Former Palm Coast mayor's $1,000 fine, other ethics orders languish on Gov. DeSantis' desk

In 2021, the Florida Commission on Ethics found former Palm Coast Mayor Milissa Holland used her public office to benefit her employer, ending a three-year saga that started when she emailed the city of Orlando to pitch her company's services using her city email.

At least that's what the complainant, former city controller Jay Maher, thought.

But the $1,000 fine Holland agreed to hasn't been imposed yet because it's among more than three dozen ethics final dispositions awaiting Gov. Ron DeSantis' approval. Like the Holland case, some have been there for years.

The fifth-year governor who promised to "drain the swamp in Tallahassee" hasn't processed 42 such cases. Six are from 2023. Seventeen are from 2021 or before.

One dates back to 2016, when DeSantis was still in Congress and his chief rival in the 2024 Republican presidential primary, Donald Trump, had yet to be elected president.

The last time DeSantis signed ethics executive orders was Jan. 28, 2021, when he completed 21, with nearly half of them having been handed over in 2019.

Why the delays?

The Governor's Office did not respond to requests for comment.

Maher, now a Palm Coast retiree, offered a reaction.

“I thought it was resolved. I’m surprised it hasn’t been," he said.

Justice delayed for 'ghost' candidate, others

Holland's attorney, Mark Herron, represents many of the alleged violators who come before the ethics commission. He is a former ethics commission chair.

"For the most part, my clients want the matter resolved with finality once they agree to the joint stipulation and agreed-upon civil penalty," Herron said in an emailed response to questions.

Herron recalled a similar backlog of cases when DeSantis took office in 2019.

"He took action on some of those cases, but not all," Herron said. "Prior to that, I don't recall there was a significant delay, once any appeal was resolved."

The Holland case isn't the only one awaiting resolution.

Here are some of the others:

• A Delray Beach man who was paid some $44,000 to run as a "ghost" candidate for state Senate, Alexis Rodriguez, did not campaign or try in any way to get elected but agreed to put his name on the ballot with no party affiliation. He shared the same last name as the Democratic contender, confusing some voters and siphoning off votes from others. The ethics commission fined Rodriguez $20,000 in 2021. That hasn't been signed by the governor.

• At a time when COVID-19 vaccines were in short supply, Manatee County Commissioner Vanessa Baugh used her power to arrange a pop-up vaccination site in Lakewood Ranch, where she lived. She agreed to an $8,000 fine. That hasn't been signed by the governor.

• Brian Burkeen, former assistant chief of Indian River County Fire Rescue, was found to have used his public position to purchase tires he sold for his personal benefit after he was convicted of grand theft in 2020. Burkeen was sentenced to 12 years in prison after pleading no contest to stealing 1,000 tires. As he had been convicted criminally and ordered to pay more than $300,000 in restitution, the ethics commission recommended the governor issue a public censure and reprimand.  That hasn't been issued by the governor.

'Something wrong with the ethics commission'

Dennis McDonald, a former candidate for Flagler County Commission, has been facing a $4,000 fine since 2019. But the governor hasn’t signed the ethics commission’s order, so he hasn't paid it.

McDonald failed to properly report his income on financial disclosure forms in 2011 and 2013, the commission determined. A staff attorney asked the commission to fine him $10,000, as she said he “thumbed his nose” at the commission, by not cooperating or even responding to letters about his case.

McDonald told The News-Journal he and his wife Janet, who was also a candidate for Flagler County School Board at the time, mixed up who owned which properties and reported them incorrectly on the forms. He said he was upset the commission refused to let him make his own case by requiring he hire an attorney, and he didn’t attend the hearing.

McDonald offered his theory on why the governor – whom he said he got to know during DeSantis’ time as a congressman representing the Volusia-Flagler area − is sitting on dozens of orders.

“Ron’s a good guy and he knows there's something wrong with the ethics commission,” he said. “There are many more important things for a governor to do than to get knee-deep in the ethics commission.”

'Bad message' to elected officials and public

Ben Wilcox, research director at Integrity Florida, a nonprofit, nonpartisan research institute and government watchdog, called the governor's inaction on ethics orders a head-scratcher.

"It's sending a bad message to public officials throughout Florida and to the public that Florida is not serious about enforcing its ethics laws," Wilcox said. "I've yet to hear an explanation from the Governor's Office as to why they're not acting on these settlements."

Wilcox questioned the purpose of the process.

"I mean, there really is no reason why these complaints should go back to the Governor's Office. The governor is being asked to perform what is a ministerial function," he said.

However, Wilcox said he doubts there is political will in the Legislature to "raise the bar on ethics standards."

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This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Gov. Ron DeSantis has not acted on 40+ ethics orders, some for years