DeSantis says Legislature needs to meet before year’s end to deal with condo crisis

Gov. Ron DeSantis said Thursday that the Legislature needs to convene in Tallahassee before the end of the year to help condominium owners facing a deadline that could result in them having to pay extraordinarily expensive fees that many cannot afford.

The emerging crisis revolves around a bill the Legislature passed unanimously, and DeSantis signed two years ago in response to the 2021 collapse of the Champlain Towers South condominium in Surfside, which resulted in the deaths of 98 people.

The legislation requires all condos 30 years and older to undergo inspections by a qualified engineer or architect by Dec. 31, so they can calculate how much money condo associations need to be set aside for repairs. Those repairs could run into millions of dollars, with unit owners hit with expensive special assessments and higher monthly fees.

“We have to act this year,” DeSantis said in Pinellas Park just after concluding a 45-minute roundtable discussion with Pinellas Republican state Sen. Nick DiCeglie and three condo association leaders in Pinellas County.

“The Legislature isn’t even coming into session until March of next year. That obviously is not appropriate, and it needs to be done before the end of the calendar year. So, I would very much mark your calendar at some point over the next three, three-and-a-half months — something will be done.”

This was the second roundtable discussion with condo owners and association leaders that DeSantis has sponsored recently, as he and other state lawmakers work to discuss potential remedies before gathering formally to create new policies to aid condo owners. He didn’t say there would have to be a special session per se, but that lawmakers must meet sometime after the election in either November or December to deal with the situation.

Florida lawmakers are scheduled to hold a post-election organization session on Nov. 19, when new members will be sworn in. The Florida House has scheduled its first committee week leading into the 2025 session for Dec. 2-6, while the Senate is scheduled to meet from Dec. 9-13.

DeSantis’ announcement comes a month after outgoing Senate President Kathleen Passidomo rejected the idea of a special session on the issue, saying that condominium laws could be addressed during regular committee meetings and the 2025 regular session.

“You can call a special session without having the reforms lined up,” the governor said in response to a question about calling for an earlier special session.

“If they’re half-baked, people just run around like chickens with their heads cut off and you could end up generating a product that causes problems. So, we’re doing this very thoughtfully. … I think they’re going to want to call a session when they’re in anyway, so it’s going to happen, but we’ve got to do this thoughtfully, and we have to make sure that this is giving the relief that people need.”

Progressive prosecutors

The governor was also asked (by a Phoenix reporter) about a question that hangs over the coming judicial elections in Florida’s Ninth (Orange and Osceola counties) and Thirteenth (Hillsborough County) circuits as vote-by-mail ballots are about to be sent out ahead of the Nov. 5 election:

Would he once again suspend the Democratic state attorneys running for re-election — Monique Worrell and Andrew Warren, if they win in November?

Worrell faces nonparty-affiliated candidate Andrew Bain while Warren is running against Republican Suzy Lopez, both of whom the governor handpicked to succeed them over the past two years.

DeSantis chose not to answer the question directly, but instead took more than four minutes to bash both Worrell and Warren to a statewide audience watching the press conference while essentially making the case for their opponents.

“When those folks were in office, they took the position that they didn’t have to enforce laws that they disagreed with,” he began. “That caused people to be put back on the street who then victimized folks who should not have been victimized.”

He said that Hillsborough, Orange, and Osceola counties were all much safer now than before.

“Talk to [Hillsborough County] Sheriff [Chad] Chronister, talk to the folks who are on the beat in Osceola and Orange counties, people who work for the deputy sheriffs and police officers. They want a prosecutor who is willing to stand up for them against the criminals,” he added.

Warren and Worrell argue the governor punished them for political reasons because they pursued progressive policies on which they’d won their elections.

The Phoenix reported last week that Thomas Feiter, an Orlando attorney who lost in the Republican primary election in the Ninth Circuit last month, has said that James Uthmeier, DeSantis’ chief-of-staff, told him in July that in fact DeSantis will suspend Worrell again if she wins the election.

Feiter said that discussion took place as Uthmeier pressured him to drop out of the race to pave the way for DeSantis’ appointee, Bain.

School threats

DeSantis also weighed in on the flood of violent threats by students in K-12 schools throughout the state in the past few weeks, generally as hoaxes.

“It is not a joke to threaten violence at a school,” the governor said. “Some people think that’s funny. Some people think that they can get attention from that; some people get a kick out of creating anxiety in the community. I can tell you that, in Florida, if you’re doing that, you’re going to be held accountable. And we’re going to prosecute you.”

DeSantis praised Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood, who has made national news by threating kids making these threats with “public embarrassment.” Chitwood followed through on Monday by releasing a mugshot of an 11-year-old accused of making threats to commit a mass shooting at a middle school, USA Today reported. His office also released video of a perp walk.

“Fake threat is not a joke, and we’ll hold you accountable if you’re doing that,” he said.