Trouble for space tourism agency as director resigns
Brice Harris has resigned as the space tourism program director of the Andrews Institute after investigators concluded he violated Florida ethics laws by using an official position to gain another job.
Harris was hired last December at an annual salary of $150,000 to oversee the institute’s Project Odyssey, a program to prepare aspiring space tourists for the physical demands of space travel. He joined Andrews after a stint at the Florida Office of Tourism, Trade and Economic Development (OTTED), where he earned about half that much.
And that’s where it gets messy. As it turns out, OTTED is the agency that negotiated with the Andrews Institute to launch Project Odyssey. Harris left OTTED in August 2008 to run the Andrews program. At right around the same time, OTTED issued a $250,000 grant to the institute, and a second grant of $250,000 came in from Space Florida, a public/private industry recruiting wing of the state.
Florida inspector general Melinda Miguel concluded in an investigative report that Harris was heavily involved in creating the Project Odyssey program at Andrews and determining the director’s salary. According to Florida state law, state employees are prohibited from taking a job with a company if they were significantly involved in recruiting or negotiating a contract with the company.
Gov. Charlie Crist, who initially called for the investigation in January, said he would not file an ethics complaint against Harris.