Earlier in the month, Tampa Bay Times published an editorial blasting Putnam for his position on Senate President Joe Negron’s (R-Stuart) proposed land purchase for a Lake Okeechobee reservoir. In the piece, Kimberly Mitchell suggests that Putnam’s position on the purchase stems not from fiscal conservatism, but from the hundreds of thousands of dollars that he has received from Big Sugar and the companies growing sugar cane in the Everglades. These companies stand in opposition to the land acquisition. Closing the article, Mitchell writes:
One reporter asked Putnam if he would ever take a position against the sugar companies. His answer: “I was opposed to it (buying U.S. Sugar land) the first iteration of the buyout, which is not the position they held, so I would say I already have a track record.”
When he was reminded that, back then, Florida Crystals shared his opposition to the buyout (unlike U.S. Sugar, which had contracted to sell all their holdings), Putnam gave what might have been the most telling response of his career.
