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Published Sunday, May 12, 1996, in the Miami Herald.

this just for 10BR page folio and page reefer at bottom

HOW THE RANKINGS WERE DONE

To rate the effectiveness of Broward legislators, The Herald selected eight observers from diverse backgrounds. Standards used for the rankings include:

  • Effectiveness at passing legislation beneficial to the state, not a particular interest group.

  • Consistency of supporting legislation beneficial to the state.

  • Effectiveness at influencing colleagues on legislation beneficial to the state.

  • Effectiveness at representing his or her district.

    In addition to the standards listed above, rankers used a series of subjective criteria to rank legislators, from debating skills to leadership ability.

    Each rated each legislator numerically, working alternately from the category of highest to lowest and back again, until everyone was ranked. Then followed a meeting at which the rankers, by consensus, made changes in the results.

    Legislators rated in the top quarter in each chamber (the top 10 in the Senate and top 30 in the House) are shown numerically. Others are rated in second (three stars) and third (two stars) quarters, listed alphabetically within each quarter. No Broward legislators were ranked in the bottom quarter.

    The rankers were:

  • Dominic Calabro, president of Florida TaxWatch, a public-interest group that monitors government spending.

  • Bill Cotterell, chief of The Tallahassee Democrat's capital bureau.

  • Pete Dunbar, a former Republican lawmaker from suburban St. Petersburg and former general counsel to Gov. Bob Martinez, now a lobbyist for various business interests.

  • Casey Gluckman, a lobbyist for the Florida Wildlife Federation, Save the Manatee Club, Florida League of Anglers and Florida Hospices.

  • Victoria Hernandez, a lobbyist for Miami-Dade Community College.

  • Stephen MacNamara, a former aide to Gov. Bob Martinez and now a communications professor at Florida State University.

  • Kelvin Robinson, a lobbyist for the Florida League of Cities.

  • Mark Silva, chief of The Herald's capital bureau.

    The numerical rankings were done by the eight people listed above. The narrative comments listed here were written by Herald staff writer Steve Bousquet, who covers the Broward County legislative delegation.

    For more on the process, including the rankings of all 160 legislators, please see Page 28A.



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