By Jim Ash
Tallahassee Democrat
04/29/08

 In the Senate’s ongoing goodbyes and recognition for senators leaving after this session, Sen. Burt Saunders, R-Naples, chalked up his share of stories.

All were good, almost all talked about how Saunders rarely takes credit for his work, and Saunders himself -- unlike other senators who’ve talked mostly about themselves and their own experiences in their allotted time -- used virtually all his remarks to thank others.

In all Saunders’ 10 years in the Senate, said Senate President Ken Pruitt, R-Port St, Lucie, “I’ve never heard an unkind word or complaint from this man. But don’t mistake his quiet for inaction,” and went on to congratulate Saunders for a number of his key initiatives, including the state’s preservation programs for environmentally valuable land.

Sen. Lisa Carlton, R-Sarasota, and now chair of the Senate’s budget committee, pointed out that she has been a close friend of Saunders’ since their years together in the House.

What many people may not fully realize, she said, “he has an undying love and devotion for his family…he spends a lot of time with his sons. He is one of the most involved fathers I have ever met, He’s an incredible role model” for other parents in the process.

Sen. Larcenia Bullard, D-Miami, sobbed through her farewell remarks, including how Saunders did so many small things for her while she was recovering from back surgery; things that may have seemed trivial, but were critical for her to get through sessions.

She thanked him “for all the little things you did for me, because you knew I needed you.”

And Sen. Paula Dockery, R-Lakeland, went back to legislative matters when she praised Saunders for “not always voting the easy way, but the way you thought was right.” When bills in his committee were “not ready for prime time,” she said, many senators would have simply passed them along to the next committee to handle. “But you didn’t take the easy way,” she said. “You took the right way. You held them in your committee” until things were worked out or settled one way or another.

Although no official mention was made of Saunders’ plans, he intends to run for Congress this fall, against U.S. Rep. Connie Mack, R-Fort Myers, under the “no party affiliation” on the ballot.
 

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