There was an accusation that that twenty gopher tortoises were killed on what is now the Cleveland Clinic Family Health Center.
There was no story published on local media including WPTV who reached out to the City of Stuart to inquire about the claim.
There was also no story from reporter Kristen Hentschel who was investigating the accusation.
Fast forward to 2022 when the allegations of the killing of these 20 gopher tortoises was brought to the public’s attention in an article published by NPR and Floodlight Media. The allegations were mentioned but only to focus on Ms. Hentschel.
Defendants NPR and Floodlight Media contacted the City of Stuart to discuss the tip surrounding the allegation of dead gopher tortoises on the Cleveland Clinic parcel. Yet in reading the various emails between the City of Stuart, specifically Michael Mortell, and NPR, the assumption could be made that the tip was not intended to investigate the claim of dead tortoises.
Based on the emails between Michael Mortell and various persons, it appears the subject of any article by NPR and Floodlight was better suited to be about Kristen Hentschel.
NPR and Floodlight Media also did not investigate any of the accusations by Mr. Mortell, like a city employee directly associated with the original tip allegedly did so because he didn’t support Toby Overdorf’s campaign as he was running for reelection.
The story became Kristen Hentschel. And her defamation lawsuit taking place in Hillsborough County could cause a legal quagmire for the City of Stuart.
A story gets pitched...
The original investigation by Ms. Hentschel into the report that twenty gopher tortoises were killed on what is now the Cleveland Clinic site was in 2018. There was no story or there would have been something from either local media at WPTV who reached out the City about the event or from Ms. Hentschel.
Fast forward to 2022 and suddenly there’s a story published by an accredited national news source, but what was published was not what was originally investigated.
NPR and Floodlight Media allegedly contacted the City of Stuart to discuss the tip surrounding the dead gopher tortoises. Yet in reading various emails, the assumption could be that the tip was never to investigate the gopher tortoises that may or may not have been killed on what is now the Cleveland Clinic site.
It could be assumed, based on the emails, that the pitch to NPR and Floodlight Media was always about needing a villain to the story. And Ms. Hentschel was the perfect villain to distract from why the alleged environmental crime of the destruction of gopher tortoises was never investigated nor was it ever disclosed to the public by the City or the local media.
Who pitched the story that became the scandal?
It is not clear who pitched a story to NPR and Floodlight Media, who are now named as defendants in a defamation lawsuit filed by Ms. Hentschel.
What is clear is that the city of Stuart via then City Attorney, Michael Mortell, presented an explanation as to why the gopher tortoise tip was not credible. No mention of Mr. Mortell’s involvement or statements made it in to the NPR article.
Floodlight Media is a nonprofit news organization that was started in 2021. Their website states “We adhere to clear and transparent standards to protect our editorial independence. We follow Institute for Nonprofit News guidelines and disclose our major donors (over $5,000). Floodlight may consider donations to support the coverage of particular topics, but we maintain editorial control. We don’t accept donations that could cause a conflict of interest.”
It’s the sentence that “Floodlight may consider donations to support the coverage of particular topics” that piqued my interest.
I reached out to Emily Holden, CEO of Floodlight, to inquire how they determine what stories they pursue.
My questions were specifically:
- Has Floodlight received any in-kind donations not specified in the website?
- Those donations for the Donor Advised Funds like from Fidelity, were those anonymous or can you share from whom those were given?
- Are you able to define the gifts as to which donors gave what amount to Floodlight? I realize the site lists who gave more than $5,000 but can you identify the amounts each gave?
- Your donations increased from $1,055,131 in 2022 to $1,640,775 in 2023. Can you advise as to where the majority of funds came from?
Ms. Holden responded stating, “We have provided our 990 and list of supporters in accordance with the industry-wide editorial independence and transparency standards of the Institute for Nonprofit News.”
Not satisfied with the response, I emailed her back.
“I want to accurately reflect your position in any article as it relates to who supports your efforts and why they may not be listed by name nor disclosed. I am familiar with the IRS rules around donor privacy but also curious about who supports your nonprofit.
Finally, are you able to advise as to who selects what you pursue or publish? Specifically, who decided to partner with NPR to pursue the story about Kristen Hentschel while not investigating Toby Overdorf?”
