agencies have customers: the people of Florida.
   I have been through several exercises on ‘who is the customer’ and have come to recognize that it is anyone who actively or passively seeks the services of the Department – whether it is the developer seeking a permit, a visitor to our parks, a concerned citizen reporting a potential violation or someone reading about us in the local newspaper. The Department will always strive to be courteous, respectful and helpful whenever possible.
3. Government does not have all the answers. We must have the humility to listen and learn from the people whom our government is supposed to serve.
   I believe that this is a very important principle and that we can better represent the agency by learning to listen. I am continuously amazed at how simple it can be to find alternative solutions when we listen and try to understand the other person’s point of view or perspective.
4. A government that is both effective and compassionate focuses on ‘results,’ not process. Government performance should be tied to regularly applied outcome measures to determine what is and what is not working.
   This is an area in which I truly believe that DEP can do better. We have tried over the years to produce an effective means to measure our results. There is no simple way to measure success, so it is a bit harder and more subjective than just a numbers count. However, it can be done and I will be pursuing this aggressively.
5. Government must have integrity, transparency and accountability.
   One word…Absolutely!

There is a lot on our plate – it is no small job to protect the state’s natural resources. Our population continues to grow as more and more people are attracted to the state surrounded by two oceans and with hundreds of springs, lakes and rivers. We are a state with clean air and an open mind to new and innovative technology. We are a state with exceptional recreational outlets to meet the needs of all of our citizens and visitors.

As Secretary of the Department, I will strive to make decisions that will protect both our resources and the health and welfare of those who live in and visit the wonderful state of Florida.