TALLAHASSEE -- On the morning the news broke, college president Bob Richburg sent a quick e-mail to his new employee, House Speaker Ray Sansom. ''Article seemed ok,'' he wrote.

''It was much better than expected!'' Sansom replied. ``You did a great job and I am honored to work for you.''

The fallout, four months later, is well known. Sansom reluctantly quit the $110,000-a-year job at Northwest Florida State College in Niceville that was announced that day and fellow Republicans ejected him as speaker.

As a grand jury reconvenes this week in Tallahassee to continue examining Sansom's ties to the school, some wonder why Richburg has not endured equal scrutiny.

It was Richburg who urged Sansom to get millions in state construction money for the college. It was Richburg who pushed Sansom to get favorable legislation passed. It was Richburg's idea to set up a meeting of the board of trustees that has raised the specter of a Sunshine Law violation.

''Why is Ray Sansom the only one being brought on the carpet?'' asked Judy Byrne Riley, a former member of the college foundation. ''Ray bears some responsibility,'' she said. ``But the sympathy in the community is with Ray Sansom. I don't hear any sympathy with Bob Richburg.''

ON JOB SINCE '87

Richburg, 64, is the son of educators and a former schoolmate of Newt Gingrich in Columbus, Ga. After attending the University of Georgia, Richburg embarked on a career that took him to colleges across Florida, eventually landing in Okaloosa County, where he has been president at Northwest Florida State College since 1987.

In the two decades since, Richburg has left a mixed record. Many say he has expanded educational and financial opportunities in the Panhandle. He has brought to campus a renowned arts center and symphony. He established a nursing program and started a charter high school.

''He's a visionary,'' said Carl Kuttler, president of St. Petersburg College, who adopted the charter school idea.

''He's interested in making sure things happen right for the community,'' said Bill Robinson, CEO of the local United Way, who said Richburg took the lead on addressing a homeless problem after Hurricane Ivan in 2004.

At the same time, Richburg has plenty of detractors, and he has attracted ample controversy.

`BE CAREFUL'

State Sen. Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, who has tussled with Richburg over education issues, said that had Sansom asked, he would have cautioned his good friend against getting involved with Richburg. ``I would have told him to be very, very careful.''

Years ago, Richburg hired another man who would be House speaker, Rep. Bo Johnson, D-Milton. But under fire for drawing two state salaries and for steering state money to the college, Johnson quit the job just as he became speaker.

Richburg's own salary has become a source of questions in recent months. He is one of the so-called double dippers, a state employee who ''retired'' for a short time then was rehired to the same job but with a pension. Richburg got a lump sum of $553,228 in 2007 and started collecting a monthly pension of $8,803 in addition to his $228,000 annual salary. Gaetz is sponsoring a bill to end the ''double dipping'' practice.

Richburg is not just an academic. He is one of the founders of Beach Community Bank, which has branches across the Panhandle.

Hard feelings still linger from when Richburg sold land to developers that had been given to the college by Mattie Kelly, the matriarch of one of Destin's founding families. A legal battle raged for years before the college prevailed in 2006.

Join the discussion

The Miami Herald is pleased to provide this opportunity to share information, experiences and observations about what's in the news. Some of the comments may be reprinted elsewhere in the site or in the newspaper. We encourage lively, open debate on the issues of the day, and ask that you refrain from profanity, hate speech, personal comments and remarks that are off point. In order to post comments, you must be a registered user of MiamiHerald.com. Your username will show along with the comments you post. Thank you for taking the time to offer your thoughts.

     Showing: Oldest first Newest first Most-recommended first Least-recommended first

@Nyx.AuthorDisplayName@ wrote on @Nyx.PostedAtTime@:

@Nyx.repliedToText@

@Nyx.replyAnswerText@

Reply to this Comment @Nyx.Recommender@ @Nyx.AbuseReporter@