Florida unemployment official resigns. He was in charge when pandemic crashed system.

The man who presided over Florida’s unemployment system during the first tumultuous month of the pandemic resigned Monday.

Ken Lawson, executive director of the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity, did not say why he was resigning, effective Tuesday. Instead, he cited “the spirit of turning the page and moving forward.”

“With deep love and loyalty to my home state, I have given my all to Florida and thank everyone I have worked with over the years,” Lawson wrote in a letter to Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday. “I thank you for the responsibility that you have given me over the last year.”

As head of the department, Lawson was responsible for the oversight of Florida’s unemployment system, which melted down in mid-March from a crush of pandemic-related claims. The department was so crippled a month into the pandemic that DeSantis couldn’t even say how many people filed unemployment claims or how many were paid.

Apparently frustrated by Lawson’s performance, DeSantis stripped him of his oversight of the system during an April 15 news conference, handing responsibility over to Department of Management Services Secretary Jonathan Satter.

“Every morning I should know how many claims have been paid,” DeSantis said during the news conference. “Right now it’s hard for me to even get those numbers, and that’s unacceptable.”

Within a few weeks, Satter produced a detailed online dashboard showing the number of claims filed, processed and paid.

Lawson remained as head of the department until this week, at a salary of $162,000. DeSantis said Monday that they know Lawson’s replacement and will name the person “very soon.”

A holdover from the Gov. Rick Scott administration, Lawson was chosen to lead the department by DeSantis following stints leading the Department of Business and Professional Regulation, which licenses businesses and occupations, and Visit Florida, the state’s tourism marketing agency.

Tampa Bay Times staff writer Steve Contorno contributed to this report.