WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Plans to build golf courses, and other developments, at state parks last year came directly from a Post-it note from the Governor’s Office, according to an amended lawsuit filed in Leon County earlier this week.
WATCH: Gaddis spoke with WPTV last summer about why he leaked plans
The newly filed court documents give more behind the scenes details about the plans, which sparked bipartisan outrage and protests across the state. James Gaddis, a former Department of Environmental Protection employee, is suing the department for retaliating against him for being a “whistleblower” when he publicly shared the plans.
According to the lawsuit, Gaddis said he was summoned to a Microsoft Teams meeting with Bureau Chief Daniel Alsentzer, Planning Manager John McKenzie and Senior Planner Scott Groves. He said this meeting is where Alsentzer held up a handwritten Post-it note from the Governor’s Office listing “high priority” proposals to build golf courses, hotels and pickleball courts within nine state parks.
“Plaintiff and his colleagues were explicitly told to ‘drop everything’ and to keep the projects secret, even from coworkers, under orders that ‘came directly from the Governor’s Office,’” the lawsuit reads. “Plaintiff reasonably believed this directive violated Florida’s Sunshine Law public records requirements and environmental protection mandates governing state parks.”
Documents show staff was discussing golf course as early as February 2023
WPTV has previously reported on the governor’s office involvement after talking with Gaddis last September and a meeting between representatives from Folds of Honor about a Jack Nicklaus Golf Course in February 2023 after we reviewed records in February.
This record shows top officials from the governor’s office had a scheduled meeting with the nonprofit 18 months before their plan to build three golf courses at Jonathan Dickinson State Park became public. WPTV found text messages from a public records request showing Meredith Ivey, then a senior employee at the Florida Department of Commerce, asking if it would help if it was a historic golf trail.
“Just a thought - DOS does have a historic golf trail,” Ivey wrote in an undated text message. “I don’t know if it would help to tie in the historical value of education/history/civics by adding in the historic preservation and museum component re Tuskegee airmen. Just throwing it out there.”
The text is notable as Tuskegee Dunes, which was connected with Folds of Honor, said the course was meant to “tell the inspirational story of the Tuskegee Airmen” in a press release.
WATCH BELOW: Florida DEP official: Leaking of state parks plan 'felt like sabotage'
The lawsuit said Gaddis, a mapmaker, documented in writing that these proposals would destroy globally imperiled habitats such as Atlantic Ridge scrub at Johnathan Dickinson State Park and maritime hammock forest at Anastasia State Park. The lawsuit also said he told a senior manager supervisor within the Florida Park Service about the plans secrecy, calling Johnathan Dickinson “ground zero,” while urging him to spread the word for oversight officials could intervene.
According to the lawsuit, Gaddis gave the flash drive to an employee within the Office of Greenways and Tails named Doug Alderson. The documents said Gaddis and Alderson, a former assistant bureau chief, met discreetly during several 15-minute breaks outside the building.
“He agreed to assist plaintiff in sounding the alarm to the public and stated that he was not concerned about potential repercussions as he was nearing retirement,” the lawsuit said.
State
DeSantis' top staff met about Jonathan Dickinson golf course in 2023
According to the lawsuit, the director for the Department of Environmental Protection learned field staff become aware of the concealed development plans after the biologist at Jonathan Dickinson State Park contacted leadership on August 14. The plans would also get released to the Tampa Bay Times later in the month.
The lawsuit also said the Florida Department of Environmental Protection found the “leaker” by relocating the amendment files into a hidden directory titled “DirectTV Subscription Info” then began targeting Gaddis.
Gaddis told WPTV he was working with an attorney on a potential lawsuit last September. He said he leaked the plans, because he felt the maps he was drawing as a state employee were being done secretly.
Region Martin County
'TOTAL SECRECY' What fired DEP whistleblower told WPTV about state parks plan
"It got to the point where we were operating in total secrecy this whole time. I got tired of that," Gaddis said. "We were totally blindsided by this. It came out of nowhere. The fact that we were told not to talk to anybody about this including our buddies who work in other units or in the building."
Gaddis said his supervisors ordered him to draw various maps showing the location of different developments, like a golf course or 350-room lodge. He said those supervisors were receiving directions from the governor's office.
"This actually mostly destroyed morale in the office of park planning," Gaddis said. "We started snapping at each other."
Gaddis said the instructions for the maps started earlier in August. He said the state planned to announce the various projects and then announce public comment meetings about the proposed changes the following day.
State
Florida DEP official: Leaking of state parks plan 'felt like sabotage'
"As I was making maps, you know, obviously I was disgusted," Gaddis said.
He said he was supposed to host one of the meetings for public input. Gaddis said he was instructed to play a pre-recorded PowerPoint, answer no questions, limit capacity to about 100 people and stop the meeting after an hour.
"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."
As of Friday afternoon, a GoFundMe for Gaddis has raised more than $259,000 so far.
A spokesperson for the Department of Environmental Protection couldn’t comment on the case because of pending litigation.
