Gabrielle Russon
Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings said the government can “tighten the policy” for its Skybox tickets and plans to talk to his board about considering changes following news that one Commissioner has given hundreds of free tickets to her husband’s nonprofit since 2021.
Demings told Florida Politics he did not know All-Star Dads — a small nonprofit run by Commissioner Mayra Uribe’s husband — had received more than 650 free tickets until the FP story published Thursday.
Records showed Uribe donated tickets from Bad Bunny to Billy Joel concerts and dozens of Orlando Magic and other events for the county’s box at Camping World Stadium and Kia Center where the NBA team plays. All-Star Dads, which runs a boot camp to help train new parents, recently lost its IRS tax exemption status and has not regularly filed its 990 tax forms.
Demings called the Florida Politics’ findings “disappointing.” He said the tickets “should be allocated in a manner that avoids even the appearance of impropriety.”
The county’s policy allows commissioners to donate their tickets to nonprofit leaders and requires documentation of who receives the tickets.
Looking ahead, Demings said he plans to talk with the Orange County Board of Commissioners to consider updating the policy by potentially adding a maximum number of tickets a nonprofit can receive or creating an anti-nepotism clause for the nonprofit leader recipients.
“To avoid the appearance of impropriety in the future, maybe we need to tighten that up a little bit and give guidance to the electives to say, ‘Don’t do that,’” Demings said. “That’s probably not the most appropriate use when we have thousands of nonprofits in our community.”
The county levies a 6% bed tax — known as the tourism development tax — which helps pay for the event facilities’ construction. Because of that, the county has an agreement giving it a dedicated box for the Mayor’s office. At times, Demings and other elected officials serve as ambassadors during the events or if they attend for personal use, they are required to pay taxes on the tickets under IRS rules, Demings said.
Officials also can transfer their tickets to uplift local profits that work to serve people in need, he said. For instance, a nonprofit that serves youth could use the tickets to bring young people to a concert or auction off tickets to raise money for its mission, Demings said.
“We look for community benefits when tourist development tax dollars are used to build these community facilities,” Demings said. “My basic belief about the use of any Skybox tickets that are under the control and authority of the county should be used to the overall benefit of the community.”
In July — the most recent records available — Demings and other commissioners donated their tickets to the Boys and Girls Club of Central Florida, the Victim Services Center of Central Florida, Heart of Florida United Way and other organizations. That month, Uribe donated 10 tickets to her husband’s nonprofit, and Commissioner Emily Bonilla also sent All-Star Dads a pair of soccer tickets that were valued at $298 a piece.
Uribe has not responded to Florida Politics requests for comment.
