Walton loses beach ambassadors, faces sexual discrimination claims after shift to Code Compliance

Tom McLaughlin, Northwest Florida Daily News
·3 min read

DeFUNIAK SPRINGS — At least a third of Walton County's paid beach ambassadors have left the program following it being placed under the county's code compliance division, and two or more complaints "based on sex" have been filed by former ambassadors against the Walton County Commission.

"It’s a mystery why Tony Cornman, interim county administrator, would want to eliminate four positions held by experienced, capable women and move the very successful seasonal beach ambassadors under the male code enforcement supervisors," former beach ambassador manager Donna DonFrancesco said in an email to the Northwest Florida Daily News.

Beachgoers fill the shoreline in Walton County. At least a third of the county's paid beach ambassadors have left the program since it was placed under the code compliance division.
Beachgoers fill the shoreline in Walton County. At least a third of the county's paid beach ambassadors have left the program since it was placed under the code compliance division.

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DonFrancesco said seven of the 20 paid staff in the beach ambassador program had left their jobs due to the changes imposed by the county and "several more have indicated that they will be leaving as well."

She also confirmed that sexual discrimination was at the core of the "more than one" legal action taken against Walton County. She said separate Equal Employment Opportunity Commission complaints had been filed May 12 and May 17 and a third had likely been filed at another, unknown, date.

County officials have declined to address the beach ambassador issue since learning that a lawsuit was being contemplated.

"I believe a former ambassador has claimed to file suit against the county. Therefore we are in litigation and I cannot speak on this subject," county spokeswoman Rachel Jenkins said when asked about the beach ambassador issue.

Beach ambassador program

The beach ambassador program originated in 2016 outside of county government as part of the nonprofit group Friends of South Walton Sea Turtles (FOSWST). Initially, volunteers for the group visited beaches and other places frequented by tourists to educate them about turtles, birds and marine life, and to talk with them about local beach ordinances.

Three years later, the county stepped in and hired seasonal beach ambassadors who were stationed at the county's regional and neighborhood beach accesses. That effort grew to include four full-time paid beach ambassadors and about 20 part-time seasonal paid ambassadors.

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DonFrancesco said she took over as manager of the beach ambassador division, operating under the county's Tourist Development Council, in 2021. She and three others oversaw 215 volunteers as well as the paid ambassadors.

The program has prided itself as offering a friendly interface with visitors, while code officers are seen as an enforcement arm of the county.

Code enforcement "is not what our program is," DonFrancesco told the Daily News earlier this month.

She said all ambassador positions had been approved, funded and filled for the 2022 season prior to the county's announcing the decision to place the entire division under the Code Compliance Division.

"I was called into a meeting, without my manager present, and told (by Cornman) that my beach ambassador manager position was eliminated, but I could take over a 40% pay cut and stay on as a beach ambassador, reporting to his code supervisor, not his code manager," she said.

Two of the other three beach ambassador managers left their jobs after receiving offers similar to the one given her, DonFrancesco said.

She said she came away from the meeting with the interim county administrator convinced the county had no plan in place for moving forward with its paid beach ambassador or volunteer beach ambassador programs.

The volunteer program has been separated from the paid program and will be managed under the Friends of South Walton Sea Turtles going forward, she said.

County commissioners received emails from the three displaced managers in mid-May notifying them inquiries had been made to the EEOC regarding possible sexual discrimination in the county's action.

This article originally appeared on Northwest Florida Daily News: Walton beach ambassadors claim sexism drove Code Compliance decision