I did not receive a response.
So it still wasn’t clear how NPR or Floodlight received any tip nor how the story about Kristen Hentschel came to be.
Before Martin County Press existed
After reading the original article by NPR and Floodlight, I emailed the reporters about their article.
My email to NPR and Floodlight was sent January 7, 2023, shortly after their original article was published, way before Kristen Hentschel filed her lawsuit, and definitely prior to the establishment of Martin County Press in late 2024.
I thanked them for writing the article because there is a definite lack of awareness as to the goings on with development beyond what people share on social media. And I advised them of some inconsistencies or incorrect statements they had in their article.
The responses I received were generally good-natured but vague. They addressed my concerns but didn’t answer any questions.
“Here’s a link to the City of Stuart’s response to the tortoise massacre allegations. It is also my understanding that city officials asked the original tipster about the tip, and that he said it had originally come from his girlfriend. His girlfriend then denied any recollection of the matter.
As to the broader trend of impropriety you’ve alleged involving Overdorf et.al: I had heard, years ago, while working at a different job, of a cabal of unscrupulous treasure coast environmental consultants that were secretly abetting developer efforts to crimp gopher tortoise habitat. I remember passing the tip on to Max Chesnes, at the time (who is now at the Tampa Bay Times, but who was previously working as an enviro reporter on the treasure coast.)”
I couldn’t understand the response that I received. It seemed like a brush off, but now we can draw some conclusions as to why.
The City Manager, either on his own or in concert with another party, seemingly dictated what was published.
In his email on December 22, 2022, Mr. Mortell communicated via email with NPR reporter, David Folkenflik.
Here’s what we know from this email.
- Mortell conducted the public records request from NPR himself, and it wasn’t provided by City staff which is their standard protocol for public records requests.
- The original tip about the 20 dead gopher tortoises was stated to be a false tip from Stephen Mayer’s former girlfriend, Kimberly Field.
- It’s insinuated that Mr. Mayer made the accusations because he didn’t support Toby Overdorf as a candidate.
- Mortell questioned Ms. Field himself. The only proof of this inquiry or investigation is in this email correspondence to the NPR reporter.
- Mortell creates further doubt for the story by further stating, “He (Mr. Mayer) may have called his girlfriend and asked if she heard about the turtles and she said something like…. “Are you talking about the construction on Indian and Kanner where they lined up 20 dead turtles?”
He then closes the email by stating “Lastly, you can see where the local environmental attorney spoke to Krista Hentsch and emailed us on July 26.”
The misspelling of her name would explain why this email was not included in any public records by Martin County Press previously submitted. Perhaps it was unintentional.
What is not unintentional is the email sent to Mr. Folkenflik about Ms. Hentschel, regardless if her name was used or not.
“Please send me an email if you publish the article. I find the concept very interesting. Sure killing animals makes the story more interesting but I am talking about a person who makes a career out of making up fake news stories about any manner of things for the sole purpose of causing hardship for someone else. I imagine it has to be difficult to feel like you have a meaningful or fulfilling career when you wake up every Monday thinking about whose life you could do this week.”
But the libelous statements by Mr. Mortell against Ms. Hentschel didn’t end in 2022 as Mr. Mortell questioned her credibility as a professional reporter.
Fast forward to June 26, 2024, when David Harper of Harper Video reached out to the City.
Good morning Michael,
I’m writing in reference to a 2018 incident involving an email claiming “20 dead tortoises discovered” that found its way into reporters’ hands.
Through a FOIA request, I see that you were looking into how this email reached individuals outside of it’s intended recipients.
I am referring to the YouTube video which clearly shows the email with the header included.
Did you or anyone else involved discover how this email was disseminated to multiple reporters?
Mr. Mortell responded with a statement that could be construed as defamatory and libelous where he refers to her as a “fake news reporter” who “was hired by people that supported the candidate running against Toby Overdorf.”
He then states to Mr. Harper, “If Harper Video made the video, then I’m sure you know exactly what happened.”
