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Glen Gilzean Ethics Commission Resignation
Glen Gilzean Ethics Commission Resignation
22, 2023
Executive Office of the Governor
c/o Appointments Office
State of Florida
The Capitol
Tallahassee, FL 32399
To Whom It May Concern:
It recently came to my attention that my position as District Administrator of the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District may not
be compatible with my position as a member and Chairman of the Florida Commission on Ethics. After reviewing the matter with
legal counsel, I have decided that prudence dictates that I discontinue serving in one of the two positions. Therefore, I respectfully
tender my resignation from the Florida Commission on Ethics, effective immediately.
When the opportunity originally arose for me to work with the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District, I engaged legal counsel to
draft a contract with the District, and discussed the potential position with Commission staff, including the General Counsel for the
Commission, to determine whether serving in both positions presented any issue or conflict. 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. At the time of accepting my position at the Central Florida Tourism
Oversight District, it was my understanding that there was no issue in continuing to serve as a member of the Florida Commission on
Ethics.
Indeed, after I began my high profile position of working for the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District, I chaired two meetings of
the Commission and the issue of incompatibility between the two positions was never raised by the Commission’s Executive Director
or General Counsel. Regrettably, if I had been aware of any issue presented by serving in the two positions, I would have addressed
it immediately.
That’s why, months after my acceptance of the District position, upon seeing media reports and learning that an issue between the
two positions may exist, I immediately requested a legal opinion from the General Counsel of the Commission on Ethics regarding
the issue.
A few days later, on August 17, 2023, I was emailed a detailed, multi‐factor, six page legal memorandum from the Commission’s
General Counsel, which concluded that there was likely a conflict in me serving in the two positions, and that I would need to choose
between the two. I regret that I did not have this valuable information when working with my personal lawyer and the Central
Florida Tourism Oversight District to agree to terms of my position at the District.
I also came to learn that the legal opinion I requested from the Commission’s General Counsel was simultaneously released to the
media. The Commission General Counsel also 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. The Executive
Director of the Commission, I learned, took responsibility for immediately sending the Commission General Counsel’s legal opinion
and the communications in writing to the media that were then disseminated widely. Regardless of the intention behind these
actions, they should serve as a clear warning to any other Commissioners who may be put in a situation where they need to seek
legal advice or guidance related to their Board service from Commission staff.
In the end, despite all of this, it is my responsibility to address this issue expediently. While serving as a member and Chairman of
the Florida Commission on Ethics, I was committed to safeguarding the standards of conduct for officers and employees of the state
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of Florida. I am proud of our work, and I will always be grateful for the confidence the Governor demonstrated in me by affording
me the privilege to serve. It has been one of the greatest honors of my life.
The work we are pursuing at the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District is extremely important to me and to the people of
Florida. Because of the Governor’s leadership along with that of the Legislature and the District Board, we have brought
transparency and accountability to the District, provided long overdue pay raises to our first responders, eliminated wasteful
spending, reduced the mileage rate, and set a course to sustained prosperity for our community. Yet, there is still much work to be
done, to which I am and remain fully committed to seeing through.
May God continue to bless the free State of Florida.
Glenton "Glen" Gilzean, Jr.