Lavish travel, thousands of dollars expended on unknown credit card purchases and wasteful government purchasing practices of Enterprise Florida led Integrity Florida, a nonpartisan, nonprofit research group and government watchdog, to write Governor Rick Scott calling for an investigation of the organization.
In a letter to Scott dated, February 26, 2014, Executive Director of Integrity Florida, Dan Krassner states, “We respectively encourage you to have your Chief Inspector General, Melinda Miguel, conduct an investigation and publish a report examining the lavish travel and wasteful government purchasing practices by Enterprise Florida to ensure the agency is held to the highest standards of accountability and transparency.”
Krassner goes on to note that while the “Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO) is responsible for the state’s contract with Enterprise Florida, [but] it has clearly turned a blind eye to this waste and abuse of taxpayers’ money.
Krassner’s letter to Scott provides a sampling of the organization’s questionable expenses including:
? Nearly $22,000 spent on New York Yankee Luxury Suites and related purchases.
? More than $13,000 spent at the San Diego Zoo.
? $12,000 spent on Texas Rangers baseball.
? More than $7,000 spent at Cowboys Stadium.
? More than $4,000 spent on Atlanta Braves baseball.
? More than $4,000 spent on limousine services.
? Nearly $3,300 spent at Truluck’s Seafood Steak & Crab House in Austin, Texas.
? More than $2,500 spent at the 21 Club.
? More than $2,000 spent at 4Rivers Smokehouse.
? Roughly another $30,000 per month spent on American Express credit cards for unknown expenditures.
? Thousands more on airfare, luxury resorts and hotels, expensive meals and limousine services.
The letter concludes by stating that the people of Florida “deserve accountability and transparency” and that “a company [Enterprise Florida] this large, supported by hard-working Florida families, must be held to the highest ethical standards.”
