State Senate confirms Barreto as FWC chair, despite dozens urging senators to block his bid
The state Senate voted to reconfirm Rodney Barreto as chair of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Tuesday afternoon, despite receiving dozens of emails urging lawmakers to reject his appointment due to the agency's environmental record and how it handled the investigation of a 17-year-old girl who died in boat crash in Biscayne Bay.
The vote to put Barreto, 67, an influential Miami-Dade developer and lobbyist, back in charge of the FWC passed 31 to 7. He has been FWC chair for more than 20 years.
His confirmation was pulled from a list of 189 other people Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed to several offices, boards and commissions by Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith, an Orlando Democrat, who cited the emails opposing Barreto.
The emails criticized Barreto's record on weighing development and conservation, as well as his oversight of the investigation into a fatal Biscayne Bay boat crash in September 2022 that killed our Lady of Lourdes student and left another with permanent physical and mental disabilities.
A Miami Herald investigation into the FWC's handling of the investigation led the Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office to reevaluate its initial misdemeanor charges against the boat operator, Doral real estate broker George Pino, and charge him with felony vessel homicide, potentially landing him in state prison for 15 years.
The Herald's investigation into how the FWC conducted its probe uncovered that investigators never followed up with witnesses in the immediate aftermath of the crash whose accounts conflicted with what Pino told the officers. Nor did the agency give Pino a sobriety test the night of the crash, despite him acknowledging to officers he had been drinking.
The Herald's investigation led to another key witness coming forward and subsequently, the State Attorney's Office reopening its investigation and charging Pino with the felony.
READ MORE: Senate committee recommends Barreto as FWC chair despite environmental, boat crash concerns
Nevertheless, Barreto, in a recent email following a Herald story that revealed how body camera footage from one of the FWC officers at the scene was deleted, blasted the Herald's coverage as containing 'clickbait headlines and a misleading narrative that omits key details and lacks context and nuance.'
The Miami Herald has been copied on more than 50 emails from people urging senators to oppose Barreto's confirmation.
Before the confirmation, Sen. Smith said his and other senators' inboxes were 'blown up by constituents with legitimate concerns about [Barreto's] confirmation that we should not ignore,' including how the FWC handled the Pino investigation.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
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