Gabrielle Russon
Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings says it was beyond the scope of Elections Supervisor Glen Gilzean’s job to spend $4 million on student scholarships and worker career training, especially as some voters waited two or more hours in line to vote in the General Election.
“If we allow the constitutional (officers) to thumb their nose at the process that we use to establish their respective budgets and not be held accountable to what they tell us they’re going to use the funds to do, then that is a calamity that’s waiting to happen,” Demings said. “So because of that, I remain concerned.”
Demings spoke to the media the day after he threatened to sue Gilzean. Demings voiced a litany of complaints, saying Gilzean, who was trying to win favor with community groups, spent the money without Orange County Board oversight.
“We had a Presidential Election cycle that we just came off of, and all of us elected in Orange County were dependent upon the Supervisor to run an efficient office,” Demings said.
“And I can tell you, there are voters who have said to me that through this last election cycle, they did not feel that everything had been done because they were waiting in long lines and not enough locations. … He could have used those funds to fill the gap in the services that were needed to ensure an efficient election cycle.”
The situation is unfair to the incoming Elections Supervisor who takes over next year when Gilzean’s term expires, Demings added.
“Remember, the people of Orange County never put him into the office and so he was a temporary placeholder,” Demings said of Gilzean, who was appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis to fill a partial Elections Supervisor term.
Demings reiterated Thursday that he plans to talk with the Orange County Board of Commissioners before deciding the county government’s next steps.
“I’m convinced that we have an obligation to seek every option that we have to ensure that taxpayer dollars are being spent appropriately,” Demings told the media.
Within a three-day period in September before the end of the fiscal year, Gilzean’s Office spent $2.1 million on scholarships for Orlando students followed by a $1.9 million deal to CareerSource Central Florida.
Part of the uproar had been Gilzean originally named the taxpayer-funded scholarships after himself. On Wednesday, Gilzean said he was changing the name.
In an interview this week with Florida Politics, Gilzean defended the expenses, arguing it’s within his right as a constitutional officer to spend the surplus from his budget. He also said his initiatives are innovative ways to encourage voter engagement among young people and assist temp workers who helped run the elections get new jobs after their contract was over. Gilzean’s Office declined to comment Thursday.
The controversy has put the institutions Gilzean was trying to help in an awkward position. Orange County Public Schools canceled Friday’s pep rallies that were supposed to surprise the students with the money.
