NorthWest Florida Republican

There seems to be a fairly common thread between County Commissioners and Florida State Representative Ray Sansom. That thread is Jay Odom.

Jay Odom has had quite a bit of controversy. All of surrounding his properties and the county. Every bit of it appears to be in some way to bilk taxpayers out of money by inflating values or just outright dishonesty. Dishonest enough that it could be fraud.

Odom informed the commission that the lease would not be renewed because he planned to demolish the building. – NWFDailyNews

Now Odom’s plan to demolish the Crystal Center building has changed.

“We’re in the process of finalizing a lease with a new tenant for that property,” said Martin Owen, spokesman for Odom’s Crystal Beach Development.

Why did he do this? To move the county tax office to a higher rent. A rent 3 times more than what they were paying.

This is the same Jay Odom who was involved with Florida State Representative Ray Sansom in an effort to get a Hanger built at the Destin Airport but couldn’t until they change it to a college project for $6 million.

The county government would do well to distance themselves from Jay Odom until recent events involving him have been resolved.

I’m all for making an honest buck, but here lately it doesn’t seem like anything is honest when Jay Odom is involved. Maybe it is time for county, state and/or federal prosecutors to investigate his dealings with the state and county to see if anyone received kickbacks from dealing with him on his terms?