Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday appointed veteran state official Alexis Lambert to serve as secretary of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection after Shawn Hamilton stepped down from the job.
Lambert has served as chief of staff for the state Division of Bond Finance since 2018. She previously worked as chief of staff at the Florida Department of Health and as communications director for former state Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater. She serves on the Space Florida Board of Directors and the State Emergency Response Commission.
A news release from DeSantis’ office about Lambert’s appointment did not mention Hamilton, who served as secretary for three years. In an email, DeSantis spokeswoman Julia Friedland commended Hamilton for backing the governor’s efforts to restore the Everglades, improve water quality, strengthen beaches and waterways and expand a state wildlife corridor.
“We appreciate his 30+ years of dedication to the state of Florida and the country and wish him all the best in his retirement from public service. Florida is better for Shawn’s service to the state,” Friedland said in the email.
Hamilton praised the department’s work in a letter to his staff.
“From securing record funding for water quality and Everglades restoration projects to acquiring conservation lands at a historic pace and implementing meaningful policy reforms to improve our regulatory framework, we have elevated Florida’s standing as an environmental leader at the state, national and even international levels,” Hamilton wrote.
The announcement of the change came after DeSantis and the department in August drew bipartisan criticism about a proposal to put golf courses, resort-style lodges and pickleball courts in state parks. The proposal, dubbed the “Great Outdoors Initiative,” was ultimately shelved. DeSantis contended the plan was “leaked” to create a “narrative” and said it wasn’t “approved by me.”
Hamilton’s appointment in 2021 was controversial because DeSantis bypassed the state Cabinet for approval.
Nikki Fried, then the agriculture commissioner and now the chairwoman of the Florida Democratic Party, argued that state law required the Department of Environmental Protection secretary to be appointed by the governor with the concurrence of three members of the state Cabinet and to get Senate confirmation.
The governor’s office countered that another part of the state Constitution allowed DeSantis’ appointments to be backed by the Cabinet or the Senate.
The Republican-controlled Legislature in 2022 approved a bill to increase the governor’s power to appoint the secretary of the Department of Environmental Protection, the commissioner of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the executive director of the Department of Veterans’ Affairs.
