Winston Churchill once said, “Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”

A former state representative tells me those who proposed the golf course for Jonathan Dickinson State Park recently did not learn their history lesson.

“If they would have come to me, I would have said, ‘Don’t do it! You’re wasting your time,'” said former Republican State Rep. Pat Rooney, who represented parts of Palm Beach County from 2011-2017.

WATCH: Pat Rooney says 2011 bill backlash was “a learning experience for me”

In 2011, a lobbyist and the governor’s office urged Rooney to sponsor a proposal to boost tourism during a time of recession.

It was Rooney’s very first bill as a lawmaker, and it called for building golf courses at Jonathan Dickinson and four other state parks.

“And I was excited about it,” he said.

Until the proposal went public.

When the proposal went public, Rooney says his staff got up to 200 calls and emails a day.

“Saying what an idiot I was for proposing this and how stupid it is and how I should be tarred and feathered,” said Rooney, who added he listened to the public outcry and withdrew the proposal, while gaining appreciation for how badly parkgoers opposed golf on state park grounds.

He’s not surprised at today’s backlash, like what he experienced 13 years ago.

READ: The 2011 proposed bill for golf courses

I asked Rooney, “Do you ever think there will be a point where a golf course would be acceptable?”

He responded, “Its just too big of a hurdle to even attempt to do it.”

Rooney served in the Florida state house for six years, and he says during the entire time, voters reminded him of his ill-fated proposal to bring golf to Jonathan Dickinson.

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