Whistleblower Fired for Exposing Plan for Golf Course, Hotels in Florida Parks: Report

A whistleblower who worked for the Florida Department of Environmental Protection has been fired aft helium leaked accusation astir plans to physique hotels successful 9 authorities parks, according to a caller study from the Tampa Bay Times. News of the concealed program archetypal became nationalist connected August 20 erstwhile the Tampa Bay Times published details acknowledgment to accusation provided by the whistleblower.

The whistleblower, James Gaddis, worked arsenic a cartographer for the authorities of Florida for 2 years and says helium was asked connected July 29 to commencement enactment connected proposals to destruct authorities parks and make them for different uses. As the Tampa Bay Times reports, Gaddis recovered 2 elements of the program the astir disturbing: a play people for Jonathan Dickinson State Park and a 350-room edifice for Anastasia State Park. The parks are beloved by locals and tourists for their natural beauty.

Gaddis said that benignant of improvement could lone beryllium accomplished by bulldozing a batch of captious habitat, which helium called “totally confusing and precise frustrating.” The secrecy astir the full task was besides odd, starring Gaddis to spell to the media without authoritative support from the state.

“It was the implicit flagrant disregard for the critical, globally imperiled situation successful these parks,” Gaddis told the Tampa Bay Times successful an interview. Gaddis didn’t instantly respond to questions emailed Tuesday greeting astir his firing.

Gaddis made astir $49,300 per twelvemonth arsenic a authorities employee, according to the Tampa Bay Times, and would similar to prosecute a lawyer to combat his termination. But obviously, lawyers outgo money, and Gaddis has started a GoFundMe run successful an effort to get immoderate fiscal assistance. The GoFundMe has raised implicit $57,000 astatine the clip of this writing.

“As a authorities worker and azygous dada moving a play broadside job, I knew that sounding the alarm was a risky move. However, I saw myself arsenic a nationalist servant archetypal and felt that it was the lone ethical happening to do,” Gaddis wrote connected his GoFundMe page.

Gaddis shared his dismissal missive with the Tampa Bay Times, which reads: “Recently the Department became alert that you intentionally released unauthorized and inaccurate accusation to the public. At slightest 1 papers was created, authored, and disseminated by you without absorption oregon permission.”

Importantly, Gaddis says the improvement program for the parks and his firing were coming straight from the bureau of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a failed Republican statesmanlike campaigner and state of Donald Trump. DeSantis is 1 of the astir notorious governors successful the state’s history, perpetually whining astir “wokeism” and thing that doesn’t conform to his far-right worldview.

Florida authorities legislator Rep. Anna V. Eskamani published an unfastened missive connected Tuesday greeting demanding answers from Gov. DeSantis astir what happened. Eskamani called the program a, “reckless connection drawn up wholly successful secret—with the evident engagement of a mysterious enactment with nary way grounds but a squad of politically plugged-in lobbyists.”

Eskamani acknowledged that DeSantis had pulled backmost the plan, but alleged that determination was thing highly suspicious astir the mode that nationalist hearings for the improvement had each been planned to instrumentality spot astatine the aforesaid time. Those hearings person present been canceled.

“The radical of Florida merit a elaborate mentation of what precisely happened present – and however specified a unsafe and destructive connection came truthful adjacent to fruition successful the archetypal place,” Eskamani wrote successful a missive shared connected X. “To that end, we telephone connected the Governor’s Office and the Department of Environmental Protection to publically merchandise each communications with immoderate of the radical oregon organizations progressive with this authorities parkland plan.”

Eskamani noted that immoderate interior documents released should include, “any communications with Folds of Honor, the Tuskegee Dunes Foundation, the lobbyists who correspond them,” arsenic good arsenic radical similar far-right podcaster Dan Bongino and golfers similar Jack and Gary Nicklaus.

“Florida’s authorities parks are the envy of the nation, beloved by the millions of Floridians who telephone our authorities location and by millions much tourists who question to our authorities to acquisition them,” Eskamani wrote. “The politician and his medication beryllium them each a afloat accounting of this narrowly averted disaster—so that we tin beryllium definite it volition ne'er hap again.”

Gaddis whitethorn beryllium retired of work, which tin beryllium a stressful experience, but his GoFundMe sounds optimistic astir the future.

“After the champion 2 years of my nonrecreational career, wherever I built large relationships with Florida Park Service unit each implicit the authorities and enjoyed mapping retired a important swath of our astonishing parkland system, I was directed to make 9 maps depicting shocking and destructive infrastructure proposals, portion keeping quiescent arsenic they were pushed done an accelerated and under-the-radar nationalist engagement process,” Gaddis wrote.

“My determination to marque my maps public, on with the accompanying connection summaries, ended my vocation with the Florida Park Service. Whether I commencement my ain concern oregon articulation a much conservation-minded organization, I’m acceptable to get backmost to enactment arsenic a nonrecreational cartographer!”