Lawsuit: DeSantis administration retaliated after leaked development plans for state parks
The suit, filed in Leon County by whistleblower James Gaddis, includes details of how public protests sent the Florida Park Service's Office of Planning scrambling to rush approval of new rules to allow such development at all of the state's 175 parks.
It says Gaddis was the victim of "retaliation" by DeSantis, former Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Secretary Shawn Hamilton and the department's human resources director, Jake Vick. He seeks damages of at least $100,000, among other things.
Gaddis was a park planning consultant, fired last August after he leaked details of the Great Outdoors Initiative – a plan to build lodges, tennis courts, flying disc courses and other amenities at state parks.
Public outrage over the proposal led the Legislature earlier this year to unanimously pass a new park protection law that DeSantis signed in May.
In his complaint, Gaddis – represented by Tallahassee civil-rights attorney Marie Mattox – says he was wrongfully terminated after he wrote a letter exposing plans for the 'destruction of state parks throughout Florida.'
He's protected under the state's whistleblower law, his suit says, because he "reported and disclosed violations of rules, regulations and laws, and/or malfeasance, misfeasance and/or gross misconduct to persons both inside and outside of his normal chain of command ...."
A complaint in a lawsuit tells one side of a story. A DEP spokesperson said the state agency is unable to comment on pending litigation.
Gaddis said he was tasked with creating 'secret maps' in August 2024 for development that he says would have destroyed 'globally significant' habitats.
When given an assignment to transform 1,000 acres of scrubland in Jonathan Dickinson State Park into three golf courses, he alleges, the instructions included 'not talk to any colleagues about these plans.'
Two weeks into the job, he 'felt as if he was mapping out a future crime scene,' according to the complaint.
Gaddis admits he loaded maps and documents, including an explanatory memo, onto a flash drive. He passed it to an unnamed intermediary, who then gave the information to reporters.
After the Tampa Bay Times broke news of the initiative, public protests swept the state and DeSantis pulled the idea from consideration. And in the face of those protests, Gaddis' suit describes a state agency in "a panic."
He says Assistant Park Service Director Danielle Terrell on Aug. 14 told staff how DEP intended to get rules and plans for the Great Outdoors Initiative approved by the end of the month.
The plan involved in a flurry of activity, including maps and drafts of proposed new rules to be released Aug. 26, required public hearings for the new rules to allow development on Aug. 27, and eight public hearings to be held starting Aug. 27.
Staff was not to answer questions from an 'angry mob,' the complaint says, and to 'record feedback.'
But the public hearings were cancelled Aug. 25 and DeSantis later dismissed the development plans as 'not ready for prime time.'
Gaddis says Vick confronted him with the memo that accompanied the maps and documents that made public DEP's plans. In a recorded meeting, Gaddis admitted he wrote the memo, expressed no regrets and immediately went on administrative leave.
The next day, Gaddis received a letter of termination that said he had 'intentionally released unauthorized and inaccurate information to the public.' He now says his firing was retaliation and prohibited by Florida law.
The suit also seeks injunctive relief that includes Gaddis' reinstatement as a park planner, a court order mandating that DEP obey state employment laws, and an order for DEP to pay all of Gaddis' attorney fees and court costs.
After his firing, Gaddis set up a GoFundMe with an initial fundraising goal of $10,000. As of June 11, he had raised nearly $258,000.
His next professional goal is to make "high-quality maps of conservation lands within the State of Florida, which has given me so much to be thankful for," he wrote on his GoFundMe page.
"Once I am further along with next professional steps, I will be ready to explore my options with respect to giving back and advocating for additional conservation of Florida's wild spaces, which is especially critical as our state's population continues to increase."
