A Florida whistleblower says he was fired for leaking plans that the Gov. Ron DeSantis administration was proposing to build golf courses and hotels in state parks.
The Republican governor’s Department of Environmental Protection had maps drawn up for the proposals to build golf courses, pickleball courts, 350-room hotels and more at nine state parks from Miami to the Panhandle and planned a single hour of public hearings near affected parks.
Word of the proposals spread, sparking protests and massive public backlash against the plans, which the department has since withdrawn.
James Gaddis, who worked as a cartographer for the department, said he wrote up a summary of the proposals on his work computer and shared it, which prompted the outrage.
After leaking the information, Gaddis was put on administrative leave on Aug. 30. The next day, he got a letter of dismissal in the mail saying he violated department policies.
Gov. Ron DeSantis’s Department of Environmental Protection had drawn up maps for proposals to build golf courses, 350-room hotels and more at nine state parks
James Gaddis (pictured), who worked as a cartographer for the department, said he wrote up a summary of the proposals on his work computer and shared it with the public
‘As I was making maps, you know, obviously I was disgusted,’ Gaddis told WPTV.
‘It got to the point where we were operating in total secrecy this whole time. I got tired of that.’
The single father said he was instructed to start creating the maps in early August.
‘We were totally blindsided by this. It came out of nowhere… We were told not to talk to anybody about this including our buddies who work in other units or in the building,’ he said.
‘This actually mostly destroyed morale in the office of park planning. We started snapping at each other.’
Then he learned he would be hosting one of the public hearings and said he was told to play a pre-recorded PowerPoint, answer no questions, limit capacity to about 100 people and stop after an hour.
The single father said he was instructed to start creating the maps in early August and then told he would be leading a limited public forum on the plans
Word of the proposals spread, sparking protests and massive public backlash against the plans
‘So we started to feel concerned about our personal safety going and facilitating these meetings,’ Gaddis said. ‘So I got to the point where I decided that this needs to be made public, that we’re working on this.’
After making the information public, Gaddis was put on administrative leave then fired the next day.
A copy of termination letter obtained by the local news station said he was fired for behavior unbecoming of a public employee and violated department rules.
DeSantis said on August 28 that the controversial proposal by his administration is ‘going back to the drawing board’ and tried to distance himself from the plan.
‘It was not approved by me. I never saw that. A lot of that stuff was just half-baked, and it was not ready for prime time,’ DeSantis said.
Protesters gathered at the various state parks demanding a stop to the proposals
DeSantis put a halt to the controversial proposals and said the plans are ‘half-baked’
‘If people don’t want improvements, then don´t do it. They´re not doing anything this year. They’re going to go back and basically listen to folks.’
The proposals included plans for golf courses at Jonathan Dickinson State Park in southeast Florida which was scrapped even before the governor’s statements.
The main proponent of the development, a nonprofit called Tuskegee Dunes Foundation, backed out of the plan amid the backlash.
Draft plans posted to the state’s website also show plans to build 350-room park lodges at both Anastasia State Park in St. Augustine and Topsail Hill Preserve State Park on Santa Rosa Beach.
DailyMail.com contacted the Florida Department of Environmental Protection for comment
