Category: Florida

The saying is doubly true for anyone who works under Florida Governor Ron DeSantis: “No good deed goes unpunished,” and wow, did James Gaddis get punished for his good deed.

Gaddis, pictured above, was the employee at the Florida Department of Environmental Protection who leaked the state’s rushed-under-cover-of-secrecy plans to build golf courses, hotels, pickleball courts, and more land developer-friendly conversions of Florida’s state parks, which are natural protected lands. His leaking of that information and the Florida government’s rushed timeline led to the outcry that led to the postponement of those plans.

Here’s what Gaddis told the Tampa Bay Times:

“It was the absolute flagrant disregard for the critical, globally imperiled habitat in these parks,” Gaddis said in an interview Monday morning. Gaddis said he was tasked with making the proposed conceptual land use maps that depicted the golf courses and other developments. Two proposals were especially egregious in his eyes: The Jonathan Dickinson State Park golf course, and the 350-room hotel at Anastasia State Park.

“This was going to be a complete bulldozing of all of that habitat,” Gaddis said. He recalls his hand, hovering over a computer mouse, shaking with anger and frustration as he was told to rush his maps from senior leadership. “The secrecy was totally confusing and very frustrating. No state agency should be behaving like this.”

Unfortunately, doing the right thing sometimes means doing the career-limiting thing. For his heroic actions, he was fired. Here’s his dismissal notice:

While he was technically fired for “conduct unbecoming a public employee,” it’s the rest of Florida’s Department of Environmental Protection who are truly guilty of unbecoming conduct, for doing the exact opposite of what the Department is supposed to do.

Because the job market is tough out there, Gaddis has set up a GoFundMe to help him as he looks for new work. Because what he did was heroic, he’s surpassed the modest goal of $10,000, but don’t let that stop you from pitching in.

Thank you, James Gaddis, for taking the whistleblower risk and saving our state parks!

Recommended reading

• Tampa Bay Times: Whistleblower who warned about Florida state parks fired by state agency
• Florida’s bad plan for development in state parks

With much secrecy, little notice, and almost no time slated for public feedback, Florida’s governor, Ron DeSantis announced a plan to put golf courses and pickleball courts in Florida’s state parks.

The state’s original plan was to hold public meetings on one day only — tomorrow, Tuesday, August 27th — where members of the public would have three minutes each to voice their opinions.

From the Tampa Bay Times:

Eric Draper, who served as the director of Florida’s state parks between 2017 and 2021, said it appears the state’s environmental agency is skirting the legal process and the parks system’s own internal operations manual for updating park management plans.

“This appears to be something that has been planned in secret, and it doesn’t appear to have involved the hundreds, if not thousands, of people who are volunteers in the parks, the citizen support organizations, or the many people who have been involved in helping to create and develop Florida’s award-winning park system,” Draper said in an interview with the Tampa Bay Times.

Before the environmental agency formally introduced its proposed changes, staff should have convened a citizens advisory committee made up of other state agencies and people who are working at state parks, Draper said. That advisory committee should have then met and held a public hearing.

The affected state parks would be:

The park	The plan
Jonathan Dickinson State Park	Public golf courses and other facilities, including the removal of the Hobe Mountain Observation Tower, an existing park entrance, staff residences and more.
Anastasia State Park	A park lodge with 350-room capacity, up to four pickleball courts, a disc golf course.
Topsail Hill Preserve State Park	A park lodge with 350-room capacity, up to four pickleball courts, a disc golf course.
Grayton Beach State Park	Up to 10 cabins, a beach access restroom, up to four pickleball courts, a disc golf course.
Hillsborough River State Park	Up to four pickleball courts, a disc golf course.
Honeymoon Island State Park	Up to four pickleball courts.
Oleta River State Park	Up to 10 cabins or glamping space, up to four pickleball courts, a disc golf course.
Dr. Von D. Mizell-Eula Johnson State Park	Up to four pickleball courts.
Camp Helen State Park	Up to 10 cabins or a glamping area.

Find out more here:

• Axios: What to know about Florida’s state parks controversy
• Herald-Tribune: Florida state parks could be developed under proposed DeSantis administration plan
• USA Today: Florida state parks could face major changes under new glamping, golf, pickleball proposal
• TCPalm: Here’s who will decide fate of Florida state park golf courses
• Tampa Bay Times: DeSantis admin wants to put golf courses, pickleball courts and more in Florida state parks
• Tampa Bay Times: Political opposition grows to Florida plan for golf courses in state parks
• Tampa Bay Times: DeSantis: How did secrecy work for your Florida state parks plan? | Editorial
• Tampa Bay Times: Florida agency postpones meetings about state park plans, citing ‘overwhelming interest’
• MSNBC: Paving paradise: the controversial plan to develop protected Florida state parks
• Talahassee Democrat: Hotels and golf courses are a non-starter in Florida State Parks
• WFLA News Channel 8: Meetings over controversial Florida state park plans rescheduled due to demand
• Talahassee Democrat: After flood of criticism, Florida delays meetings on state park plans to add golf, hotels