Gabrielle Russon
Three days after Orange County Elections Supervisor Glen Gilzean signed a $2.1 million agreement for taxpayer-funded scholarships, he gave $1.9 million to a career center to help train departing temp workers who helped his office during the busy election season.
Now, Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings is threatening a lawsuit, saying Gilzean did not get proper approval for either expenditure.
“I am concerned about recent decisions made by the Orange County Supervisor of Elections to expend taxpayers’ dollars on non-budgetary expenditures,” Demings said in a prepared statement. “As a result, I will have discussions with the Board of County Commissioners to include the merits of litigation to recover funds used inappropriately.”
Gilzean has started new civic and voter engagement initiatives after taking over from his predecessor who ran the office prior for 34 years. Gilzean said he is being innovative to tackle problems, but it’s putting him at odds with Demings. Demings said the spending was an inappropriate use of taxpayer money and argues the Office’s surplus funds should return to Orange County government coffers.
Gilzean’s Office only has 55 employees, so to help run the elections and man the 12-hour, 14-day early voting period, he relied on temporary workers.
“With more than 850,000 voters in Orange County, it would be impossible to carry out an election without the assistance of temporary workers. Unfortunately for our more than 150 temporary workers, their last day will be this Friday,” Gilzean said in a prepared statement Wednesday.
“By using our cost savings throughout the year, we were able to invest in these workers by partnering with CareerSource Central Florida. This investment will offer job training and career placement to the tremendous men and women who helped our office and county conduct a successful election while also promoting civic engagement through collaboration with the OCSOE for voter registration and education initiatives.”
The $1.9 million will pay for job training program costs, certification fees and job placement support, according to the contract.
CareerSource CEO Pamela Nabors declined to be interviewed for this story. The center said in a statement, “We are always looking for ways to expand how we serve youth and career seekers in our region. The grant was shared with us by the Orange County Supervisor of Elections Office. It was an opportunity to provide career services to election workers and help place them in secure employment following the election. It would also help increase career exploration for youth in our region.”
Meanwhile, Gilzean is renaming his $2.1 million taxpayer-funded scholarships that were originally named after him, sparking the controversy.
“The Glen Gilzean, Orange County Supervisor of Elections, Promise of the Future Scholarship” will be shortened to just the “The Orange County Promise of the Future Scholarship Fund,” according to the amended contract released Wednesday by Gilzean’s Office.
Officials had planned surprise pep rallies Friday at Orlando’s Evans and Jones high schools to inform students of the pending scholarships. But Wednesday evening, Orange County Public Schools officials said the celebrations were canceled.
“In an effort to avoid disappointing our students, we have decided not to move forward with the events on Friday. Once it is determined that the funds donated for the scholarship are appropriate we will work to reschedule the events,” District spokesman Michael Ollendorff said in a prepared statement.
In an interview, Gilzean defended the scholarships and said he had authority to spend the money as an independent constitutional officer. Gilzean said he started the scholarships to educate students and to build voter engagement in part of the city where less than 10% of residents voted. He also said the scholarships at Valencia College could help his office someday with future early voting sites.
Meanwhile, the county government argued Gilzean should have returned any extra money from his budget that had been created by Gilzean’s predecessor, who resigned abruptly in the middle of his term. That cleared the way for Gov. Ron DeSantis to appoint Gilzean in one of the bluest counties in the state. Gilzean is finishing the final weeks of his term as elections chief before Karen Castor Dentel, who won the Nov. 5 election, takes over.
Amid Castor Dentel and Demings speaking out publicly against his spending, Gilzean sent out a press release Wednesday stating that he is hiring an auditor “to ensure the incoming Supervisor of Elections will receive an office in top condition. This proactive measure, conducted by the respected audit firm Cherry Bekaert, will evaluate best practices and essential processes within the Office.”
Castor Dentel has also said she plans to ask for an audit when she takes over Gilzean’s Office next year.
