Randy Fine pulls $2 million request as Brevard Zoo considers ban on campaign events
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Florida Rep. Randy Fine has pulled a $2 million state funding request for the Brevard Zoo's hotly anticipated aquarium project at Port Canaveral.
The move came after Brevard Zoo Executive Director Keith Winsten said the zoo's board would consider halting rentals for political campaign events after the 2024 election cycle, in the wake of controversy over a fundraiser held at the zoo's Nyami Nyami River Lodge for Fine's 2024 Florida Senate run.
Winsten's comments came amid fury from Fine critics over the Feb. 27 event, which drew a crowd of protesters angry over the south Brevard legislator's stance on transgender issues and recent push to ban certain therapies for transgender children.
Winsten said Fine had rented the Viera venue as a regular paying client, and said the transaction was not a statement on Fine's candidacy. He apologized to anyone who felt hurt by it, emphasizing the zoo's commitment to be open to everyone.
Fine, R-Melbourne Beach, responded this week by pulling a request to help fund construction of the Dr. Duane De Freese Coastal Conservation Hub, a three-story, 23,565-square-foot education and research facility that will crown the planned aquarium's 14-acre campus at a site on port property.
Brevard funding at issue:Brevard Commission to consider halting grants if zoo restricts rentals for campaign events
Aquarium project status:Port Canaveral aquarium should break ground by fall 2024, feature manatee rehab facility
The $100 million project spearheaded by the zoo also will include a manatee rehabilitation center, and is expected to create 900 jobs and draw at least 300,000 tourists annually, according to projections filed with the Florida Legislature. Fine originally sponsored the funding request on Feb. 9.
Fine said Wednesday said he was under pressure from House leaders to cut down his long list of funding requests, which totaled more than $56 million this legislative session, including $9 million for a septic-to-sewer conversion project in Micco.
The decision to ax the zoo's request had more to do with priorities than politics, Fine said.
Funding for a statewide drug takeback pilot program and more than $6.1 million in various public works projects for the city of Palm Bay also didn't make the cut. Still, the announcement put the zoo on his short list, he said.
"Given the zoo has so much money that they're able to turn away business, I felt that they didn't need the tax money," Fine said.
Winsten on Thursday said he had heard Fine pulled the funding item, but added that he and Fine had no discussion about the issue.
Winsten declined to comment on Fine's decision, and said there is no way to determine whether it would have any effect on the timeline for the aquarium project.
The zoo has raised about $55 million for the aquarium to date, including $1.5 million in previous state funding going toward design of the facility. Winsten said the zoo's lease agreement with Port Canaveral calls for the project to break ground by Oct. 1, 2024. He projects an opening of the aquarium in early-2027.
Winsten said the zoo's board has not discussed the venue rental issue, and currently has no meeting scheduled to do so.
Brevard County Commission discussion
Members of the Brevard County Commission also had taken issue with any proposal to ban campaign events at the zoo, raising the possibility of halting future county funding to the zoo.
During a March 2 County Commission zoning meeting, Commissioner John Tobia suggested that the county should consider halting future grant support to the zoo if the zoo board moved forward with a proposal to stop renting its facilities for political campaign events after the 2024 elections.
Tobia said he had spoken with Fine about that issue before the March 2 commission meeting, but said the idea to halt the grants if that transpires was his own. Linking to a FLORIDA TODAY story about the commission's March 2 discussion on his Facebook page, Fine wrote: "Go woke, go broke. #didn'tlearnfromChapek."
Bob Chapek was the CEO of Disney when the company spoke out against the Parental Rights in Education bill, drawing the ire of Gov. Ron DeSantis and leading the governor to take control of Disney's special taxing district near Orlando. Fine sponsored the bill targeting the media giant's special governing powers last year.
Tobia declined to comment Thursday's on Fine's action related to the state appropriation proposal for the aquarium.
But Tobia said he still plans to move forward with his own proposal related to county funding of the zoo, if the zoo board decides to ban rental of the zoo for campaign events.
The zoo receives 5% of the overall revenue from Brevard County's tourist development tax on hotel rooms and other short-term rentals, as well as various grants.
Tobia told the other commissioners that, since 2006, the zoo has received more than $7.5 million from the tourist tax. In addition, the zoo is in line to receive $15 million in tourism capital facilities grants for the aquarium project.
Randy Fine's history of retaliation
Fine has used threats to pull or withhold state funding in the past to strike back at political rivals and retaliate over perceived slights. He denied a legislative hearing for a bill to fund a firefighter academy at Palm Bay Magnet High School last year over the school district's mask mandate at the height of the pandemic.
Text messages released as part of a public records request last April showed Fine also threatened funding for West Melbourne and the Special Olympics after city officials invited Brevard School Board member Jennifer Jenkins (and other board members) to a fundraiser for the charity, but didn't invite Fine. He denied threatening the funding.
Among the other state appropriation requests that Fine recently withdrew were $2.3 million to widen the St. John's Heritage Parkway and $2.1 million for septic-to-sewer conversions affecting about 100 homeowners, both for the city of Palm Bay.
Palm Bay Mayor Rob Medina declined to comment on the move or what it could mean for city residents Wednesday, directing questions to Fine.
"I don't have time right now to discuss this with you," he told FLORIDA TODAY.
What other legislators did
In all, Florida House members submitted 2,333 appropriation requests by the Feb. 13 deadline, including 36 by Fine, according to a Florida House of Representatives online database. Subsequently, 16 House members withdrew a total of 31 of those requests, with the six withdrawn by Fine the most of any legislator.
Among the four other Florida House members who represent parts of Brevard, Chase Tramont submitted the most appropriation requests (45), followed by Tyler Sirois (24), Thad Altman (12) and Robert Brackett (11). None of them withdrew any of their requests.
Fine recently began his fourth two-year term in the Florida House of Representatives, representing south Brevard's District 33. He cannot seek reelection there in 2024 because of term limits. Fine instead is seeking the District 19 seat in the Florida Senate. That central and south Brevard district currently is represented by Republican Debbie Mayfield, who cannot seek reelection there because of term limits.
Eric Rogers is a watchdog reporter for FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Rogers at 321-242-3717 or esrogers@floridatoday.com. Dave Berman is the business editor for FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Berman at dberman@floridatoday.com.
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Brevard Zoo aquarium funding pulled by Florida Rep. Randy Fine
