When I took the reins at Citizens Property InsuranceCorp., I knew I was taking on a challenge. I'd been brought in notto babysit but to fix an organization facing serious internal andexternal challenges. I have made a career of doing thissuccessfully time after time.

I cannot change what happened before my tenure at Citizensbegan. What I can do is make changes to dramatically improve thisorganization going forward. My goal is to make Citizens an industryand state model. I therefore have devoted myself from Day One tomaking changes to improve the organization's efficiency, ethics andfiscal health.

One of the most pressing areas of concern was deficiencies inCitizens complaints, disciplinary and internal auditing proceduresand capabilities. These weaknesses included insufficient policies,underqualified staff, and reporting and investigative proceduresthat did not align with industry best standards.

To address these issues, I immediately took the followingsteps:

• Made significant senior management changes in areaswith the biggest problems, including appointing and empowering anew ethics officer. I eliminated the top executive overseeing theareas in which there had been problems, reassigning thoseresponsibilities to four senior executives prepared to makeacross-the-board improvements.

• Recruited a top-notch head of human resources whoreports directly to me. My first direction to him was to develop astrong and uniform set of disciplinary and severance policies,which will be presented to the Citizens Board of Directors thismonth.

• Worked with our chief of internal audit torestructure Citizens' Office of Internal Audit in accordance withcorporate best practices. This newly empowered office now reportsdirectly to the Citizens board, eliminating potential conflictsbetween management and internal investigations.

• Strengthened the OIA's ability to identify fraud andmisconduct by hiring three forensic auditors with extensiveexperience and proven dedication to rooting out fraud. They includea forensic investigations manager from one of the nation's top 40certified public accounting firms; a highly decorated former FBIspecial agent in charge of white-collar investigations; and aformer investigations and financial/operations audit manager forFlorida-based EverBank.

Like the governor and many others, I find the misdeeds andallegations of misconduct by Citizens employees embarrassing andtroubling. I therefore ordered a comprehensive review of allcomplaints and investigations handled by my predecessors andordered that it be released publicly. This was imperative to ensuretransparency and make it clear that every Citizens employee will beheld to the highest standards.

Let me be clear: Misbehaviors of the past will not be toleratedunder my watch. I have ordered vital changes to ensure that allallegations are investigated and properly dealt with in a timelymanner. These changes are already leading to greater responsivenessand a more positive and appropriate work environment.

Citizens has taken great efforts to tighten its belt financiallyas well. I immediately implemented tightened expense standards andrequired that I personally preapprove all out-of-state andinternational travel and costs. This month, Citizens will announceeven stricter standards to better align ourselves with stateexpense and procurement guidelines.

We also have looked to outside experts for guidance. We havelaunched a top-to-bottom organizational review by KPMG to gain abetter understanding of how we operate and determine whatadditional improvements are needed. My goal is to ensure that weoperate at peak efficiency and spend money wisely.

It is vital that we not lose focus of the many important stridesCitizens has made to decrease exposure and protect ourpolicyholders and all Florida taxpayers from the threat ofassessments. Citizens recently concluded one of its most successfulyears of depopulation, returning nearly 300,000 policies to theprivate market with plans to improve on that success in 2013.Successes like these, coupled with ground-breaking privaterisk-transfer programs, have led to a $2.7 billion reduction inpotential assessments on all Florida policyholders for the 2013storm season.

It is successes like these, made possible by the dedicatedpublic servants who work on behalf of Citizens' 1.3 millionpolicyholders every day, that will help move Citizens in the rightdirection. I cannot undo the past, but I can and will make Citizensa model company for all Floridians.