TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The whistleblower who claims he leaked information about the Florida Department of Environmental Protection's proposals for golf courses, lodging and pickleball courts on state park land said he has been fired, according to multiple reports.
James Gaddis, 41, was reportedly a cartographer in the Office of Park Planning and told The Palm Beach Post that he was "personally tasked with drawing the plans to add amenities to nine state parks, including the golf courses at Jonathan Dickinson State Park."
“I was drawing the golf course polygons and putting a point down where the hotel was going to go in Anastasia State Park and I was already disgusted but it just kept getting worse and worse,” Gaddis told The Palm Beach Post on Monday in an interview. “I said, ‘What I am mapping out here is too bad and too egregious and I can’t take this anymore.’”
RELATED: DeSantis tells DEP to go back to drawing board on controversial state park development proposals
Gaddis on Tuesday shared with the Tampa Bay Times what he says is his dismissal letter from the DEP, dated Aug. 30. In the letter, the reason for Gaddis' dismissal is listed as “conduct unbecoming a public employee, violation of law or department rules, negligence and misconduct."
“Recently the Department became aware that you intentionally released unauthorized and inaccurate information to the public,” the dismissal letter reads, in part. “At least one document was created, authored, and disseminated by you without direction or permission.”
According to Gaddis, he acted alone and did not regret his decision.
RELATED: Map: Here are the Florida state parks eyed for development under 'Great Outdoors Initiative'
Once the DEP's "Great Outdoors Initiative," along with Gaddis' alleged leaked document, were made public, the outcry was immediate. After bipartisan backlash over the proposed plans, Gov. Ron DeSantis said last week he told the DEP to "go back to the drawing board" with its plans.
DeSantis made the pronouncement Wednesday during a news conference, calling the plan "half-baked" and not ready for "prime time." At the time, he also said, without evidence, that the plans were "intentionally leaked to a left-wing group to stir up a narrative."
On Aug. 19, the Tampa Bay Times broke the story, claiming reporters "obtained copies of leaked documents from an unknown source detailing the park plans." Those same documents, it said, were later circulated online and on social media. The Times went on to say at the time it hadn't been able to authenticate the documents, but noted they were printed on what appeared to be state-issued stationary.
10 Tampa Bay has reached out to the governor's office and the DEP for comment and is waiting to hear back.