Water District seeks director to tackle issues critical to SoFla
The agency that oversees South Florida’s flood control, water supply planning and Everglades restoration is looking for a new leader.
Executive director Pete Antonacci, a former lobbyist and lawyer for Gov. Rick Scott, is awaiting a final vote Monday on his move to be CEOof the state’s embattled job-recruiting agency, Enterprise Florida.
The South FloridaWater Management District’s new director will play an instrumental role in building a deepwater 78-billion gallon reservoir south of Lake Okeechobee to help the Everglades and minimize algae blooms in the Treasure Coast, said Julie HillGabriel, deputy director of Audubon Florida.
State legislators required the water management district to start planning by Aug. 1.
“We have a lot of important issues on the horizon in Everglades restoration,” Hill-Gabriel said. “Whenever there is a change in leadership, there is an opportunity to continue colating laboration or even strengthen collaboration.”
The water management district’s governor-appointed, ninemember board would appoint Antonacci’s successor, subject to approval of the governor and the Senate.
With a $660 million budget, the district covers16 counties, including MiamiDade, Broward and Palm Beach counties.
Enterprise Florida’s executive committee voted Wednesday to offer the CEO position to Antonacci rather than conduct a search.
Theexecutive committee did not discuss salary, said Nathan Edwards, a spokesman for Enterprise Florida. The previous director made $200,000 a year.
Antonacci started at the water district in September 2015 with an annual salary of $165,000.
Antonacci recently threatened to stop cooper- with a scientific board that advises Congress about Everglades restoration because he said it had become too concerned about legal and budgeting matters at the expense of science.
Antonacci has close ties with the governor. He served as his general counsel from 2013 until 2015. Before joining the water management district, he briefly worked as a lobbyist, representing clients that included Accelerated Learning Solutions, Key West, Corizon, JP Morgan Chase Bank, the National Notary Association and PC Solutions& Integration.
Antonacci has also served as state attorney for Palm Beach County and was a member of theNorthwest Florida Water Management District governing board.
Scott praised Antonacci as a dealmaker who knows howto get things done during the meeting of Enterprise Florida’s executive committee.
“My experience with Pete is he is able to negotiate a lot of good deals. That’s part of what you have to do both as general counsel and running the water management district,” Scott told the committee members. “I think he will do a good job. He’ll work hard. He’ll get deals done. And he’ll also be a good team player.”
Antonacci would succeed Chris Hart, who left Enterprise Florida in March after only five months with the agency. In his resignation letter, Hart cited differences with Scott over howthe agency should be run.
The governor battled for months with House Speaker Richard Cororan, R-Land O’ Lakes, over his $85 million funding request for Enterprise Florida. The House tried to kill the agency, but Scott argued it played a vital role in creating jobs. Ultimately, the job-recruiting agency survived with a reduced budget.
Information fromstaff writer Dan Sweeney and the News Service of Florida was used in this report.
sswisher@sunsentinel.com, 561-243-6634 or @SkylerSwisher