Citizens Property Insurance Executive Left Trail of Big Bills - The Ledger

<p>When Thomas Grady left another state job in March to become interim president of Citizens Property Insurance, he sent his staff a goodbye letter that urged:</p><p>"Think different. Be heard. But most of all, suck the marrow out of life, inside and outside the office."</p><p>Grady, a millionaire Naples securities lawyer and friend of Gov. Rick Scott, seems to have taken his own advice. In less than two months at state-run Citizens, he spent nearly $10,000 on expensive hotel rooms, airplane trips, a limo ride and a three-night stay in Bermuda.</p><p>And those business expenses don't include the cost of criss-crossing Florida in May when he met with newspaper editorial boards for a "listening tour" as he lobbied unsuccessfully to get the Citizens job permanently. Grady was passed over last week in favor of an out-of-state replacement.</p><p>On Tuesday, Grady defended his expenses, saying he was trying to immerse himself in his new duties, which required meeting with Citizens' employees and board members and others in the insurance industry. He also said he saved the company "tens of thousands of dollars" by refusing some reimbursements and declining to join other Citizens employees and board members on an April trip to London to meet with insurers.</p><p>"I think we were very frugal at expenditures actually," Grady said. "You couldn't do what I did for less money."</p><p>Among Grady's expenses:</p><p>$2,928 for round-trip business and first-class airfare to Hamilton, Bermuda, for meetings with insurers.</p><p>Two nights at the Ritz-Carlton on Amelia Island for $259 a night.</p><p>Four nights with meals at the Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay for a total tab of $941.</p><p>$319 for a single night at the Tampa Airport Marriott.</p><p>$114 for a limo ride to the Fort Myers airport from his $4.2 million Naples home.</p><p>So far, Citizens has reimbursed Grady $9,334 for expenses he reported between March 12 and May 3. Yet to be submitted are bills for his subsequent media tour.</p><p>Grady is also entitled to an extra three weeks' salary as severance, about $18,000, after losing out on the top job to Barry Gilway, a former Maryland insurance executive who started this week.</p><p>State Sen. Mike Fasano, a frequent critic of Citizens, called expenses like the $259 Ritz-Carlton room "unconscionable."</p><p>"This is a perfect example of how out of touch he and others in Tallahassee are as far as understanding and appreciating what the little guy and gal are having to deal with economically today," said Fasano, R-New Port Richey.</p><p>John Wortman, a Citizens board member, said he was not aware of Grady's travel tab. Wortman said he will propose that future expenses of Citizens presidents be made public each month as part of the board's meeting agenda.</p><p>"I think we as a board ought to look at the (president's) expense account," Wortman said. "If what you're doing doesn't sit well on the front page of the newspaper, you shouldn't do it."</p><p>Citizens is controlled by the state and funded partly by assessments on all insured Floridians, not just its 1.4 million policyholders.</p><p>This isn't the first time Grady's spending has come under the spotlight.</p><p>In 2009, during a two-year term in the Florida House, Grady billed the state a total of $7,850 for regular use of a private plane. That was more than any other lawmaker charged for private flights.</p>