“I don’t recall the email you are describing but I do remember trying to find out who planted and then disseminated the fake story. I am not sure if Harper Video was involved or why you are looking into now but according to my recollection, the girl that did the fake story was a fake news reporter out of Tampa and she was hired by people that supported the candidate running against Toby Overdorf because he was the environmental consultant for the Hospital project. There was no evidence of any actual turtles and the business cards that she had were fake. The email she provided was incorrect. I remember getting all the details of it back at the time and the video was on youtube but the whole thing is fake. If Harper Video made the video, then I am sure that you know exactly what happened.”
The defensive posturing by a City employee providing these statements is egregious.
What is unclear is who, if anyone, at the City also knew of these allegations and these statements being made by a city employee.
So what do we really know?
I reached out to NPR earlier this week for a comment as to why they chose the tact that they did. At the time this article was published, I did not receive a response.
But here is what we do know.
At no point, as I understand it, did NPR or Floodlight contact city employee Mr. Mayer to verify the statement that was provided to them by the then City Attorney, Michael Mortell, that the tip was fake.
At no point, as I understand it, did NPR or Floodlight investigate if the city employee truly had enough disdain for Toby Oberdorf to thwart his re-election efforts.
At no point, as I understand it, did NPR or Floodlight contact Kristen Hentschel to confirm what they were providing as fact.
It’s unclear the purpose of the article other than other than what appears to be the intention to create a villain where one was not needed because the public was generally not aware of the alleged violations on the Cleveland clinic parcel since the narrative had already been controlled by the city attorney.
What is clear is NPR and Floodlight were going to write that article regardless of the variety of evidence that contradicted their quotes from Toby Overdorf, such as permits and environmental reports that mentioned the existence of gopher tortoises and burrows on that exact site where Mr. Overdorf now says they never existed. Despite what he said to NPR, he also claimed to have relocated the gopher tortoises as he claimed on his own resume.
The original story of gopher tortoises being harmed on a parcel within the city of Stuart was disregarded. NPR and Floodlight chose to intentionally focus on a sensationalized story that torpedoed someone’s career. This story idea was confirmed as a good decision by a tax paid city employee who made a point to disparage a private citizen.
The City of Stuart’s only addressing of the article was an email dated December 22, 2022, from former City of Stuart City Manager David Dyess to his commissioners and exempt staff.
“Commissioners,
You may recall when Cleveland Clinic at Indian St was being built there was an allegation that 20 gopher tortoises were killed during construction. There was an outcry about it, which staff investigated and could not find any evidence of even one tortoise being harmed. It was recently rehashed on the Martin Corruption page talking about how we did nothing.
Please read this article about political hit pieces and this particular incident in Stuart.”
Yet he never stated any details about the “investigation,” including who conducted the investigation, what the investigation consisted of, nor did he discuss the statements by the then City Attorney that a former employee supposedly tactically used the allegation to disparage a politician running for re-election.
Michael Mortell was seemingly the only source from the City of Stuart used in the NPR article.
Toby Oberdorf was not “vindicated” as he declared after the December 21, 2022, article was published.
Instead it appears Toby Overdorf had a successful PR effort made on his behalf, removing the focus from the city’s activities and from him, instead creating a distraction by focusing on Kristen Hentschel, with a heavy-handed assist by the then city attorney Mr. Mortell.
The story was not & is not about Kristen Hentschel even though they masterfully made it into a scandalous one.
But who tipped off NPR and Floodlight to write this story IS the story.
The allegations made by then City Attorney, including the allegation that an employee made a statement that was a lie, IS the story.
The defamatory comments made by the now City Manager about Kristen Hentschel calling her a “fake reporter” disparaging her IS the story.
The fact that NPR and Floodlight chose to ignore the gopher tortoise burrow destruction and instead sought and published a controlled narrative at the suggestion of friends of friends IS the story.
NPR and Floodlight are seeking a dismissal of the defamation case against them.
In order for there to be any justice for Kristen Hentschel, the defamation case against NPR and Floodlight needs to continue. Because the bad actors who supported this article being pitched and written need to be exposed. The bad actors seemingly go far beyond who is named in the complaint filed by Ms. Hentschel.
The hearing for the dismissal is scheduled for June 30, 2025, in Hillsborough County at 3pm. We will continue to follow the events of this case.