A legal opinion released today has determined that Glen Gilzean, the administrator of the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District, should not hold that post and serve as Florida’s ethics commission chairman, according to the Orlando Sentinel.
What’s Happening:
- State law does not allow public employees to serve on the government watchdog panel, Steven Zuilkowski, the ethics commission’s general counsel, wrote in the analysis.
- Gilzean, chairman of the ethics commission, was hired in May to lead the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District, where he earns an annual salary of $400,000.
- “[I]t appears that your position as district administrator for the district is public employment,” Zuilkowski concluded.
- Gilzean was first appointed to the ethics commission in August 2019, and was named the district administrator of the CFTOD on May 10th of this year.
- The district’s five board members, who approved the hiring, are also appointed by the governor.
- The potential conflict of interest went publicly unnoticed for months until a report by the investigative outlet Florida Bulldog. Gilzean attended ethics meetings in June and July after he was hired as administrator of the tourism oversight district.