Whether they served in public office nearly 50 years ago or still are on the campaign trail, these individuals know what it means to mix business and politics. Their backgrounds are as different as the industries they serve, yet their philosophies of how business and government work – or should work – together are similar. These men have given their time and expertise as civil servants and continue to shape our community through their many contributions in the business world.
Perry McGriff – Giving Back to the Community
Perry C. McGriff Jr. was born a leader. The fifth-generation Floridian was an all-star football and baseball champion, as well as a member of Phi Delta Theta and Florida Blue Key during his time as a student at the University of Florida half a century ago. Throughout the last 50 years, McGriff’s leadership skills have helped him become a successful businessman, public servant and philanthropist, enabling him to give back to the community he so loves.
McGriff has been in the insurance industry since 1962, when he first was appointed a State Farm agent. He retired from State Farm in July 2010, and in April 2012 he purchased Johnson & Fletcher Insurance. His five-year plan is to double the agency.
In addition to being a stellar businessman, McGriff also is known in the community for his political achievements. Most recently, he served in the Florida House of Representatives from 2000 to 2002. Prior to that, he served on the Alachua County Commission during the 1970s and the Gainesville City Commission in the late 1960s.
Given his many years of service, it may be surprising to learn that he never wanted to be a politician. It took a great deal of coaxing from a large group of community leaders – as well as his wife – to convince him to run for office in 1968.
“I didn’t choose to run [for Gainesville City Commission],” McGriff said.
Meryl Haynes, who was the architect of the Alachua county administration building and a former city commissioner, as well as a good friend of McGriff’s father, called him to his office one day. McGriff was shocked when he walked in and saw 50 people in the room.
“These were all business and community leaders,” McGriff recalled. “They were my father’s friends. They asked me to run. I still said ‘no.’”
However, they would not take “no” for an answer. McGriff said he would have to talk it over with his wife, thinking she would agree with him and let him off the hook. He was surprised by her reaction.
“She told me, ‘We need good, young people to run for office.’ I called Meryl back,” he said with a smile.
Nevertheless, McGriff was still hesitant. His father and his CPA both told him not to do it.
“I had no money and I didn’t know how to campaign. I needed to learn the issues. [Meryl and his friends] said they would do everything for me.”
In 1968, at the age of 31, McGriff was elected to the Gainesville City Commission, where he served one term. Although he was accustomed to running his own business, McGriff said that serving on the city commission gave him a great financial education.
In 1974, he was again encouraged to run for office. This time, it was for the Alachua County Commission. He won and served until 1980. During his time in office, the county commission brought Nationwide Insurance, Bear Archery and several other businesses to the area. Bringing so many jobs to the community is an accomplishment of which he still is proud.
“I enjoy helping people,” McGriff said.
His insurance business thrived during his time in public office. There were advantages to being in the public eye; people recognized him and that helped sales. However, he did not want to make a living in politics and from 1980 through 2000, McGriff dedicated his time to his business, his family and his community.
“I became a better person during that time because I was not in politics,” McGriff said.
He helped start a church, form the Gainesville Sports Commission and establish Millennium Bank. His greatest achievement, however, was creating the Five Points of Life Bicycle Ride. McGriff is a proud supporter of LifeSouth and is an example of practicing what he preaches—he has donated 61 gallons of blood so far and is ranked among the top 10 red blood donors in the U.S.
A competitor at heart, he stated, “I want to be No. 1.”
After 20 years away from political life, McGriff again ran for office and was elected to the Florida House of Representatives in 2000, where he served one term.
“I am partial to local government because that’s where I learned. I think there ought to be a requirement that anyone running for state or federal office should serve locally first.”
As a more mature individual, seasoned businessman and experienced public servant, he said he enjoyed his time in the state legislature. He did the right things for the right reasons.
“Coming from the business world, I would vote conservatively,” McGriff said. “Most of the time, I voted ‘no’ on budget increases.”
His final campaign was in 2010, when he ran for the Florida Senate. This was the most challenging, and it took a toll on McGriff and his family, who were personally attacked by the opposition and faced a tremendous amount of pressure.
“I can understand why good, honest people don’t want to run for office,” he stated.
McGriff lost the election, but he saw it as a blessing.
“You never, ever want to lose. But, God opens and closes doors. I am a better person because I lost an election,” McGriff said. “I gave back to the community and created jobs. It was unequivocally worth it.”
When asked if being in political office helped him to become a better businessperson, McGriff emphatically stated, “Absolutely!”
With several long-term employees, some of whom have been working with him for 40 years, McGriff believes his experiences have made him a better boss.
“God places you in positions of leadership, and you have to approach them with dignity, patience, wisdom and understanding,” he said. “I hope to leave a legacy of giving back to my community, because it has given so much to me.”
