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Claude Kirk, ex-Florida governor

Claude Kirk Jr., who during his single, spectacularly colorful term as Florida’s governor from 1967 to 1971, hired a private police force, defied federal court orders and was a herald of a Republican resurgence in the state, died Sept. 28 at his home in West Palm Beach, Fla. He was 85.

He had had a heart attack in February, his son Erik Kirk said, and apparently had another heart attack in his sleep.

Kirk was elected to office only once, winning Florida’s gubernatorial race in 1966 as the first Republican to hold the seat in 94 years. He promised to improve the state’s recreation, tourism and business climate without raising taxes.

He called Miami — the home of his Democratic opponent — a “cesspool of crime” and proffered a slogan that was seen, even in 1966, as a thinly veiled segregationist plea: “Your home is your castle; protect it.”

He called the legislature into session to write a new state constitution, hired a private company to look into statewide corruption and traveled 10,000 miles a month to deliver speeches around the country.

He once rode a horse to a news conference and planted the state flag on the ocean floor, vowing to use state-owned airplanes to defend Florida’s territorial rights.

A New York Times magazine profile in 1967 declared that Kirk was “playing Governor the way Errol Flynn used to play Captain Blood — charming, daring, somewhat arrogant, seldom going by the rules.”

As one of the first two GOP governors in the old Confederacy since Reconstruction — Winthrop Rockefeller of Arkansas was also elected in 1966 — Kirk helped lead a Republican revival in the South. He encouraged speculation that he was a favorite for the 1968 Republican vice presidential nomination, which ultimately went to Maryland Gov. Spiro T. Agnew.

Early in his term, Kirk set up a statewide environmental protection agency and killed a plan to build a barge canal across Florida. Historian and biographer Edmund Kallina Jr. told the Palm Beach Post in 2002 that Kirk “defined the three major issues in Florida for the 20th and 21st centuries: crime, education and the environment.

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Even though we’ve had quiet hurricane seasons in Florida during the past three years, there are problems in the coming year ahead.

To begin with more rate increases are on the way. Depending on where you live, you will be facing increases of up to 10% from Florida’s largest insurance company of last resort. Private Florida homeowners insurance companies have received rate increases in the range of 10-15%.

Those rate increases might not sound alarming to you. But they are happening during one of the worst economies in our lifetime. In addition, Florida recently passed Texas with the highest home insurance rates in the nation. So a 15% increase could be a very nasty surprise on top of an annual premium that is already high to begin with. Finally, while these are average rate increases, expect to pay a lot more if you live in South Florida Counties such as Dade, Broward, or Palm Beach.

Homeowner insurance policy cancellations will continue to occur in Florida during the coming year. The largest private Florida home insurance company recently received approval to cancel 125,000 policies over the next two years. Late last year, another national carrier received approval to drop 60,000 policies. Again, there could be a lot more cancellations in major areas such as Miami, Tampa, and West Palm Beach especially for older homes and homes close to the coast.

Watch for fewer discounts in the coming year. Fewer discounts will add to the 10-15% rate increases that have already been approved. Your company could discontinue discounts you’ve been enjoying for being claim free and multi-line insurance discounts. Finally, homeowners insurance companies in Florida are focused on the amount of wind mitigation discounts you receive for installing a new roof or hurricane shutters. If they are successful in challenging those discounts in the upcoming session of the Florida legislature, you could end up paying a lot more.

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