Facing a severe budget shortfall and a track record of failures, CRDF COO Rick Dantzler was told to back off his lobbying of growers to vote to continue the box tax mechanism, and “to let the grower groups take the lead.”
Official minutes show that at CRDF’s March 22, 2022 board of directors meeting, board member George Hamner “felt that the COO should back out of conversations” with growers’ associations” and “let the grower groups take the lead.”
According to the minutes, “Mr. Dantzler discussed having met with Peace River Citrus Growers Association and Florida Citrus Mutual and will soon meet with the Highlands County Citrus Growers Association to discuss the upcoming referendum, stressing that the vote will keep the mechanism in place. Mr. Hamner felt that the COO should back out of conversations and let the grower groups take the lead.”
