Campaign man turns lobbyist

The heated campaign for county mayor seems to beaten down JC Flores. He's done with political promotion, he says. Now he wants to promote to politicos.

After what some might call his greatest achievement ever -- taking an underdog candidate with somewhat lackluster public speaking skills to the second highest post in the state -- Flores has accepted a job with AT&T. As a lobbyist, of course.

Many county workers were disappointed to hear at Wednesday's swearing-in of the new mayor that Flores, sporting a fresh beard after he shaved the longer one after Election Day, he would not be joining the staff.

"I wanted a life," Flores told me Wednesday after his last client, Mayor Carlos Gimenez took the official oath of office (he took it five days earlier to get started on the hard work).

This means that Gimenez must be looking for someone else to take over the 2011 campaign, and quick since there is only 13 months to the primary.

Maybe former State Sen. Alex Diaz de la Portilla, who is said to be vacationing in Spain or somewhere else in Europe (they have rehab there, too, you know) will land the job if he promises to behave himself. Maybe former State Rep. JC Planas, who has been hanging around also, will take over some of the duties. Maybe Ana Carbonell, who managed the Julio Robaina campaign quite skillfully (Oh, c'mon! She had to sell a really bad product) wants to use her skills and talents for good instead of evil.

Any other ideas/nominations from the public?