We live at a time where we must always stay vigilant. We know that we can’t go to bed thinking that the things we treasure most --like our state parks -- will be there when we wake up.
It was never more evident than recently when we learned, through a man named James Gaddis, 41, a two-year employee of the Florida Department of Environment Protection, that bigtime developers had bargained with our state government to bulldoze parts of nine of our beautiful state parks and their inhabitants, making room for 350-room resort hotels and golf courses, pickleball courts, and God knows what else.
Gaddis, who said the directive for the plan to do away with some of Florida’s most pristine property -- its national parks -- came straight from Gov. Ron DeSantis’ office. He broke the news of the state’s plan to the Tampa Bay Times on August 19.
In a Sept. 4 interview with the Miami Herald, Gaddis lamented the plan’s secrecy and said, “It was the absolute flagrant disregard for the critical, globally imperiled habitat in these parks.” He said his job was to make the proposed, conceptual, land use maps that depicted the golf courses and other developments. “... The secrecy was totally confusing and very frustrating,” he said. “No state agency should be behaving like this.”
I am thankful for Gaddis, a single dad, who was willing to put his livelihood on the line to do what was right by the people of Florida. I am glad that he had a good conscience and listened to it. By blowing the cover...
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