See also "DEP Brass Jeff Littlejohn's Parents Own Lobbying Firm With Questionable Clientele" and "EPA Wants to Know if Herschel Vinyard Lied on His Resume"
UPDATED AT 1:17 p.m. DEP spokeswoman Dee Ann Miller just informed New Times that Sally Mann and Doug Mann are now divorced. The below post has been updated to reflect.
Earlier this week, we told you how Jeff Littlejohn, deputy secretary of regulatory programs at the Department of Environmental Protection, is the son of Chuck Littlejohn, a lobbyist who represents numerous clients with huge environmental stakes in Florida.
The name of his dad's lobbying firm is Littlejohn Mann & Associates. It just so happens that the Mann is for Doug Mann, who was previously married to Sally Mann, director of intergovernmental programs at the DEP.
Yep, the two namesake associates of a well-established lobbying firm have a son and an ex-wife, respectively, high up in the DEP's chain of command.
The DEP's intergovernmental programs unit, which Sally Mann heads, "coordinates the Department's position on federal and federally funded projects... provides input on specific growth management policy issues," and serves as the state's "single point of contact for all oil and gas related manners," according to its website.
While having a lobbyist ex-husband might pose certain conflicts of interest, the DEP has a lengthy set of directives within its code of ethics for such situations.
The directives dictate: "Employees whose immediate family relative is a lobbyist are required to report to the General Counsel the name of all such lobbyist's clients quarterly. Such employees are prohibited from participating in any matter that would benefit them or their immediate relatives, and will refrain from participating in discussions, meetings or activities involving clients of their immediate family relatives."
Clients of Littlejohn Mann & Associates include Duda & Sons, American Water Works Association, Florida Engineering Society, Florida Land Council, Florida Ports Council, and the Plum Creek Timber Co., which, as we previously noted, owns 520,000 acres of Florida timber.
Environmental groups around the state have been vocal over what they see as Gov. Rick Scott stacking the DEP with industry ties.
Sally Mann has been with the agency for a number of years.
Jeff Littlejohn was appointed in March 2011. He and other DEP officials are now being investigated by the state's deputy chief inspector general for controversies surrounding wetlands permits.
Meanwhile, Herschel Vinyard, secretary of the DEP and the man who appointed Littlejohn, is under investigation by the federal Environmental Protection Agency.
Follow @NewTimesBroward
