Space Florida President Steve Kohler has resigned effective Friday.The embattled administrator recently fought off an attempt to cut by half the agency's $4 million budget over a controversy about paying a lobbyist.
Also, Kohler had been criticized by the head of SpaceX, Elon Musk, who complained that Kohler supported a competing launch pad at Cape Canaveral.
"My capacity to serve effectively as president likewise has been damaged," Kohler wrote in a resignation letter to Lt. Gov. Jeff Kottkamp. "Therefore, in order to remove the unfair distraction and enable Space Florida to move forward with complete focus on space in Florida, I am resigning as president effective May 8, 2009."
State Sen. Thad Altman, R-Viera, said he was disappointed to learn of the resignation.
"He left Space Florida in much better shape than when he came," Altman said. The lawmaker did not know whether provision had been made for an interim leader.
Resignation Letter
3 comments:
No surprise here. Senator Mike Bennett was livid about certain lobbying expenditures. End result was this resignation. Good luck to Steve Kohler in his future endeavors.
He never had the kind of experience needed to run that organization. He shouldn't have been hired in the first place. good guy in a bad situation.
My impressions: He seemed arrogant and dismissive of other people, and he created a culture at Space Florida that was secretive and unresponsive. His biggest defenders were people who were receiving money through contracts. Good luck finding a replacement who can turn things around.
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