DeSantis adds Miami attorney and West Palm investor to South Florida water board
Gov. Ron DeSantis picked a Miami Beach maritime attorney and a West Palm Beach investor to fill two of the remaining seats on the South Florida Water Management District governing board Wednesday after ordering former board members to resign.
Attorney Scott Wagner, a solo practitioner, is the second Miami resident named to the board. DeSantis picked investor Charlie Martinez, a partner in a firm redeveloping the Grove Key Marina and Scotty’s Landing in Coconut Grove, last week when he named four appointees. One appointment remains, which will likely come from a county near Lake Okeechobee.
In a press release, DeSantis said Wagner is a lifelong South Floridian who will bring a “unique perspective” as a maritime lawyer. Wagner graduated from Yale University, where he played safety on the football team, with honors and a degree in history. He attended law school at the University of Miami.
DeSantis also appointed John “Jay” Steinle, a managing director at Lighthouse Investment Partners in West Palm Beach. DeSantis described Steinle as an active sportsman. He graduated from the University of Vermont with a degree in environmental studies, according to a press release.
“My administration remains committed to protecting our environment and fighting for clean water for all Floridians and I know firsthand Jay Steinle and Scott Wagner will be dedicated to these goals in their service to the people of Florida,” DeSantis said in a statement.
The new governor demanded the resignations from the nine-member board two days after he was sworn into office in January. The board, all appointed by Sen. Rick Scott, angered DeSantis by voting to extend a lease for sugar farmers on land slated for an Everglades reservoir. The reservoir is intended to reduce polluted discharges from Lake Okeechobee that helped foul rivers with blue green algae and exacerbate a red tide on Florida’s Gulf Coast over the summer.
Since taking office, DeSantis has vowed to make improved water quality and Everglades restoration priorities; in January he rolled out an agenda that included spending $2.5 billion on environmental initiatives.
The reservoir was approved under the Scott administration, but at less than a third of the size originally envisioned. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, a partner with the state on the project, has raised significant concerns about design, including questions about the safety of a levee surrounding the 23-foot-deep reservoir. Despite the concerns, the assistant secretary of the Army, a political appointee, signed off on the project, which Congress has authorized. The Corps and South Florida Water Management District are now working on fixing design problems.
This story was originally published February 27, 2019 at 6:39 PM.
