* “Emily’s List is perceived as a liberal women’s group, and she’s trying to run a moderate campaign.” –Ric Sisser, Miami political consultant on Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink’s less-than-transparent approach to revealing how much money she has raised from Emily’s List members.
* “The decision is not an easy one, nor will it be popular with residents. It’s about the homeless. … It’s the right thing to do, and it’s the only thing I can do.” Hillsborough County Commissioner Rose Ferlita on her (minority) vote in favor of a rezoning request to expedite the Catholic Charities/Hillsborough Cares plan for a transitional housing tent city east of Tampa.
* “…That’s what their communication was to us today, ‘Look, we need to see long-term commitment on rail activity in Florida if we’re going to make this investment.’” –Florida Senate President Jeff Atwater, R-North Palm Beach, on what federal transportation officials are saying and why that message needs to translate into a special legislation session in December to deal with commuter rail.
* “He hasn’t decided whether he’ll support such a thing at this time.” –Jill Chamberlin, spokeswoman for Florida House Speaker Larry Cretul, on Cretul’s take on the need for scheduling such a special session on commuter rail.
* “Even though we’re still having a declining rate, it has moderated, and we’re looking for every positive sign we can find.” –Agency for Workforce Innovation chief economist Rebecca Rust addressing the reality that although Florida lost 18,000 jobs last month, the pace of job loss continues to lessen.
* “Kids will get these ideas, and they can’t literally stop to deliberate and think, ‘God, that’s a really stupid thing.’ The second thing you have is group dynamics: Kids will do things in groups that they will never do individually.” —Dr. Kathleen Heide, USF criminology professor, explaining factors likely contributing to the horrific incident in Deerfield Beach, where a group of teens doused a 15-year-old with rubbing alcohol and set him afire.