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Whistleblower says Florida state parks plan 'came out of nowhere,' and they worked in 'total secrecy'

'We were totally blindsided by this,' James Gaddis tells WPTV reporter Ethan Stein

WPTV reporter Ethan Stein spoke with James Gaddis, a former employee at the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, to get his side of the controversial state parks plan.

By: Ethan Stein

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WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — James Gaddis, a former employee at the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, identified himself as the man fired for leaking plans to add various developments to state parks.

Gaddis, who linked the proposals back to the governor's office, told WPTV he leaked the plans because he felt the maps he drew as a state employee were being done secretly. His actions led to several residents reaching out to our newsroom with concerns over those plans for days, protesting the plan before it was abruptly put on hold last week.

Gaddis' termination letter dated Aug. 30 (READ BELOW) said he was fired for behavior unbecoming of a public employee and violating department rules for releasing information.

"It got to the point where we were operating in total secrecy this whole time. I got tired of that," Gaddis said. "We were totally blindsided by this. It came out of nowhere. The fact that we were told not to talk to anybody about this including our buddies who work in other units or in the building."

Gaddis said his supervisors ordered him to draw various maps showing the location of different developments, like a golf course or 350-room lodge. He said those supervisors were receiving directions from the governor's office.

"This actually mostly destroyed morale in the office of park planning," Gaddis said. "We started snapping at each other."

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Gaddis said the instructions for the maps started earlier in August. He said the state planned to announce the various projects and then announce public comment meetings about the proposed changes the following day.

"As I was making maps, you know, obviously I was disgusted," Gaddis said.

He said he was supposed to host one of the meetings for public input. Gaddis said he was instructed to play a pre-recorded PowerPoint, answer no questions, limit capacity to about 100 people and stop the meeting after an hour.

WATCH BELOW: FDEP whistleblower gives behind-the-scenes look at controversial state park proposal

Florida Department of Environmental Protection whistleblower talks to WPTV

"So we started to feel concerned about our personal safety going and facilitating these meetings," Gaddis said. "So I got to the point where I decided that this needs to be made public, that we're working on this."

Gaddis said he put the documents on two different flash drives and then spread one internally within DEP and externally.

Once those documents got to the media, the DEP made the plans public.

WPTV has reached out to DEP and the governor's office. Only DEP responded, saying it doesn't comment on personal matters.

As of Tuesday afternoon, a GoFundMe for Gaddis has raised nearly $100,000 so far.

According to pay stubs that WPTV received, it's likely going to double his pay from what he's already made this year as a state employee. He's also hearing from potential employers with job offers. He said he could donate the money to charity as he feels more secure about his finances for the near future.

Gaddis also said he's currently working with an attorney on a possible lawsuit and believes he's entitled to some protections.

Read more of WPTV's coverage of this issue and protests below: