Text of Crist’s inaugural address, as provided by his office:

January 2, 2007
Inaugural Address
Governor Charlie Crist

What a wonderful day to be a Floridian.

The sun shines upon our faces and warms our hearts, and the future stands before us.

But before we chart a course for tomorrow, we must realize how we arrived in this place, at this time, and for this purpose.

For the last eight years this state has been led by a great governor; a man who in my opinion is America’s greatest governor. 

Jeb Bush showed us how government can pursue audacious goals with vision and integrity.

After 8 years, our taxes are lower, one million more people are earning paychecks in new jobs, and thousands more of our students are receiving a year’s worth of knowledge in a year’s worth of time.

Governor, your legacy will be those and other successes – not the least of which was your commitment to our safety. Through eight hurricanes in 15 months, you were the beacon of light and our unparalleled leader when times were tough.

On behalf of everyone who calls this state home, I thank you for your service. You will be missed, but you most certainly will not be forgotten. 

                          *****
Today is also a day to reflect on our 38th President, Gerald Ford.  He was a man of great integrity.  He was honest, decent, and humble.  Seeking to bind the wounds of Vietnam and Watergate, he asked Americans to care for each other with brotherly love.  President Ford put country before self, listened to all, and reached across the aisle.  At this time, I ask that we all take a moment in silence to remember President Ford and his family. 

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Each of us is the product of our upbringing.  Governor Bush and I both share the good fortune of having been raised by two wonderful parents.  I would not stand before you today without the blessings bestowed upon me by God, and those blessings started with my mother and father. Through word and deed they have shown me the meaning of selfless love.  And it was not on my greatest days… but on my worst… that I most felt their love.  Thank you Mom and Dad; I love you so much.

I have received so much from God, from my parents and family, from countless friends.

And I have received beyond measure from the people of Florida, who have blessed me with the opportunity to serve them.  I am humbled by the trust and confidence they have placed in me, and I will strive to honor that trust and confidence every day in my service to them.

I believe that service to others is the noblest calling available to us as Floridians and Americans.

Many serve through churches or civic organizations. Some serve heroically by putting on a uniform as a law enforcement officer, firefighter, or member of our nation’s military. Some serve by working for the public, including those incredible individuals known as teachers. Others serve by volunteering wherever and whenever their help is needed.

I have been privileged to serve the people of this great state we call Florida.  She is the state with the prettiest name, and I love her.  And it is with a servant’s heart that I have taken this oath today to protect and defend Florida, and help her people achieve their great potential, and boundless dreams.

                          *****

President Ronald Reagan described America as a shinning city on a hill.  If that is true, and I believe it is, than Florida is the shinning state on the mountain top.

Florida is a state more than any other that defines the breathtaking scope of our American experience.  It was here that Europeans first ventured into the New World, and it was from here that genius and courage took mankind to the moon.  It is Florida where America literally reaches for the stars.  And yet, despite these past accomplishments, there is no greater time in our history than now.

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Today, we gather together not just at a particular place on the map, nor merely at a chosen time on the clock.  We meet at the beginning of a new year.  It is not by coincidence that we swear in our leaders at this time of new beginnings.  We take the mantle of leadership at this time because the New Year is a time of renewal.

A time of resolutions.

A time to assess progress and measure dreams.

And just as we do it individually, just as we do it as families, we must also do it together, as a state.

What are we doing right?

What do we need to change, to do better?

This is the time to ask those questions, to reach for new conclusions and fresh ideas.

This is the time to plot new courses, embrace new possibilities and risk new solutions.

We face no obstacle greater than our abilities.

No problem that cannot be solved.

Our challenge: To recognize our common future, our common destiny.

To understand that we are stronger in cooperation than in competition.

That the work we need to do, we can only do together.

Politics at its worst separates us.

And though it is political process that has brought us here today, only our commitment to each other, to a better way of life, will take us where we need to go.

I’ve seen that commitment, I’ve seen our greatness in the faces of Florida.

Our values, our outlook, always more similar than different.

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We have a common vision as Floridians.

Meaningful, secure work with good pay and good benefits;

Quality, affordable, accessible health care;

A good home on a safe street in a safe neighborhood;

World-class schools preparing our children for the jobs of the future;

Clean rivers, beautiful beaches and coastlines free of oil drilling.

This is a vision we can make a reality.

If we come together, work together – we will succeed together.

And to those of us entrusted with the public confidence, our mission has never been more clear:

Solve problems, don’t politicize them.

Put the common good above partisan politics.  We will work together to do what is right.

And reject labels – red, blue; Liberal, Conservative; Democrat, Republican;

There is only one label that really matters—Floridian.  We are all Floridians.

There are people who will tell you that Florida’s best days are behind her—That the demands are too many and the resources too few—That tomorrow’s price is too costly; tomorrow’s burden to heavy to bear. 

And to these people, I declare, you are wrong.

Our best days are not behind us, but before us.  This will be Florida’s greatest century.  I’ll say it again:  This will be Florida’s greatest century!  Second best is no longer acceptable.  This will be the time when we take our rightful place not near the top, but at the top.  My friends, with your help, Florida will stand before the world as a shining symbol of all that can be achieved.

If we move forward together as Floridians to do the people’s work, there is nothing we cannot achieve!

This is our calling, this is our duty, this is our destiny!

The People’s legislature and the People’s Governor following the People’s Agenda.

