Jim Rosica
Pete Antonacci, the new head of the South Florida Water Management District, doesn’t have a conflict of interest just because his lawyer wife has clients with matters before the district.
That’s the opinion of Florida Commission on Ethics staff, which will be considered for approval by commission members at their meeting Friday morning, according to an online agenda.
Antonacci, formerly Gov. Rick Scott‘s general counsel, sought the guidance in a Sept. 25 letter.
His wife, Anne Longman of the state’s Lewis, Longman & Walker law firm, practices administrative and environmental law involving a variety of state and local agencies, including the water management district.
His letter refers specifically to a state law governing “standards of conduct for public officers, employees of agencies, and local government attorneys.”
Antonacci wrote that while he didn’t believe there was a problem, “appearances can be compelling.”
The barely 5-page opinion goes through various sections of the law, not finding any potential conflicts.
Antonacci was Scott’s personal pick to run the agency after his predecessor was forced out.
The Palm Beach Post has reported that former executive director Blake Guillory was shown the door after the district decided to hold its tax rate steady instead of reducing it, as Scott had desired. The decision was later reversed.
Antonacci also has been in a plethora of government jobs, including as an assistant prosecutor in Tallahassee, a special assistant federal prosecutor, Florida’s statewide prosecutor and the chief deputy to former Attorney General Bob Butterworth,
In 2012, Scott made him acting state attorney in Palm Beach County for the rest of the term of Michael McAuliffe, who quit for a job in private practice.
Antonacci was a member of the state ethics commission in 2001-05.
