Last week, I told you how Ron DeSantis granted himself special powers by declaring that Florida has been in a state of “emergency” for more than two straight years.

It’s basically empowerment by claim of chaos.

DeSantis took a 60-day emergency provision —  one designed for catastrophes like hurricanes — and has stretched it out for nearly 1,000 days to address what he called the “Biden Border crisis.” In doing so, he gave himself super powers to do things like seize property and issue no-bid contracts.

That is how he and his embattled attorney general — both of whom were desperate to distract from the Hope Florida scandal in which they were both embroiled — were able to suddenly declare that the state was building a massive detention camp in the middle of the Everglades.

No study was done to assess the environmental impact of plunking “Alligator Alcatraz” in the middle of a fragile ecosystem that taxpayers have spent billions of dollars to protect. Nor was due diligence completed to determine whether $450 million is a fair estimate to build and staff the cots, chain-link fencing and tents erected in haste.

And now we’re learning that some of the companies cashing in on these no-bid contracts were donors to the governor and Republican Party of Florida.

If that wasn’t red-flaggy enough, the DeSantis administration is handing out these lucrative contracts right after DeSantis vetoed a bill that would’ve cracked down on his staff trying to shake down state lobbyists and vendors for campaign donations.

If you don’t think all this stinks, you should see an ENT specialist.

Don’t just take it from me. Even over at Fox News, one of President Donald Trump’s former border officials came out Monday to blast Alligator Alcatraz as “hastily assembled facilities, staffed by non-traditional vendors and unvetted state contractors … ripe for failure, mismanagement and corruption.”

The author of that piece, Mark Morgan, a former head of border protection, said Trump’s mass deportation effort needs “real detention facilities and actual jails, not circus tents surrounded by reptiles.”

So where is the accountability? Completely MIA. The Florida Legislature could put an end to DeSantis’ never-ending “emergency” declarations. But lawmakers have been as useless as an inflatable dartboard when it comes to checks and balances on this issue. They’ve sat idly by while DeSantis renewed his 60-day emergency declaration 15 times.

Nearly 1,000 days is one heckuva 60-day “emergency” — one that’s apparently paying off well for some campaign donors.

The Miami Herald and Tampa Bay Times reported that at least three of Alligator Alcatraz’s contractors involved have given money to DeSantis or the Republican Party of Florida. The papers noted that one of the biggest donors, an executive with CDR Maguire who has funneled about $1.9 million to DeSantis and GOP campaign efforts, has been spotted driving a $400,000 Ferrari around Tallahassee. That’s quite a look for a company profiting off alleged “emergencies.”

DeSantis was able to avoid traditional bidding requirements — created to make sure taxpayers get the best deal — by including a line in his “emergency” declarations that claims “strict compliance” with standard procurement procedures would hinder state agencies from doing what’s “necessary to respond to this emergency.”

And again, the DeSantis administration is awarding these contracts to donors right after DeSantis vetoed an anti-corruption measure meant to crack down on mixing donation solicitation with state business. The bill was championed by Republicans and passed nearly unanimously by the Legislature. Yet DeSantis killed it.

Deals for donors, though, are just the latest concern. There’s a potential environmental mess in the making — precisely what you’d expect by placing thousands of people who poop and generate trash in the middle of an environmentally sensitive place taxpayers have already invested billions of dollars renourishing.

There are humanitarian concerns. Keep in mind: Some of the people now being told to leave this country have been in this country legally until the Trump administration decided to revoke their status. Some have been here with permission for more than two decades. Their crime was taking this nation at its word when they were encouraged to set up families and businesses.

Democratic lawmakers tried to visit the detention center last week — as state law says any legislators are entitled to — to see what was going on for themselves. But staffers denied them entrance. See what you can get away with in an “emergency”?

This has gone on long enough. No-bid contracts are ripe for corruption and a terrible idea for taxpayers. And this project needs serious vetting. If legislative Republicans want Floridians to believe there are any conservatives left in this state who care about ethics and accountability, they should join Democrats in voting to override the governor’s veto of the anti-corruption bill — and in voting to end this never-ending “emergency” declaration.

smaxwell@orlandosentinel.com

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