UPDATE 9/10:
A former Florida Department of Environmental Protection employee says he’s feeling “intimidated” after state officials leaked his employment records to news outlets last week, including ABC Action News.
James Gaddis lost his job as a DEP mapmaker in late August. That was after his own leak, disclosing controversial plans to add amenities like golf courses, lodging, and pickleball courts to nine state parks. Gaddis, speaking to us Monday, said he’s now been the target of “hit pieces” in the media, despite doing what he said was “the right thing.”
“I’m not out here for sound bites,” said Gaddis. “Just trying to get the facts out there and tell the truth.”
Gaddis disputed several aspects of a previous report (below)— which was backed by a high-ranking source inside DEP. Gaddis said the source, which spoke on background to preserve anonymity, “clearly didn’t have insight into our workflow.”
Specifically, Gaddis took issue with claims that he had less than 24 hours of access to the parks plan before distributing a memo highlighting his concerns to a third party, which shared the information with news outlets. Gaddis told us he started work on the park concepts with his DEP-issued laptop in late July, despite a time-stamped digital folder showing he accessed the file on August 12th and generated the alleged memo a day later.
Gaddis said the file was essentially a dropbox for senior staff. It had no relevance, Gaddis said, to when he started generating maps for the “Great Outdoors Initiative,” the project’s formal title.
The former DEP employee also rebutted allegations he invented a portion of the plan, labeled “Greenside Oasis.” It contained a controversial idea which placed a golf course on the former military facility at Jonathan Dickinson State Park. Gaddis said the name was dictated to him by a direct supervisor and that there was a “deliberate effort” for employees working on the parks plan to avoid putting anything in writing.
Finally — Gaddis said he was not alone in his concerns over the initiative. Following a virtual DEP staff meeting, first detailing the parks plan and its key concepts to the employees tapped to work it, Gaddis said his team was suffering from “destroyed morale.” His direct supervisor, bureau chief, and others shared his frustration, he said.
“We all were viewing this as a scandal,” said Gaddis. “None of us felt this was right.”
Gaddis started a GoFundMe following his termination from DEP. As of Monday evening, he had raised more than $250,000.
Original Story on 9/6:
A Florida Department of Environmental Protection official tells WFTS the alleged leak of plans to add amenities like a golf course to state parks “felt like sabotage.” It comes as new details emerge about the former DEP employee allegedly behind it all, James Gaddis.
The story broke in late August after news outlets were tipped off that DEP was planning extensive additions to nine state parks, including lodging, disc and traditional golf courses, and pickleball courts.
Gaddis, a map maker for DEP, told WPTV last week that he felt plans were being rushed and that the public comment period lacked enough time for actual public comment. This prompted him to release some of the plan's details to a third party.
"I was disgusted, but I was just thinking, if we, if the public, actually knew about this, what we were proposing here, there's going to be a lot of outrage,” said Gaddis. “And, you know, obviously us, you know, keeping having to keep quiet about this the whole time. It's just like something's gotta give here.”
Gaddis said he started working on the parks plan on August 1— but new details from a DEP official suggest the timeline doesn’t align.
Records show Gaddis was granted access to the park’s plan file on Aug 12. He generated content that ended up in his leaked memo less than 24 hours later and disseminated it sometime between Aug 13 - Aug 19.
On background, the DEP source said Gaddis’ leaked information did not accurately represent the Great Outdoors Initiative, nor did it receive approval from Gaddis’ superiors before distribution. According to the official, Gaddis created it and leaked it shortly after that.
“The ‘memo’ was not approved by anyone in the department, nor was it part of any approved project documents,” said the source. “The ‘memo’ was created on a work laptop, and it was a misrepresentation of the process and proposals.”
As evidence of misrepresentation, the DEP official cited a map of Johnathan Dickinson State Park, which Gaddis had created.
While it’s true a golf course was considered to replace the defunct military facility at the park, the DEP source said its boundaries were never confirmed, and there was never an approved project entitled “Greenside Oasis,” suggesting that Gaddis invented that on his own.
The source further noted that if Gaddis had issues with the parks plan, he never mentioned them to supervisors before the leak.
“At no time were any concerns brought to the attention of superiors,” said the source.
Gaddis was later terminated for the leak. According to a DEP dismissal letter sent to the employee — Gaddis was terminated after he “intentionally released unauthorized and inaccurate information to the public.” The letter offers four violations as a “legal basis:” Conduct Unbecoming a Public Employee, Violation of Law or Department Rules, Negligence x2.
It goes on to say that Gaddis created, authored, and disseminated at least one document “without direction or permission.”
“This information was further confirmed by your verbal admission,” the letter reads. “You also admitted to creating this document during work hours using Department equipment.”
There are also new questions about whether Gaddis was truthful on his DEP employment application. It comes after news broke this week that the mapmaker was pressed to resign from a previous state job at Florida’s Agency for Health Care Administration for allegedly stalking a female colleague.
After reviewing Gaddis’ employment records at DEP, officials found he listed “Resigned to pursue a change in career path” as a reason for leaving AHCA, not noting the forced departure listed in his previous agency’s dismissal letter.
Gaddis OPS Application1 by ABC Action News
Public outcry about the parks plan has been fierce and bipartisan. Republicans and Democrats denounced the idea as unnecessary. Environmental groups and Floridians staged protests at parks listed in the concepts.
“All you have to do is think about the creatures that live in the state parks— do they really want the noise from a pickleball court?” said Sierra Club’s Cris Costello during a protest at DEP headquarters last month. “State parks are not city parks… It is very clear to everyone in the state that this is a horrible idea, and we plan to shut it down.”
While DEP initially planned to hold one-hour public comment meetings across the state to gather feedback, Gov. Ron DeSantis later announced the plans would go back to the drawing board, calling them “half-baked” and “not ready for primetime.”
“So, yeah, so this was something that was leaked. It was leaked. It was not approved by me, I never saw saw that…” said DeSantis during a recent news conference. “Here's the thing, I'd rather not spend any money on this, right? I mean, if people don't want improvements, then don't do it.”
The governor later said the initiative needed more input and that the public hearing process could restart sometime next year.
“You threw my son under the bus. You didn't take care of him.”
The State of Florida and the VA are under scrutiny after the Baker Act was used incorrectly on a young veteran who went to a Florida VA hospital for help.