At about the same time Odom was seeking the city's help, insurers were balking at Odom's plan for using metal hangars at all, according to news reports. Though the structures would be built to withstand a hurricane, insurers would not take a risk with metal buildings so close to the water. Millions in state money to harden the structures could make that problem go away.

As the dual-purpose idea surfaced, the operator of the existing jet terminal at the airport, Miracle Strip Aviation, offered his building for emergency space. In a letter dated Jan. 9, 2007, to Destin's city manager, director Kelvin Espada wrote: ``I look forward to presenting you and your staff with a tour . . . and explaining why it is not necessary to utilize Florida taxpayers money to create a facility that is already in existence.''

The tour never happened.

At some point -- it's unclear when -- the plan switched from fortifying Odom's buildings to constructing something entirely separate. And the plan went from being an emergency operations center to a training facility, to be owned by the college. Odom's hangars have been built, but the college facility won't begin construction until early next year.

In January 2008, Odom persuaded the Okaloosa County Commission to let him sublease about a half acre of the airport land he was leasing from the county over to Northwest Florida Sate College. His fee: $1 a year.

The plan, Blackford of Destin Jet said, is for Destin Jet to lease the hangar space from the college. The only time it would not be available would be during a major storm, when the space would be used as a staging area for emergency workers.

Sansom, a 46-year-old former Okaloosa County commissioner, said he has long envisioned a staging area for emergency workers in Destin. When the winds kick up during a storm, bridges become impassable, Sansom said. He said he wants a safe place to store emergency workers and their equipment so they can get to work faster after a major storm.

Odom, 52, is a major player in the Destin-Fort Walton Beach area, having developed hundreds of residential and commercial properties. Sansom rents his district legislative office space, at taxpayer expense, in a Destin building that Odom owns.

When Sansom flies around the state on official Republican business, he often does so in Odom's aircraft. The state GOP pays the bill.

Odom has been a generous contributor to Sansom, both as a county commissioner and a state representative. In 2006-07, Odom's companies gave Sansom $16,000, according to state records.

But that pales in comparison with the $100,000 gift that Odom's Crystal Beach Development gave on Sept. 4 this year to a political committee controlled by House Republican leaders, including Sansom.

SHIFTING EMPHASIS

First elected in 2002, Sansom has been a legislator on the rise. The spring of 2007 was an important one as he began his first legislative session as the chief budget writer in the House, a powerful position that presaged his eventual role as Speaker.

Sansom took over as Florida's budget began a downturn from which it has not yet recovered as the state and national economy both continue to falter.

But Sansom took care of Northwest Florida State College. He never submitted a formal Community Budget Issue Request, which would be online and open to public scrutiny. Instead, Sansom added the $6 million airport project to a list of items funded from a pool of money designed for school construction.

That decision was pivotal. Now the airport building would be a college project and the emphasis shifted from an emergency operations center to an educational facility.

''Nobody seems to be able to explain this very well. It just doesn't make any sense,'' said Destin resident Jan Barr, who has asked the county's sheriff's office to look into the dealings. ``It started off as one thing and turned into something else. Why did the college get drawn in at all?''

Richburg defended the money, calling the project a ``wonderful opportunity.''

The money Sansom got from the state came from the same pot he has used in recent years to steer tens of millions to Northwest Florida State College.

The Herald/Times Bureau reported last week that in this year's budget, Sansom transformed a $1 million appropriation into $25.5 million to renovate and add space at the college's main campus in Niceville. He also slipped in $750,000 in startup money for a college ``leadership institute.''

A closer look at public records shows that in 2007 Sansom not only got $6 million for the airport property but tacked on $3 million to a $13.6 million request for a Community Services Complex at the college that will include a 2,400-seat basketball arena doubling as a hurricane shelter. The complex will be the new home for Okaloosa's emergency operations center. At the June ground-breaking, it was Sansom who donned a white hard hat, climbed into a John Deere backhoe and took the first scoop of earth.

Miami Herald/St. Petersburg Times Bureau staff writer Steve Bousquet contributed to this report. Alex Leary can be reached at aleary@sptimes.com.

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