TALLAHASSEE -- Florida House Speaker Ray Sansom appointed key policy leaders for the 2009 Legislature Tuesday, but the news remained in the shadow of a controversy that has been the talk of the Capitol for weeks.

An outcry is growing over revelations that Sansom steered millions of dollars in tax money to a small college that quietly hired him as a highly paid, part-time administrator on the same day he took over as House Speaker.

Sansom's troubles have even some Republicans grumbling about a lack of judgement that has stained the entire Legislature. But in a stark reminder of how powerful the House Speaker position is, few elected officials talked openly.

''The connections are just a little too close,'' Sen. Carey Baker, R-Eustis, said of Sansom and Northwest Florida State College president Bob Richburg.

But voters are having no trouble expressing themselves, in phone calls and letters to lawmakers.

So incensed was Charles Luthin of Tampa that he called Richburg to complain, then sent a letter to him and other college officials demanding action.

''Your decision to hire Rep. Sansom and his decision to take the job not only appears wrong, IT IS WRONG,'' Luthin wrote. ``Give him a plaque or host a thank you dinner, but do not hire him.''

On Nov. 18, the college hired Sansom, R-Destin, into an unadvertised $110,000 per year vice president's job. The Miami Herald/St. Petersburg Times Tallahassee Bureau reported that in recent years, as Sansom preached the need for fiscal restraint, he directed more than $25 million to the school, which is in Niceville.

On Sunday, the Times/Herald reported that Sansom inserted $6 million into the 2007-08 budget for an airport building that is virtually identical to a project championed by Jay Odom, a major Republican donor and friend.

Odom had gained the endorsement of Destin city officials in 2007 to seek state money to build an emergency operations center where he could store larger planes from his new jet business in peaceful times.

Odom's project never was built, but that spring, Sansom got money for Northwest Florida State College to construct an airport building to train emergency workers.

Odom denies that he intended to use the college building to house his jets, but an Odom employee said that was the plan.

The Times/Herald previously reported that Sansom used his powerful position as chief budget writer in the House to direct tens of millions in extra funding to the college.

Sansom was not available for comment Tuesday. Northwest Florida State College did not respond to repeated requests for comment.

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