Florida Democratic Congress members want investigation into state park plans

In a letter to Gov. Ron DeSantis Thursday, five of Florida’s Democratic members of Congress demanded a formal investigation into plans to build golf courses, hotels and more on nine state parks, as well as the release of public records documenting how those plans were hatched.

The U.S. representatives addressed the letter both to the governor and the state’s chief inspector general, who is in charge of investigating fraud or other malfeasance in government. The representatives called for an independent investigation “into what state procedures were violated, and which private parties lobbied for and stood to benefit from it.”

Reps. Kathy Castor of Tampa, Maxwell Alejandro Frost of Orlando, Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Weston, Darren Soto of Kissimmee and Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick of Miramar signed the letter.

“Your proposal was quietly rushed into a public hearing process and timed to a summer travel period when residents were less likely to attend,” reads the letter. “Given this destructive, veiled affront, the public is owed peace of mind, honesty and transparency.”

Neither the governor’s office nor the Florida Department of Environmental Protection immediately responded to requests for comment. The letter was also sent to the environmental agency’s inspector general, Candie Fuller. She did not respond to a request for comment on whether she would initiate an investigation.

The letter adds to the growing pressure for more information surrounding the state park plans, which sparked a wave of outrage when they were revealed two weeks ago. In response to that intense pushback from the public and politicians of both parties, DeSantis announced last week that the state would go “back to the drawing board.”

Below: Read the letter sent by the congressional delegation to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Office of Inspector General.

The proposals for the parks were released by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, which is overseen by DeSantis. The governor also had an April meeting with the leader of a veterans nonprofit called Folds of Honor, during which the group pitched him on the proposed golf course at Jonathan Dickinson State Park in Martin County. The proceeds of the golf course would have gone toward the charity, DeSantis said, and the group had presented this golf course proposal to other government officials in the past.

Folds of Honor also has ties to famed golfer Jack Nicklaus, who was behind a similar proposal in 2011 that was abandoned after similar public outcry. Thursday’s letter from the members of Congress referenced that past attempt to add golf courses on state parks, saying it would have been “political malfeasance” to ignore the backlash from back then.

“So, it appears this plan’s success relied on hiding it from our citizens,” the representatives wrote.

Two Democratic state representatives, Anna Eskamani of Orlando and Angie Nixon of Jacksonville, have similarly sent a letter to the Department of Environmental Protection calling for the public release of all records surrounding the plans’ creation, including communications between the state and Folds of Honor.

These latest proposed developments first came to light in late August when the Tampa Bay Times, among others, received leaked documents about the state park plans and a memo about how the Florida Department of Environmental Protection intended to move the plans forward. The agency has since fired an employee, James Gaddis, over the release of this information, which included an outline of how the state planned to schedule near-simultaneous public meetings about the proposals for one hour on Aug. 27.

Gaddis, who said he spoke out because he was horrified by the possible environmental destruction, has told the Tampa Bay Times that DeSantis deputy chief of staff Cody Farrill was heavily involved in pushing these plans through on behalf of the governor’s office. Farrill has not responded to text messages asking about his role.

This is a breaking story. Check tampabay.com for updates.