DeSantis-Appointed Administrator Resigns From Florida Ethics Committee
The administrator of the Ron DeSantis-appointed Central Florida Tourism Oversight District (CFTOD) resigned his position as chairman of Florida’s ethics commission today, just days after his potential conflict of interest was reported by the media.
Glen Gilzean will keep his $400,000-a-year job with the CFTOD and resign his chairmanship, although he claims he was never warned about the issue until he requested a legal memo.
Gilzean’s Resignation
Gilzean, who has served as administrator of the CFTOD since May, wrote that he was surprised by the issue flaring up.
“The potential for a conflict between my position with the District and with my service on the Commission on Ethics did not come up at that time with any of the counsel that I consulted. Including the Commission’s General Counsel,” Gilzean wrote.
“Regrettably, if I had been aware of any issue presented by serving in the two positions, I would have addressed it immediately.”
When Was Gilzean Alerted About The Conflict of Interest?
In his legal memorandum, however, Steven Zuilkowski, the ethics commission’s general counsel, gave a different account. He wrote that Ethics Director Kerrie Stillman spoke with Gilzean about the issue on April 26.
“During that conference call, Ms. Stillman informed you of the requirement … and you informed us that you had received legal advice elsewhere about holding both positions,” Zuilkowski wrote. “You stated you would contact me if you wanted my legal opinion.”
In his resignation letter, Gilzean called Zuilkowsi’s report a “mischaracterization.”
“The Commission General Counsel … decided in the memorandum, unnecessarily, to disclose and mischaracterize previous communications I had with him while seeking legal advice relating to my service on the Commission on Ethics,” Gilzean wrote.
Finally, A Resolution
Gilzean’s conflict of interests went publically unnoticed until a story by Florida Bulldog last week. Following the report, Gilzean requested a legal opinion from the ethics commission.
It was then that Zuilowski concluded that Gilzean needed to give up one of his jobs.
Prior to today’s resignation, Gilzean had accused the Zuilokski and Stillman of “weaponizing” the memo.
“[I]t is deeply inappropriate that your legal opinion was disseminated to the press at the same time you sent it to me,” Gilzean wrote in the email to the commission’s general counsel and ethics director. “As far as I’m concerned, someone on your staff knowingly leaked this memo and weaponized it, how did this happen?”
Zuilokski refuted the notion that his office had done anything wrong.
While he may not be happy with how the controversy played out, now we have a resolution. Glen Gilzean will no longer serve on Florida’s ethics committee but will administrate the CFTOD.
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