A top Florida ethics lawyer says that Glen Gilzean, chair of the Florida Commission on Ethics, is holding his position contrary to state law. 

In a legal opinion released Thursday, Florida Ethics Commission general counsel Steven Zuilkowski wrote that Glizean cannot continue to lead the commission and simultaneously serve as administrator of Gov. Ron DeSantis’ new district housing Disney World. 

Florida state law stipulates that “no member” of the ethics commission “may hold any public employment,” Zuilkowski explained in a memo to Gilzean. 

Gilzean was hired to lead the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District as the district’s administrator in May with a $400,000 annual salary.

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“[I]t appears that your position as District Administrator for the District is public employment,” Zuilkowski concluded after analyzing the details of Gilzean’s employment agreement. 

DeSantis first appointed Gilzean to the ethics commission on August 23, 2019, to villa a vacancy. He was subsequently reappointed twice in 2020 and 2022, and confirmed by the Florida Senate. At a January 27, 2023, meeting, the commission members unanimously elected Gilzean to become Chair for a term that began on February 1, 2023. 

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On May 10, 2023, the Board of Supervisors for the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District (CFTOD) hired Gilzean to also serve as district administrator. 

The oversight district was created by the Florida legislature at DeSantis’ urging, as a replacement for Disney’s former Reedy Creek Improvement District (RDID), which had allowed the theme park giant to self-govern since the 1960s before Disney World first opened. Each board member is appointed by the governor.

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The Florida Commission on Ethics and CFTOD did not immediately respond to requests for comment. A DeSantis spokesman also did not immediately respond to an inquiry.

The potential conflict of interest was first reported by the Florida Bulldog, a 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to watchdog journalism. Gilzean sought the legal opinion from Zuilkowski following the Bulldog’s report on Monday.

The ethics commission is made up of nine members who each serve two-year terms. Five are appointed by the governor, with no more than three from the same political party. Two are appointed by the president of the state Senate, and two members by the speaker of the state House of Representatives. 

The commission is charged with investigating complaints of “breach of the public trust by public officers and employees.” It describes itself as the “guardian of standards of conduct for officers and employees of Florida.” 

By Florida law, ethics commissioners may be fired “for cause” by a majority vote of the governor, president of the Florida Senate, speaker of the Florida House and chief justice of the Florida Supreme Court, the Orlando Sentinel reported. 

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Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway now owns roughly 5.7 million shares of the largest homebuilder in the U.S., D.R. Horton, despite rising mortgage rates and other industry headwinds. 

“Buffett diving into select homebuilders like D.R. Horton makes sense from a long-term view, which is standard Berkshire practice,” said Daniel Bustamante, managing partner and CIO of Bustamante Capital.

“Even in the face of housing affordability, D.R. is trading at attractive multiples with strong free cash flow,” he added. 

Source: Company 

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“D.R. Horton has also shown the foresight to start developing a rent to own model as home purchases slow. They have been focusing more on single family rental development versus actual homes for sale, while investing over $1 billion in that arm the last three years,” Bustamante said. 

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Data compiled by the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index, which measures the pulse of the single-family housing market, showed confidence among builders in the U.S. housing market unexpectedly plunged in August as a spike in mortgage rates dampened consumer demand for new homes.

The index fell to a three-month low; still, Buffett sees something in the sector. 

“For the short term, some homebuilders will have to reset on price points, but Warren always seems to be right, so the long-term play is evident,” Bustamante told FOX Business. 

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“With the Fed rumored to deliver more tightening and if Treasury yields have another advance over the next month or two, we could easily have further pressure for housing stocks,” he said. 

Shares of D.R. Horton are up roughly 5.3% over the last three months and nearly 31% year-to-date. Over the last year, shares have ballooned approximately 56%.

The Oracle of Omaha also bought 11,000 shares of Ryan Homes’ parent company NVR and more than 152,000 shares of the home construction company Lennar.

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