Scott Maxwell, a brilliant opinion writer for the Orlando Sentinel, wrote about the latest scandal in DeSantisland. The man in charge of the state ethics office was recently appointed by DeSantis to be head of DeSantis’ board that controls Disney World in Orlando. It’s illegal for a public employee to serve as ethics commissioner. Immediately after Maxwell’s article appeared, the general counsel for the state ethics commission announced that Glen Gilzean could not hold both jobs and had to choose one. What’s interesting is not just the conflict with the law but Gilzean’s former employment with the Urban League, which advocates for diversity, equity and inclusion, all of which DeSantis opposes.
Be it noted that Gilzean responded to the ruling by the ethics commission’s counsel by attacking the release of the ruling:
Instead of resigning, Glen Gilzean is questioning whether Florida’s ethics commission “weaponized” a memo that concluded he was ineligible to serve as both the state’s ethics chairman and administrator of Gov. Ron DeSantis’ tourism oversight district.
The opinion released on Thursday concluded that Gilzean couldn’t do both jobs because of a state law that bars ethics commissioners from holding public employment.
Scott Maxwell writes:
Perhaps you read Tuesday’s front-page story about how the head of Florida’s ethics commission appears to be in violation of … wait for it … Florida’s ethics laws.
This might be the most Florida story ever. The only thing that could make it more Floridian would be if an alligator or sinkhole were somehow involved.
The news was definitely a head-shaker. But it also underscores the ugly reality of just how lax the state’s ethics enforcement is. Public officials routinely flout rules without paying much of a price.
The problem with that is that Florida statutes say no public employees are allowed to serve as ethics commissioners. That’s for a pretty obvious reason: Because you don’t want the fox guarding the henhouse — a public official in a position to investigate himself.
The rule isn’t complicated either. Chapter 112.321 of the Florida statutes describes the requirements for ethics commissioners. And in the very first section, there is this simple, seven-word sentence: “No member may hold any public employment…”
On April 21, Gilzean’s ethics commission dismissed an ethics complaint against Gov. Ron DeSantis that had been filed by allies of Donald Trump who’d argued that DeSantis was inappropriately using the governor’s office to boost his national political profile.
Then on May 10, the governor’s appointees at the Disney taxing district announced they wanted to give Gilzean the $400,000-a-year job.
So, to recap: The governor’s Disney appointees appointed the governor’s ethics appointee to a high-paying job less than three weeks after that same ethics appointee dismissed a complaint against the man who’d appointed him to that position.
Hillbilly family reunions look less incestuous…
Two weeks ago, Gilzean announced the Disney taxing district was ending all of its “so-called diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives,” calling them “illegal and simply unAmerican.”
Now, if you heard DeSantis say something like that, it wouldn’t be surprising. But it sounded odd coming from a man who spent the last seven-plus years working for the Urban League — a civil rights group that devoutly espouses the value of Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI) endeavors. The Urban League not only preaches the value of inclusion, the national nonprofit actually offers services to help otherorganizations implement DEI programs “to make your organization a more equitable workplace.”
Tax records filed last year show Gilzean earned $172,272 while working as CEO of the Central Florida Urban League.
Perhaps not surprisingly, after Gilzean trash-talked the very diversity initiatives his previous employer had touted, his former boss responded with force. National Urban League CEO Marc Morial said Gilzean’s about-face was a “betrayal of the values at the very core of our mission,” telling the Tallahassee Democrat that Gilzean’s “crass political expediency is all the more offensive given his previous vantage point to the harm he knows it will cause.”
Gilzean didn’t respond to questions about that issue either.
If you find this unsavory, you can lodge a complaint with…the state ethics commission.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Those who made the laws, are the ones, braeeking the laws, because they think they’re the exception to the rules they made up to govern the rest of the population, and that still just showed how hypocritical the politicians in current times, can be…
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Ethics are not on DeSantis’ radar. He is the type of person that puts winning above all else. Ethics have never been the state’s strong suit, and under DeSantis the state is a big pay to play venture in which DeSantis has billionaires and lobbyists on speed dial. DeSantis and a good portion of the kleptocratic state legislature are in cahoots to promote his anti-democratic agenda. The legislature rubbers stamps all his divisive legislation against people of color, LGBT folks, immigrants, educators and women. They often vote on legislation at midnight behind closed doors after the sleepy Democrats have retired for the evening.
The state legislature have passed laws so that people cannot know what DeSantis’ travel plans are, and who is paying for the tab including Florida’s infamous migrant flights. An ethical leader would not remove democratically elected prosecutors from their jobs, nor would he deliberately impede the implementation of restoring voting rights to felons which the public overwhelming approved.
Florida is full of snakes, vultures and sharks, and DeSantis and his cronies are among them. Anyone that dares oppose DeSantis’ dystopian, authoritarian agenda becomes a target of retribution.
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RT,
I read two Florida newspapers daily. DeSatan scares me more than the Orange one.
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DeSantis’ new plan is to kiss up to Trump. He may be after the VP slot, which if justice is served, would make him President if Trump wins the election and goes to jail. DeSantis is dangerous and Machiavellian.
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The man prepping Desantis for the debate this week held the position as debate team coach at Hillsdale for more than a decade. About 10 years ago, the guy was Romney’s debate coach (then, McCain’s).
Romney’s argument about religion pivoted under the coach’s direction. Romney’s Mormonism had detractors. His defense before he was coached to change was about valuing diverse religions. After coaching, it was about the false, “Judeo-Christian foundation” of the US. Subsequent to the flip flop, the axis that includes right wing Catholics and Christians came to include LDS. In anticipation of backlash, no, not all LDS.
The article is at Religion Dispatches (1-27-2012), “Romney’s Debate Coach and his Religion Answer.”
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