Mike Scott (sheriff)
| Michael (Mike) Scott | |
|---|---|
| Sheriff | |
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office January, 2005 | |
| Preceded by | Rodney Shoap |
| Constituency | Lee County, FL |
| Personal details | |
| Political party | Republican |
Michael Joseph Scott (born 1963), known as Mike Scott was the Sheriff of Lee County, Florida as of 2011, the 12th person to head the Lee County Sheriff's Office since it began in 1887.[1] The county makes up the entirety of the Cape Coral-Fort Myers MSA, and is the most populous county in Southwest Florida. Its county seat is Fort Myers, and its largest city is Cape Coral.[2] Scott is a Republican, and has held the office of Sheriff in Lee County since 2004. He was re-elected in the fall of 2008 and again in 2012.
Early life
Scott was born and raised in Lee County. He is a third generation Lee County resident. Scott is married to his wife Krista and they have 2 daughters, Lindsay and MacKenzie.
Education
Scott graduated from North Fort Myers High School in 1981. He has a Bachelor's Degree in Political Science from University of South Florida. Scott also has a Master's Degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Public Administration from IMPAC University.[1]
Professional
In 1988, Scott joined the Lee County Sheriff’s Office, after working as a Probation and Parole Officer for the State of Florida for 2 years. During assignments as Public Information Officer, he was spokesperson for the Sheriff’s Office on a wide variety of matters. He also served as the Law Enforcement Coordinator for the Southwest Florida Crime Stoppers Program.[1]
Locally, the Children’s Home Society presented Scott the 2006 Safe At Home Award for his efforts to keep all children safe in Lee County. In his first year in office, the Florida Crime Prevention Association awarded him the 2005 President’s Award, the highest honor given to any chief or sheriff in Florida for his or her progressive actions in the area of crime prevention.[1]
Florida’s fellow sheriffs in August 2007 elected Scott to the Florida Sheriff’s Association’s Board of Directors.[3] In addition, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement in 2006 appointed Scott co-chair of the nine-county Southwest Regional Domestic Security Task Force.[1][4]
Public office
Scott left the Southwest Florida Crime Stoppers agency to campaign in 2003 as a Republican candidate for Sheriff and won his first term as Sheriff of Lee County.
In August 2008, Scott won the Republican primary for re-election in August 2008 with over 90% of votes.[5] Scott was re-elected in November 2008 with nearly 75% of the vote[6] and November 2012 with 66% of the vote.[7]
Controversy regarding use of Barack Obama's middle name
At a rally for John McCain and Sarah Palin, Scott, appearing in uniform, referred to Barack Obama's full name, telling the crowd of nearly 9,000 McCain-Palin supporters, "On Nov. 4, let's leave Barack Hussein Obama wondering what happened." Scott’s remarks came as part of a string of warm-up speeches while Palin attended a private fundraiser in nearby Naples, FL, over an hour before she had arrived at the event site. Many citizens and media outlets have decried the remark as divisive and unacceptable for an elected public official. The McCain-Palin campaign issued a public statement distancing itself from Scott's comments.[8]
On October 6, 2008, Scott said, "I absolutely, unequivocally don’t regret saying it. In order to be a speaker at this event, I had to give my full name — Michael Joseph Scott — to the Secret Service, even though I’m the sheriff of Lee County. So why would I apologize?" The News-Press also reported that when asked why he then did not use Palin's middle name, Scott admitted he did not know it. "I just wanted to use his full name," Scott said. "And frankly, if this is such a hot-button issue, he as a Harvard lawyer could have changed it if he didn’t like it."[9]
On June 15, 2009, the Office of Special Counsel informed Scott they had closed his case without further action. Scott calls the letter his "second vindication." “The first was on Inauguration Day when our President placed his hand on a Bible and was sworn in by his full name...Barack Hussein Obama ... end of story.”[10]