James Call is a member of the USA TODAY NETWORK-Florida Capital Bureau. He can be reached at jcall@tallahassee.com and is on X as @CallTallahassee.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: DeSantis named in lawsuit over 'secret' plan to develop Florida parks
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Mike Fernandez, a Cuban-born businessman who lobbied hard to pass the 2014 waiver law, has suspended a combined $11 million in pledges toward FIU and Miami-Dade College, and is channeling some of those funds toward scholarships. 'The state is shooting themselves in the foot,' Pacheco said. Now, is partnering with private and online universities to provide replacement scholarships. Pacheco said her organization is in the process of transferring scholars to private schools like Lynn University and Barry University, which are now supporting scholarships for undocumented students. In early April, Pacheco, along with a handful of Dreamers, met with state lawmakers in hopes of passing an amendment that grandfathered in students currently using the waiver. It didn't work. 'What we're asking is not big,' Pacheco said in an interview at the State Capitol building that day. 'What we're asking is fair, and it's within the hands of the body that is here. It is just to allow for the young people who are in college right now to have the opportunity to finish their education.' One of those students at the Capitol that day was Carlie, then a University of Central Florida student who was two semesters away from graduation. 'What I gathered from the conversation is that they know that what they're doing is not okay, they know how it's affecting us, but no one is willing to take a stand and do something about it,' she said. 'They're all saying, 'Oh, I understand where you're coming from. I sympathize with you, but there's nothing I can do.'' Carlie, a Haitian-born student whose asylum application is still pending, had worked 20 to 36 hours per week at Publix to pay for basic living expenses, while covered her tuition. Carlie is not eligible for financial aid and does not receive support from her family. She also requested to withold her last name for fear of retribution. 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Miami Herald
a day ago
- Miami Herald
Lawyers in Hope Florida Medicaid settlement distanced clients from rushed deal
As DeSantis administration officials scrambled last year to craft a Medicaid overbilling settlement that diverted millions to the Hope Florida Foundation, lawyers for healthcare contractor Centene and the Florida Attorney General's Office tried to distance their clients from the agreement, a trove of newly released records shows. Over 22 days in September, then-Chief Deputy Attorney General John Guard repeatedly removed references to his office in drafts of the settlement passed among negotiators. Centene's lawyers inserted language emphasizing that the company was 'directed by the state' to donate $10 million of its $67 million settlement to the foundation. The attorneys insisted that Florida's Office of Inspector General or attorney general be mentioned in the agreement. And they inserted language absolving the company from liability in 'any dispute that may arise' from how the money was used. The haggling was prescient. When the settlement was revealed this year, it ignited a firestorm among Republican lawmakers. Nearly all the $10 million donation to the state-created Hope Florida Foundation was diverted to a political committee created by Gov. Ron DeSantis' then-chief of staff James Uthmeier to run ads opposing last year's recreational marijuana ballot initiative. A top GOP lawmaker accused the DeSantis administration of illegally laundering federal Medicaid funds, and former federal prosecutors have said the transactions may have been illegal. Prosecutors in Tallahassee launched a criminal investigation related to the claims. The agreement had ramifications in Washington, as well. Guard, who eventually signed the settlement, has seen his nomination by President Donald Trump for federal judge held up after Republican U.S. Sen. Rick Scott said he should face questions about it. Guard declined to comment. Emails and draft settlement agreements included among 1,000 pages of records reviewed by the Herald/Times detail how DeSantis' administration crafted the unusual legal settlement last fall, as mail-in ballots were set to go out to voters. At the time, DeSantis was crisscrossing Florida and spending millions of taxpayer dollars on ads to defeat an initiative that would legalize recreational marijuana. Centene and outside lawyers had asked the state repeatedly since 2021 to settle the company's claims that it overbilled Florida for prescription drugs, records show, but Florida's Agency for Health Care Administration didn't take action until a phone call with the company on Sept. 5, 2024. The initial draft of the settlement made no mention of the Hope Florida Foundation. Agency officials prepared to brief the governor's office on the settlement on Sept. 10. Whether the meeting happened, or who attended, is not reflected in the records. But the next day, the Agency for Health Care Administration's general counsel sent a version to Secretary Jason Weida that required Centene to give $5 million of its settlement to the Hope Florida Foundation. More changes followed. A draft sent to Guard on Sept. 12 removed all references to the state's Office of Inspector General. Guard pushed back. The agreement required the attorney general, instead of the Agency for Health Care Administration, to handle the remaining $62 million. Guard also questioned how much would have to be paid to the federal government, which oversees and mostly funds Medicaid. The agreement 'is different than I have seen in a settlement with Medicaid monies,' Guard wrote. He did not question the diversion of $5 million to the Hope Florida Foundation. The Agency for Health Care Administration's general counsel agreed with Guard and changed the settlement to make the agency receive and distribute the money on behalf of the state. He also increased the donation to the foundation to $10 million before sending another round of changes to Centene. The records do not show why the donation to Hope Florida Foundation was added to the drafts, or why it was doubled. The Agency for Health Care Administration did not answer questions asked by the Herald/Times. Centene's general counsel responded six days later with more changes apparently designed to protect the company. Money from Medicaid-related legal settlements belongs to state and federal taxpayers, and diverting it to charities or political committees could amount to theft of federal funds or other crimes, four former federal prosecutors told the Herald/Times in May. Centene held a phone call with the state's lawyers to discuss the changes on Sept. 20. The company's version of the settlement stated that the 'Attorney General directs' the company to donate the $10 million and that Centene wasn't responsible for how the money would be allocated. Centene lawyers also wanted to mention that the Office of Inspector General was one of the state entities authorizing the settlement. It's not clear why, as the office isn't typically a party to legal settlements. Centene resolved similar overbilling claims with at least 20 states, and only one other settlement that is publicly available mentions inspectors general, according to a Herald/Times review. 