Florida College’s Board Ousts President and Scraps Controversial Project

Trustees of Northwest Florida State College today ousted James R. Richburg, the college’s president, who faces felony charges related to the financing of a planned $6-million college facility, The Miami Herald reported. The board also voted to effectively scrap the state-backed project, according to the St. Petersburg Times.

A grand jury recently indicted Mr. Richburg and a Florida lawmaker, Rep. Ray Sansom, accusing them of falsely securing state money to build an aircraft hangar for a friend and major political donor. Mr. Sansom and Mr. Richburg both face felony misconduct charges, while Mr. Richburg, president of the college since 1987, was also indicted for perjury.

Florida’s governor, Charlie Crist, plans to withhold the $6-million state appropriation, and has asked the college to reimburse the more than $300,000 that has been spent so far on the project. Trustees said today that they hoped Governor Crist would withdraw that request.

Despite the messy scandal, Mr. Richburg apparently has supporters. One trustee defended the president during the board’s meeting today, saying the move to oust him was hasty. “Media should not be our concern,” he said to applause, according to the newspaper.