                          *****

Item one on that agenda must be to reduce the burden on our people from the spiraling costs of property insurance and property taxes.

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.

In these travels the Lieutenant Governor and I have spoken with thousands of Floridians who are suffering.  One of those Floridians is Guinevive Kilgore.  An 83 year old, African-American woman from Pensacola.  Guinevive told us that her property insurance this year climbed from a thousand dollars a year to more than five thousand dollars. 

Skyrocketing property insurance and property tax rates are a real threat to our citizens. The impact is crippling.

Some of our families are no longer able to afford their homes, spending down their retirement to keep a roof over their head, leveraging their children’s future to keep food on the table.

This cannot stand.

Our families cannot be secure if their homes are at risk.  Our people cannot be productive if they are consumed with worry.  Our state cannot be a place of opportunity if we cannot fulfill the American promise of owning an affordable home.

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.

The time has come to expand Florida’s homestead exemption as a shield against burdensome taxes and to rein in overreaching insurance companies.  Two weeks from today the Legislature will convene in a special session to address the insurance crisis.  I pledge the full resources of my office to work with the leaders of the House and Senate along with our new Chief Financial Officer to bring our people the relief they need.

And this coming March, when the legislature convenes in its annual session, I pledge to work with our state leaders to put before the people a constitutional amendment to cut our property taxes.

Floridians—Democrats, Republicans, and Independents—want this relief.  Just like state government, local governments must live within their means, and we must give the people the opportunity to amend their constitution to lower their property taxes.

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We also need to make sure that the nation, the world, knows Florida is open for business.

There is no better place in the world to work, live and raise a family than Florida.

After we conclude the legislative session this spring, I will lead Florida on the first of many trade missions.  We will start with a trip to Israel.

We must continue to attract new business to Florida. 

Florida has the nation’s best and brightest.

Our workers are skilled and trained.

Our colleges and universities are national leaders.

We are poised to be an economic engine like no other.

And as Governor, I’ll make sure we fulfill that potential.

I’ll work to ensure Florida is open for business, that our citizens do not just have jobs, but good jobs.

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But Florida cannot be an economic leader and a jobs producer unless every child is receiving a world-class education.

And as product of Florida’s public schools, I know that the essential ingredient in a first class education is our teachers.  We must continue to recruit and retain the very best and brightest to teach our children, and we must pay them more.

We have no higher priority, no higher calling, than to make sure our children are prepared, not only to participate in but to lead in the highly competitive global economy.

With the internet, modern travel and transportation, the global economy is at our doorstep.

Our children don’t have to go looking for opportunity.  If they’re ready, opportunity will come to them.

We need to make sure they’re ready.  It is our highest calling, and our most important responsibility.

We need to continue on the path of making Florida’s education the gold standard.

We can, and we will.

Who among us doesn’t believe that our students deserve to be ranked among the very best?  Who among us doesn’t believe that in a global society we must equip our children to compete against Europe, China and India in this century?  Who among us doesn’t believe we can do better…that we must do better…if we are to fulfill our destiny as a state?

I believe these things with all my heart.  We have been given the tools to build, and now build we must.  It is time to create an education system that is not only the best in the country, but the best in the world.

                          ******

Finally, we must continue to strive to put government in the service of the people.  Of the people, by the people and for the people—powerful words of Abraham Lincoln.

Our Constitution requires that our government be open and transparent, and under my administration it will be like never before.

 

Tomorrow, by Executive Order I will create the Office of Open Government to ensure that the people have accessibility to their leaders and the workings of their elected officials.  I will charge the Office of Citizens Service and every executive agency to conduct a top-to-bottom review of how we can better serve the people.  And I will also institute a code of ethics within the executive branch to ensure the people will have trust and faith in their leaders.

That same order will also require that the agencies of Government provide easy access to our citizens, our bosses, by requiring that government communicate in clear and plain language.  There are some in government who seek to elevate themselves with complexity and jargon; to make the simple, complex, and the clear, clouded. For if the people cannot understand their government, than power rests with only a few.  No longer.  Our people will not be disenfranchised by the parlance of bureaucracy.  This is the people’s government, and clear, plain language will be used to make it open and transparent to all. 

                          *****

So today we begin,

The sun is shining on our faces,

Optimism and opportunity are in the air

And the horizon is clear as far as we can see.

We live in the very best place on earth at the best time in history.

We truly are blessed.

And with that blessing comes responsibility.  To who much is given, much is expected.

The nation looks to us to lead.  And it should.

We are setting the bar high, and we should.

 

Inaugurations and new years are a time of renewal, a time for us to renew our commitment to each other. 

My grandfather Adam Christodoulos came to this country from his native Cypress as a penniless, 14-year-old boy.  He did not have family here, and he didn’t speak the language.  All he had was a dream; a dream of a land of limitless possibilities; a land where government stayed within its proper bounds so that the opportunities for its citizens were boundless. 

He worked as a shoeshine boy so that his children and grandchildren could succeed.  While he is no longer with us; he is really still here. And I am confident that he can see today that his grandson has become the Governor of the greatest state in the greatest nation on earth. 

My grandfather saw the America that I still see.  And I see Florida leading the way for America.  From Adam and people like him, we have received the gift.  Now it is our turn to be the givers of the gift.  As a state, our best days are not behind us.  Florida’s best days are ahead of us.  And with your help and the grace of God, this will be Florida’s Greatest Century.

     
God bless you, and God bless the great State of Florida

 

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