ICYMI

DeSantis campaign donor dead by suicide, Moms for Liberty pushing mission creep in library workgroup, and other news you may have missed.

» DeSantis ally found dead amid sexual misconduct investigation

A prominent donor and ally of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis was found dead in a parking lot in North Florida last week. Jacksonville defense contractor Kent Stermon died of an apparent suicide outside of the Mayport post office on Thursday. Stermon had donated more than $60,000 to DeSantis’ election funds, but his connections to DeSantis go well beyond political donations. When DeSantis was pushed out of his Jacksonville district by redistricting in 2016, he moved into a Stermon-owned condo that was within the boundaries of the new district to run for office. Stermon was later appointed to the Board of Governors overseeing state universities by DeSantis. The 50-year-old contractor was reportedly under investigation for sexual misconduct, according to Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office sources.

» Florida school library workgroup roiled by conflict with Moms for Liberty members

With a Jan. 1 deadline looming, a state Department of Education workgroup is crafting a training that all school-library workers must use in selecting books and other materials. But tension has simmered because some members of the panel don’t believe its recommendations go far enough. The group, which includes parents and school media specialists, was formed to carry out part of a new law designed to intensify scrutiny of school library books and instructional materials. Part of the law requires that, starting in January, library media-center specialists in Florida’s public schools undergo a training program developed by the state education department.

The workgroup developing the training includes members of the conservative group Moms for Liberty, who have aggressively voiced their concerns about the material children encounter at school. Michelle Beavers, a mother of six who serves on the group and is chairwoman of the Brevard County chapter of Moms for Liberty, said, “The true gist of why we were put here was to address CRT [critical race theory] and sexually explicit [material] in our libraries,” during a Nov. 28 meeting.

But Amber Baumbach, director of instructional materials and library media for the Department of Education, pointed out that critical race theory — a concept that racism is embedded in American institutions — is not mentioned in the law that spurred the workgroup’s creation. “The task that we were presented with was solely about the sexually explicit materials. … CRT is not part of that statute at all,” Baumbach replied. Beavers has repeatedly urged the group to craft its own definitions for material that would be impermissible in books and should be removed from media centers.

Beavers expressed doubt that the group would come to an agreement on the issue. “I believe we’re at an impasse. I don’t believe that these librarians are going to in any way agree to any of this. So I think it’s going to be a shorter meeting than we think. Because … we’re not going to agree on that,” she said.

» Trulieve faces lawsuit over Florida employee layoffs

Workers laid off by Trulieve, Inc., the state’s largest medical-marijuana operator, have filed a potential class-action lawsuit alleging the Tallahassee-based company failed to give adequate notice before letting them go. Trulieve, which operates in nine states including Florida, laid off an unspecified number of workers over the past few weeks at facilities in North Florida, where its grow operations are based. The lawsuit alleges Trulieve failed to comply with the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, which requires advance notice before plant closings or mass layoffs. The lawsuit says federal law requires Trulieve to give employees at least 60 days notice before termination but did not do so.

Trulieve disputed the allegations. Trulieve attorney Glenn Burhans Jr. said in a statement, “Where possible, Trulieve offered impacted employees new positions at the same site or at other sites in the area. Where transfers were not feasible or accepted, employees were offered severance packages.” In a separate statement, Trulieve said it is “committed to Northwest Florida,” pointing to a new 750,000 square-foot facility in Jefferson County. The cannabis operator employs nearly 9,000 workers across the country and is hiring “for new positions in other areas,” according to the statement. Trulieve in October 2021 finalized a merger with Harvest Health & Recreation Inc., making it the “largest and most profitable” marijuana operator in the nation, a press release announcing the deal said. The lawsuit seeks monetary damages equal to the sum of unpaid wages, salary, commissions, bonuses, accrued holiday pay, accrued vacation pay and other benefits for 60 days following the date of the workers’ termination.

» Florida rep charged with defrauding PPP loan scheme resigns but claims ‘I repaid every penny’

It took about 24 hours for state Rep. Joe Harding to resign from his House seat after news broke that the Ocala Republican had been charged with fraudulently obtaining coronavirus-related business loans. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida announced last week that a grand jury indicted Harding on charges of wire fraud, money laundering and making false statements. The charges involve an alleged scheme to defraud the Small Business Association’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan program designed to help businesses recover from the pandemic’s effects on the economy. Without commenting on details of the case, Harding contended in a prepared statement last Thursday that he “repaid every penny” of the more than $150,000 that the 12-page indictment said Harding “obtained and attempted to obtain” through the alleged scheme.

Harding’s resignation garnered headlines throughout Florida and nationally, in large part because he sponsored a high-profile and controversial education measure that passed during the 2022 legislative session. The measure, which in part prohibits classroom instruction about sexual orientation and gender identity in early grades, was formally named “Parental Rights in Education” by Harding and other supporters, but was disparagingly labeled “don’t say gay” by critics.

In his resignation letter to House Speaker Paul Renner, Harding wrote that the legal issues will “require my complete focus,” and that “now is the time to allow someone else to serve my district.”