Jon Thomas – Driven by a Desire for Efficiency
Like Perry McGriff, Jon C. Thomas never saw himself serving in public office. Frustrated by inefficiency in government and by politicians who kept changing their minds, Thomas, a young business owner, husband and father, decided it was time to take matters into his own hands.
In the 1960s, Thomas lived in Broward County in South Florida, which at the time encompassed 29 cities. In 1969, he was elected Chairman of the Governmental Efficiency Study Commission of Broward County, which was tasked with consolidating the cities and services of the county. The process took about two years and caused grief among those in the legislative delegation from Broward. Thomas went to Tallahassee to ask for an extension. Unsatisfied by the manner in which the study was conducted, Thomas decided to run for a seat in the Florida House of Representatives against the person who voted to not extend the commission.
“The most difficult part of campaigning was asking for money,” Thomas recalled.
There were lobbyists hired to raise funds, but they did little to contribute. His campaign money came from friends or from his personal bank account.
His platform, “Efficiency in Government,” resounded with the voters and he won the 1970 election. He ran again, unopposed, in 1972.
“It was the first time a Republican ran unopposed for re-election in Broward County,” Thomas said.
Remembering a time when political opponents behaved differently than they often do today, Thomas said, “In the 1970s, [people from different parties] would battle all day and then at 5 p.m., we went and had a beer.”
Following his success in the legislature, Thomas ran for the Florida Senate in 1974. During his years in the Senate, he was Chair of the Health and Rehabilitative Services Committee and served on the Appropriations Committee and Commerce Committee.
“I am fiscally conservative and socially liberal. I believe in taking care of those who can’t care for themselves,” he said.
Once his term in the Senate ended, Thomas decided to not run again. He and his family had planned from the beginning to spend only eight years in public service.
“I don’t like imposed term limits because it gives power back to the government.”
“However,” he continued, “I planned to have only eight years in public service.”
During his years in public office, Thomas continued to own and operate funeral homes and cemeteries and other businesses, and would fly home every weekend to supervise. Day-to-day operations were managed on the phone.
“I had, and have, quality people working with me. My businesses did very well while I was in office,” Thomas said.
His family also seemed to do well during his time in office because they moved to Tallahassee with him. Two of his children were young when he was first elected, and one was born during his tenure. After serving in office, he and his family stayed in Broward County one year, but then returned to Tallahassee because it was a better place to raise a family. The Thomas family lived in Tallahassee for 20 years until they moved to Gainesville in 1986.
Thomas is mostly recognized as the CEO and President of Forest Meadows Funeral Home and Cemeteries, but he has been President, CEO, founder or chairman of nearly a dozen other companies. He believes his experiences in public office helped him become a savvier businessman.
“The negotiating skills I learned from serving in public office help me when buying and selling companies now.”
Conversely, he believes his extensive experience in the business arena helped him make more sound decisions while serving in public office.
“The government would determine that 10 people were needed for a job. I said, ‘No. You only need five.’ That knowledge came from my experience in business.”
He added, “As a business guy, if you don’t know what it takes to make a dollar, then how can you spend other people’s [dollars]?”
Thomas said the ideal candidate for legislative office is somebody who is active in a civic club and is a businessperson. He also believes public servants should stay in office for four to eight years at most.
Nevertheless, Thomas said public service is the greatest thing one can do and emphasizes that he learned a lot about humanity while dealing with people under such pressurized conditions.
“I am pleased to have had the privilege to serve. It made me a better person. I don’t regret a minute of it. I have had a great life.”
Keith Perry – Eliminating Mediocrity in Government
Keith Perry knows what it takes to succeed: gumption, persistence and the willingness to work harder than anyone else. Without those qualities, he would not have been able to take what started as a part-time job when he was a teenager and turn it into a successful enterprise with nearly 100 employees. Keith Perry has been in business for 36 years, and Perry Roofing, a top 100 roofing company, is the result of his, and his employees’, hard work.
Perry, who currently is the Florida State Representative for District 22, decided to run for office because he wanted to help form policies that enable businesses to thrive. He dislikes the number of rules and regulations imposed by the government.
“It has reached the point where there are too many rules; they’ve gone overboard. The notion that the government knows best suggests that people are incapable of caring for themselves,” Perry said.
While the government plays a key role in the success of the state, it also can be detrimental if it gets too large, which Perry believes is the point where it breeds mediocrity and conformity. Additionally, he believes that today’s large corporations often limit what employees can contribute because they are forced into specialized jobs, also leading to mediocrity.
Managing a business for nearly four decades has given Perry the experience and discipline necessary to run for office and serve.
Campaigning is demanding, but it is no more difficult than he expected.
“It is chaotic and stressful, much like starting a business,” Perry said. “It has deadlines, meetings, competition and stress. But, you have to adjust.”
