MIKLOS' corruption evidences the extent of corruption under recent Republican Governors. From Orlando Sentinel:
$2M in public money could go to Lake Apopka project tied to controversial former water district chair
A pair of Central Florida Republican lawmakers are requesting $2 million in public money that would go to an entity connected to several prominent GOP figures and co-operated by John Miklos, a controversial former chair of the St. Johns Water Management District.
The taxpayer funds would be used to plant aquatic vegetation on 141 acres in long-polluted Lake Apopka, according to the budget requests submitted by Rep. Taylor Yarkosky of Montverde and Sen. Jason Brodeur of Sanford.
But so far, the Florida Senate has included $500,000 for the project in its version of the state budget, although that figure could change as lawmakers hammer out details of the spending plan over the coming days. The House’s spending plan didn’t include any funding for the Lake Apopka project.
Records show a company called Aquaticus Plants LLC, which grows and sells freshwater and saltwater native plants, requested the funding. Miklos is listed as a manager on state business records.
Miklos also is president of Bio-Tech Consulting, an environmental consulting firm that worked with dozens of clients in the St. Johns Water Management District while Miklos was the chair, prompting complaints that his dual roles presented a conflict of interest.
Shortly after Gov. Ron DeSantis took office in 2019, he rescinded Gov. Rick Scott’s second reappointment of Miklos to the water board and added him to the University of Central Florida’s Board of Trustees.
Miklos didn’t return an email or phone message seeking comment for this story, and Yarkosky and Brodeur didn’t answer questions about his involvement in the proposed project.
Miklos has donated to both Yarkosky and Brodeur, including a $10,000 gift to a political committee chaired by Yarkosky in 2023.
Budget documents say a nonprofit organization called the Aquatic Restoration & Conservation Alliance, which was set up last year, would receive the state funding if it is awarded. Its leaders include local developer Jeff Fuqua, who said his organization’s role is to disburse funding for the project as work is completed.
“My entity has no financial interest in the profitability of the project,” Fuqua wrote in an email. “We are paid a fee to administer the project.”
Miklos’ business partner, Aquaticus Plants co-owner Beau Williams, said the project would be a continuation of his other firm’s ongoing work on Lake Apopka.
Williams’ other firm, Aquatech Eco Consultants, has planted 50 acres of aquatic plants and is slated to plant 50 more this year through a contract with the St. Johns River Management District, he said.
Water district board members have approved more than $1.3 million in funding for the project, which calls for planting eelgrass and pondweed designed to improve water quality and expand the habitat available for wildlife.
“This is a beneficial project for Lake Apopka,” Williams said.
Aquaticus Plants is a subcontractor on that project, records show.
Aquaticus Plants also has ties to Chris Dorworth, the former lawmaker and lobbyist who is locked in a years-long legal battle with Seminole County over a failed attempt to build a large housing development in a rural portion of the county.
Dorworth’s consulting firm was listed on Aquaticus Plants’ corporate records in 2020, although Williams said Dorworth is no longer connected to the firm. He didn’t respond to an email from the Orlando Sentinel about the matter.
Dorworth’s finances are a source of contention in Seminole County, where leaders are pushing to obtain bank account records from him and his wife, as well as Dorworth’s consulting firm, to establish his liability for $432,000 in legal fees his River Cross development firm owes the county.
More than a year ago, a judge ordered River Cross to pony up the fees to repay much of what Seminole County spent defending itself against a failed lawsuit brought by the development firm. But the firm’s bank records showed a balance of just over $30.
Dorworth, who has said he is the sole investor in a proposed River Cross development in Seminole, told the Orlando Sentinel in November he is not responsible for the debt and has “no plans” to deposit more money in the firm’s account.
anmartin@orlandosentinel.com
1 comment:
Contract will be awarded to a friend of a friend of a friend of Billy the Bamboozler.
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