Vanderbilt campus in Palm Beach? What is the point of this if colleges aren't in fact a real estate scam?
I'm just basing it on the statute and regulations, which empower the FL BOG (political appointees), the BOTs (political appointees), and the university presidents (selected by political appointees). I'm not surprised that the universities aren't trying to centralize power in the small group of people at the top, as it would seem unworkable logistically. But technically, those people are the ones who have power over the process.
major profit center for them if they can capture the financial firms and related potential employees that have relocated to SE Florida and build up that portion of their alumni base
this is the chair of the BOT. He also has substantial land holdings in Duval county. He is the one who gave desi his golf simulator. How any of this is legal is beyond my ability to understand. Connect the dots RemovePaywall | Free online paywall remover DeSantis agency sent $92 million in covid relief funds to donor project - The Washington Post The administration of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) steered $92 million last year in leftover federal coronavirus stimulus money to a controversial highway interchange project that directly benefits a top political donor, according to state records. The decision by the Florida Department of Transportation to use money from the 2021 American Rescue Plan for the I-95 interchange at Pioneer Trail Road near Daytona Beach fulfilled a years-long effort by Mori Hosseini, a politically connected housing developer who owns two large tracts of largely forested land abutting the planned interchange. The funding through the DeSantis administration, approved shortly after the governor’s reelection, expedited the project by more than a decade, according to state documents. Hosseini plans to develop the land — which includes a sensitive watershed once targeted for conservation by the state — into approximately 1,300 dwelling units and 650,000 square feet of nonresidential use, including an outdoor village shopping district. He has called the Woodhaven development, which has already begun construction, his “best project yet” and promised to pull out all the stops for its success. ................................... Hosseini helped DeSantis arrange a round of golf at Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia in 2018, according to the Tampa Bay Times. A year later, Hosseini donated a golf simulator that retails for at least $27,500 to the governor’s mansion, according to records previously obtained by The Post. In the 2022 campaign cycle, companies controlled by Hosseini gave at least $361,000 to political groups that benefited the DeSantis reelection campaign, according to state campaign finance records. Hosseini’s plane has been repeatedly used by DeSantis, according to a Post analysis. Meet Mori Hosseini – Conclusion – Site Title (wordpress.com)
and I can't take a 20 year friend out fishing on my boat because he works for the county and it would get him in trouble
Yep and it's no coincidence that Steven Ross is promoting the move with the campus next to his CRE Project. Vanderbilt Wants to Build a $520M West Palm Beach Campus (therealdeal.com)
Oh yeah, when I hosted consultants I had to buy the coffee, snacks, and sandwiches with my own damn money while we worked on a project for FLDOT - because I was not allowed to have a private individual benefit from expenditure of state funds. The profit from the office coke machine had been just enough to buy a ham and turkey for the office Christmas party but an internal auditor caught it and we had to remit the quarters - all of them - to the Florida general fund. I guess the corruption just wasn't on a large enough scale by a factor of 500 million
You know you've really arrived when you leave a job you worked for 17 months and keep getting paid a million bucks per year for 3 more years in tax payer money... I swear. Honestly - who makes these contracts?
I'm honestly surprised there hasn't been more carnage in so far as employees being let go. The optics right now at UF are just the worst.
You would think that this ensures the next President is an academic- at least if the deciders were smart for which the record is muddled.
payola to keep his mouth shut? at odds with Patronis promising an investigation. I suspect Sasse has receipts on desi and his BOT developer buddy
The good news is that 6 of Sasse's hires have been sent notices of non-reappointment. The bad news is they will all receive compensation until November. Kari Ridder - $122,400 year Kelicia Rice - $138,000 year Raven Shirley - $126,000 year Penny Shwinn - $367,500 year Alice James Burns - $205,000 year Taylor Silva - $225,000 year UF terminates several allies of former UF President Ben Sasse
