From Tallahassee reporter Kevin Begos: Gov. Charlie Crist took the oath of office on a chilly day in Tallahassee, but promised a warm and bright future. Crist called rising property tax and insurance rates the greatest threat to prosperity in Florida, and pledged to introduce and support a constitutional amendment that would give taxpayers a means of lowering their taxes.

The state “must be to reduce the burden on our people from the spiraling costs of property insurance and property taxes,” he said.

“I have traveled the state, and everywhere I go I hear from our people that escalating property taxes and insurance premiums are each day taking more from our wallets; diminishing bit by bit our opportunity to enjoy what Florida has to offer.... We need action and our people deserve relief. And most of all we need comprehensive reform. No stop-gap measures, no Band-Aids, no finger in the dike. We need permanent, real solutions. “

Crist also highlighted a new office of Open Government, to give citizens better access to public records, and called for government business to be written in
clear language that everyone can understand.

Crist was attracting cautious support from some unexpected sources on his first day in office.

“I hope he’ll be more compassionate and less directed toward the well-to-do,” said Michael Weddington, one of three people at the inauguration holding signs protesting the war in Iraq and urging that American troops be brought home.

Crist has nothing to do with Iraq policy, but Weddington noted that “Jeb Bush is on the platform,” too, and claimed he had a role.

In his speech, Crist called Bush “America’s greatest governor.”

In his speech Crist promised to lead a series of global trade missions to attract business to Florida, starting with Israel.

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