Instead of resigning, Glen Gilzean is suggesting Florida’s ethics commission “weaponized” a memo that concluded he was ineligible to serve as both the state’s ethics chairman and administrator of Gov. Ron DeSantis’ tourism oversight district.

The opinion released on Thursday concluded that Gilzean couldn’t do both jobs because of a state law that bars ethics commissioners from holding public employment.

Gilzean earns a $400,000 annual salary as administrator of the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District, the special district taxing that oversees Disney World’s government services. His position on the ethics panel is unpaid.

In an email Thursday afternoon, Gilzean wrote that he was “weighing” his options on how to proceed and then questioned the ethics commission’s timing in releasing the opinion. The Florida Bulldog first obtained the correspondence, which the ethics commission released Friday to the Orlando Sentinel in response to a public records request.

“[I]t is deeply inappropriate that your legal opinion was disseminated to the press at the same time you sent it to me,” Gilzean wrote in the email to the commission’s general counsel and ethics director Kerrie Stillman. “As far as I’m concerned, someone on your staff knowingly leaked this memo and weaponized it, how did this happen?”

Stillman responded that the memo wasn’t leaked but produced in response to numerous public records requests.

“Producing it was my call and mine alone,” she wrote. “There was no ill intent and no weaponization of this situation by me or anyone else on staff.”

Gilzean also asked the ethics commission’s general counsel to review his employment contract with the tourism district and “propose specific changes that you believe would bring it into conformity with the relevant rules.”

“As you know, I am not a lawyer and believed my status at CFTOD was of no concern,” Gilzean wrote. “At the very least, I did not appreciate the nuanced factors that distinguish an employee and an independent contractor. Regardless, now that this has come to my attention, please rest assured that I am weighing my options and will take action before the Commission’s next meeting.”

The ethics commission next meets on Sept. 8. Gilzean hasn’t responded to phone messages and an email seeking comment.

Steven Zuilkowski, the commission’s general counsel, responded that he is not permitted to assist Gilzean with modifying his employment contract.

“I am the Commission’s lawyer, but no individual commissioner is my client. … I believe other legal advisors outside the Commission staff will be able to assist you in this regard,” he wrote.

Gilzean’s response to the opinion demonstrates a “sad state of affairs” in Florida when it comes to open government, said Michael Barfield, director of public access initiatives for the Florida Center for Government Accountability.

“It’s absurd to claim that enforcement and compliance with the public records act is weaponizing the law,” Barfield said. “It is just rhetoric that disrespects the public’s right to know what its government is doing. … It’s frustrating that people doing their job and complying with the law are somehow accused of impropriety.”

DeSantis first appointed Gilzean to the ethics commission in August 2019. In May, the governor-appointed Central Florida Tourism Oversight District board hired Gilzean as administrator.

Yet, for several months, Gilzean’s potential ethics conflict went unnoticed until a report by the investigative outlet Florida Bulldog. Gilzean attended ethics meetings in June and July.

On Monday, Gilzean requested a legal opinion on the issue, which was released on Thursday.

If Gilzean doesn’t resign from the ethics commission, he could be removed for cause by a majority vote of the governor, Senate president, House speaker and chief justice of the Florida Supreme Court.

So far, however, they haven’t weighed in on the matter.