An ethics review by the staff of the state Ethics Commission has cleared Ron Bergeron for appointment to the powerful board that supervises South Florida water supplies and restoration of the Everglades.
It still requires action by the Ethics Commission itself.
Gov. Ron DeSantis said in January he intended to appoint Bergeron to the board of the South Florida Water Management District, but delayed an official move so Bergeron’s interests could be examined for potential conflicts.
Bergeron, who lives on a ranch in western Broward, is CEO of the Bergeron Family of Companies, which includes highway construction, rock pits and quarries, agriculture, real estate development, solid waste management and disaster recovery services. Some of the companies have business with the water management district.
The bottom line from the ethics commission staff is the Bergeron appointment can go ahead, with some caveats.
— Contracts between Bergeron companies entered into before his appointment to the board are not a prohibited conflict of interest.
The ethics commission staff view of such contracts is that there is no conflict if the contract was made when the appointee “held no public position and thus had no public duties which he could have been tempted to dishonor.”
That refers to three contracts.