LANE: DeSantis' first week brings welcome changes

Conventional wisdom was that the governorships of Ron DeSantis and Rick Scott, both Trump-approved Republicans, would blend seamlessly into one another. Conventional wisdom was wrong again.

First, there was DeSantis’ noting in his inaugural address Tuesday that the environment and water quality “are foundational to our prosperity as a state.” Obvious enough, but a rhetorical step away from the Scott administration’s dismal environmental record.

This was followed Thursday with a call for $2.5 billion in additional Everglades and water resource spending over four years, the creation of a blue-green algae task force, and appointment of a chief science officer. DeSantis' executive order also told the Department of Environmental Protection to organize an Office of Resilience and Coastal Protection “to help prepare Florida’s coastal communities and habitats for impacts from sea level rise.”

He didn’t use the forbidden term “global warming” but talking about sea-level rise had been frowned upon during Scott’s governorship. This is progress.

[READ MORE: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signs order to fight algae, red tide]

This was followed by DeSantis asking members of the South Florida Water Management District board to resign. “I thank you for your service to the State of Florida, but it is time for a clean reset of the leadership of the Board to focus the appropriate attention on this bold vision. Therefore, I ask that each of you tender your resignation from the Board, effective immediately,” his letter said.

Environmentalists have long accused the SFWMD of being a tool of the sugar industry. That criticism came to a head in November when after a quickie, overnight agenda edit, the district board suddenly agreed to lease 16,000 acres of land to a subsidiary of the Florida Crystals sugar company. That land had been earmarked for a project designed to cut polluted discharges from Lake Okeechobee into rivers.

Supporters of the project, including U.S. Rep. Brian Mast, R-Stuart, were outraged. They saw this as a strategy to block plans for fighting blue-green algae, the green slime that periodically chokes the Intracoastal Waterway. Mast said the move demonstrated a "huge level of arrogance.” Hard to argue with that.

Politically, the sugar industry was a major contributor to Adam Putnam’s gubernatorial campaign back when Putnam opposed DeSantis in the Republican primary. Which makes it’s no surprise that the new governor sees less reason than the old one to do Big Sugar any favors.

But wait, there’s more.

Scott made more than 70 last-minute appointments on his way out the door. Appointments that, it turned out, were news to the new governor’s team.

Among those appointed was Carlos Beruff, named to the Florida Wildlife Commission. Beruff, a developer, has no wildlife management background but a lot of background in fighting charges that his developments are not environmentally responsible.

DeSantis’ transition team said it would review any appointments that require Senate approval and are revocable. Those would include Beruff’s.

And finally, in another break with the Scott administration, the new governor Friday joined the rest of the Florida Cabinet in voting for a pardon for the Groveland Four.

[READ MORE: Our view -- Move to pardon the Groveland Four]

The Groveland Four were black men the notorious Lake County Sheriff Willis McCall framed for the rape of a white woman. McCall executed one of them by a country roadside in 1951. Another had been shot and killed when chased down by posse during the initial manhunt.

Two others had confessions beaten out of them, were convicted and imprisoned. One of them, Walter Irvin, might have died in Florida’s electric chair, but Gov. LeRoy Collins commuted his sentence.

To put the state on record as regretting this injustice, the Florida Legislature passed a bill in 2017 calling on Gov. Rick Scott to pardon the Groveland Four. Scott never did.  Fortunately, a new governor and Cabinet finally acted instead.

A full first week for a new administration. These are promising shifts. Sure, some are merely symbolic, but let’s hope they are signs of more changes to come.