'We would like FL OIG to continue to be explicitly listed,' one of their attorneys wrote. When the Attorney General's Office received the newest draft, Guard balked. On Sept. 24, he deleted seven references to the Attorney General's Office and clarified that the Agency for Health Care Administration, not the attorney general, was directing the company to make the donation. 'I get that they [Centene] negotiated this in every other state with the AG,' Guard wrote to the agency's general counsel. 'But, they are negotiating this agreement with AHCA [Agency for Health Care Administration] and it is going to have to look slightly different.' After the health agency's attorney made most of the changes, Guard still seemed less than enthusiastic. He wrote that he didn't really want to represent the state in the legal settlement, 'but I am fine with this.' The assurances from the attorney general's office — the state's top law enforcement entity — seemed crucial to Centene's lawyers, however. On Sept. 27, they sent a draft that added back nine references to the office. Each reference clarified that both the Agency for Health Care Administration and the attorney general were directing Centene's payments. 'I think we are down to one real issue,' wrote Centene's general counsel, Chris Koster, the former attorney general for Missouri. 'I agree that we are down to one issue,' the agency's general counsel, Andrew Sheeran, responded. The two held a phone call later that afternoon, and Centene backed down. The final version, signed later that day, did not include the additional references to the attorney general or the inspector general. Centene declined to answer questions and pointed to its past statements on this issue. 'The terms in the settlement document speak for themselves,' the company said. 'Centene had no part in or knowledge of any decision by the Hope Florida Foundation regarding the subsequent use of any Foundation funds.' 'Red flags' DeSantis' administration kept the settlement secret until April this year, when Republican lawmakers and the Herald/Times obtained copies of the Hope Florida Foundation's Oct. 14 meeting minutes. The minutes showed the foundation received $10 million as a result of 'a longstanding dispute with the Agency for Health Care Administration.' Herald/Times reporting previously revealed that for years, the charity didn't keep meeting minutes, had no budget or bylaws and didn't file its tax returns. And the money did not stay with the foundation , a state-created charity designed to support the state's Hope Florida program to move people off government assistance. Within days, it was routed to two political nonprofits, which gave nearly all of it to a political committee controlled by Uthmeier that was dedicated to defeating the marijuana amendment. The leader of one of the nonprofits said Uthmeier called her to request the money from the foundation, according to a Republican lawmaker who investigated the matter. The nonprofit director later said that Uthmeier 'had limited involvement' and never told her what to do with the money. DeSantis has defended the settlement, saying that Centene's donation was a 'cherry on top' of what the company owed. Uthmeier, who was appointed attorney general by DeSantis this year, said he had nothing to do with the final settlement talks. He was involved in meetings with Centene in 2021, records show. Neither has disputed that the $10 million was used for political purposes. Uthmeier's office hadn't released any records about the transactions until last week, when it gave hundreds of pages to Politico Florida 'exclusive for the next two weeks,' according to copies of text messages between a reporter and Rep. Alex Andrade, the Republican representative who probed Hope Florida. The messages were obtained by the Herald/Times. Uthmeier's spokesperson, Jeremy Redfern, emphasized two things about the records, according to the texts from the reporter to Andrade: That they showed Guard was initially concerned about the legality of the settlement but eventually 'got it,' and that the money sent to the state in the settlement 'was more than three times the size of the state's actual financial loss.' The Attorney General's Office last week released 390 pages of documents – many of which were requested in April – after the Herald/Times threatened to sue. Reporters also obtained hundreds of pages of emails and draft settlements from sources. Redfern did not answer questions about the settlement or why the state first gave the records to Politico. He also said Uthmeier 'never participated in any settlement negotiations and doesn't know anything about' the scheduled September 10 meeting last year regarding the draft agreement. 'Your questions demonstrate that you are deliberately misreading the public records our office provided you on a very expedited basis,' Redfern wrote in an email. Medicaid statutes allow states to recover as much as three times damages. Centene's records show that other states received settlements based on the same formula. Part of that formula also included a baseline of $10.8 million to encourage states to settle with the company and not litigate their claims. Regardless, that doesn't mean the money can be divided for purposes that aren't related to Medicaid, Andrade said, pointing to 2008 federal guidance. 'It looks very much like red flags were raised by the attorney general's office and by Centene,' Andrade said after reviewing the records himself. 'They were at the 10-yard line. And while they had some heartburn about it, it wasn't sufficient to blow the whole thing up.' He added: 'The CYAs [Cover Your Asses] were evident.' Andrade said it was also clear the state understood the money transferred to the foundation belonged to Medicaid, which would restrict how it could be spent. When the agency's lawyers inserted the donation into the agreement, they also justified it by referencing how the Hope Florida program was expanding into Medicaid. The justification that remained in the final agreement was crafted by one of Centene's lawyers: the state Agency for Health Care Administration 'desires an expanded role for Hope Florida in the Medicaid program.' 'That says it all,' Andrade said.
