A former top aide to ex-Gov. Charlie Crist has been named the Everglades Foundation’s new chief executive officer.

Eric Eikenberg, who was chief-of-staff for Crist and, earlier, for former U.S. Rep. Clay Shaw, R-Fort Lauderdale, will lead the environmental advocacy organization beginning July 1. He succeeds Kirk Fordham, who announced last month he was leaving the Miami-based nonprofit to take a job as executive director of the Gill Action Fund, a leading gay rights advocacy organization.

“Eric impressed us from the first moment we met. He has a deep understanding of what it takes to achieve success both in Washington and Tallahassee and he has the leadership skills that will help the Foundation continue to be at the forefront of Everglades restoration,” said Paul Tudor Jones, II, Everglades Foundation chairman. 

Since leaving Crist’s office, Eikenberg has been a senior policy advisor for the law firm, Holland & Knight. During his time in the governor’s office, Eikenberg was a central negotiator in forging a deal to buy 187,000 acres of land owned by U.S. Sugar, part of a plan to sharply reduce sugar production in the region and use the property for Everglades restoration.

Crist’s successor, Gov. Rick Scott, opposed the sale, and the South Florida Water Management District went forward with a scaled-back plan by acquiring 27,000 of sugar land. Scott last fall unveiled his own plan for moving forward with Everglades work. Environmentalists expect Scott to offer more refinements to his proposal in coming weeks.

“I am honored to join the Everglades Foundation as its next chief executive officer,” Eikenberg said. “The mission is simple:  Save the Everglades. It is the source of water for more than 7 million Floridians and a driver of our economy. What we do now, will determine whether our generation leaves future generations with a vibrant, healthy, River of Grass.”

 

West Palm Beach-based Florida Crystals Corp. contributed the maximum $25,000 this week to Gov.-elect Rick Scott’s inaugural festivities. And three other entities listing the same Clematis Street office suite address as Florida Crystals kicked in $25,000 apiece as well.

See the complete list of contributors by clicking here.

The four $25,000 contributors from the same office suite are Florida Crystals Corp., Sun Corn Inc., Agro-Industrial Management and Florida Pioneer Investments.

Florida Crystals’ rival, U.S. Sugar Corp., contributed $25,000 to the inaugural. During his GOP primary against Bill McCollum, Scott blasted the state’s $197 million purchase of 27,000 acres of U.S. Sugar land for Everglades restoration and slammed U.S. Sugar’s contributions to McCollum.

Other local contributors to the inaugural include the Palm Beach Kennel Club, which donated $5,000, and Palm Beach Credit Adjustor Inc., which gave $10,000.

Contributions topped $800,000 through Monday.

UPDATED with quote from Tea Party in Action leader….

Republican governor candidate Rick Scott announced late Wednesday that he’ll be outside the South Florida Water Management District headquarters in West Palm Beach this morning with a group called Tea Party in Action to protest the proposed U.S. Sugar buyout.

That prompted an e-mail blast in the wee hours of this morning from South Florida Tea Party Chairman Everett Wilkinson questioning the Tea Party in Action group and Scott’s involvement.

Wilkinson, it should be noted, is personally supporting Bill McCollum in the GOP governor primary, though he says his endorsement has nothing to do with the South Florida Tea Party.

Says Tea Party in Action leader Marianne Moran: “Everett Wilkinson spends a lot of time telling reporters who he says are ‘real’ tea party members as if he’s the sole authority. He spends the rest of his time endorsing career politician Bill McCollum. Tea Party in Action wants to kill this corporate bailout of US Sugar. We welcome Rick Scott and any political candidates willing to join this cause.”

Read Scott’s announcement and Wilkinson’s statement after the jump…..

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With a $536 million, 73,000-acre state purchase of land from U.S. Sugar in the balance, Gov. Charlie Crist on Monday filled three vacancies on the nine-member South Florida Water Management District board.

The board approved the purchase on a 4-3 vote last year, but the deal faces additional votes.

Our Tony Doris breaks it down here.