Just like any other business, Perry said that campaigns need people who are willing to do things. They need people willing to take charge, not be afraid to learn and figure out how to do things.
“It’s a huge undertaking,” he said. “You can’t sit back and wait for instructions. The harder a campaign works, the more likely it is to win.”
Campaigning is a second full-time job for Perry, and he dedicates 50 to 60 hours per week to the task. At first, his business fared worse when he left to serve his term in the Florida House. However, it’s been doing much better since then. People have stepped up and his duties have spread around.
“I like to keep tight control over my company’s employees, but I’ve learned to delegate.”
Perry will admit that it is rigorous to squeeze in work and family while campaigning. He credits Amy, his wife of 18 years, with doing an incredible job, despite being extremely busy. However, there are times when she doesn’t see quite enough of him or has trouble getting in touch with him. For example, two years ago she called a radio station during one of his interviews just so she could talk to him, he recounted with a laugh.
The benefits of campaigning outweigh the drawbacks, even if he sometimes struggles with issues like missing his daughter’s volleyball game or attending a breakfast on a Saturday morning when he would rather be sleeping. Fortunately, serving in office is not as demanding as campaigning, and Perry is able to spend more time with the family when he comes home on weekends.
Perry also reminds himself that one of the reasons he wants to be a government leader is to help his daughters’ futures so that they will have the opportunities he had growing up.
Despite the many challenges, it is worth it. Perry believes that any single person can have a huge impact.
“I hope that people are neither naïve or apathetic until it’s too late,” Perry said. “We should expect to make sacrifices, as our forefathers did. We need to participate and be active or past generations’ struggles will be in vain.”
Todd Chase – The Importance of Accountability
Todd Chase has been a naval officer for 25 years. His experience in the Navy, coupled with his business experiences, formed a work ethic grounded in accountability.
Chase came to Gainesville about 10 years ago because of the innovation economy. He is the COO of Digi-Net Technologies, a commercial software development company, and has been an advisor to many startups in Gainesville. Chase explained that many, including the government, do not truly understand what startups go through. The level of risk and the amount of work involved in launching a new business is tremendous.
“Every employer is accountable to his employees,” Chase stated. “In business, you’re accountable for all the decisions. In government, there is little accountability, little analysis.”
Chase believes that the difference between a businessperson and someone who has never run a business is his or her willingness to spend money. The ability to spend others’ money is easier than the ability to spend one’s own money, he said.
“[In business], when you’re out of money, you’re out of money. You close the doors or do everything you can to survive. When the government runs out of money, it looks to the citizens. I daydream about how our government would change if politicians could be held liable for the decisions they make. I believe we would get more sound decisions based on what is best for the citizens, not some special interest group or party.”
The lack of accountability in the local government affected his family and is the reason Chase decided to run for city commission.
“I had been approached to run for office, but didn’t decide to run until I saw the effect the local government had on my mother,” he said.
His mother, who lives on a fixed income, was upset over high utility bills and the addition of a fire assessment fee. She could not understand why the government couldn’t “get it straight.” Frustrated, she told her son he should run.
His mother’s words of encouragement, combined with his own frustrations about the state of the local government, drove Chase to stop complaining and do something about it. In April 2011, he was elected to the Gainesville City Commission, representing District Two.
Campaigning was very challenging because of the tremendous time commitment. Chase said he worked all day and then walked through neighborhoods two hours every night. Now that he is in office, the challenges of time management still are significant, and Chase realizes that he can’t go to everything and dig into the details of ALL the issues.
“You have to balance your priorities,” he said. “I won’t give up my children’s high school years.”
Public service is not something he’ll do forever, but Chase wants to motivate and inspire others like him to run for office.
“It’s very important to have a mix of experiences and backgrounds on city commissions,” he said. “There should be more business leaders. There should be people in the community who run with the intention of what they can do for the city, not because they have political ambitions.”
Chase believes people should run because they want to serve and make a difference at the local level, and that people who are worried about their political futures won’t make the best decisions because the best decision may get in the way of their political agendas.
“My life experience is the foundation for my decisions.”
Chase stated that he is fair and reasonable and votes for what he thinks is best. He has yet to vote politically because he doesn’t have a litmus test for how to vote.
Serving in public office has given him a better perspective on the issues and how they affect others.
“Every issue is the most important issue for someone,” he said.
The biggest issue he has faced is the contract related to the GRU biomass plant. He is very concerned by how economically devastating it will be on the city’s finances. According to Chase, our city is facing serious challenges.
“I have seen a side of politics where one plus one equals three,” Chase said. “At some point, it doesn’t add up.”
Chase brings his life and work experiences to the job and believes that if we had more people who would be able to do that, then more would be achieved with less controversy. He disagrees with the notion that you can’t run government like a business.
“More importantly,” he emphatically stated, “you absolutely can’t run a business like the government or there would be no business!”