Gabrielle Russon
Orange County Elections Supervisor Glen Gilzean is petitioning the courts to speed up his lawsuit against Orange County over his nearly $1 million budget payment this month.
“Bottom line is we’re in a predicament,” Daniel Langley, Gilzean’s attorney, told a Judge Wednesday.
Gilzean has run out of money to pay his employees or his vendors, Langley said. And it’s Orange County’s fault because they refuse to hand over Gilzean’s allocated budget payment, Langley countered, calling for urgency to move Gilzean’s lawsuit forward in the courts.
But Orange County attorney Debra Babb-Nutcher argued that Gilzean’s situation is a mess of his own making because he spent millions of dollars on “his pet organizations.” It’s also not an emergency because the Orange County Commission promised to cover Gilzean’s upcoming Dec. 26 payroll expense for his employees, Babb-Nutcher argued in court.
In the end, Orange Circuit Court Judge Luis Calderon sided with Orange County.
Calderon’s order said Orange County is allowed 20 days to respond to Gilzean’s complaint. Gilzean’s last day in office is Jan. 6, meaning it appears unlikely the situation will get resolved before Gilzean leaves.
Earlier this month, Orange County Commission refused to pay Gilzean $957,000 because officials accused the elections chief of overspending and mismanagement. Gilzean sued, arguing that withholding the money was illegal.
In the county’s eyes, Gilzean spent 51% of his annual budget this fiscal year in just 2.5 months as a lame duck Elections Supervisor. That leaves a tight budget left for the rest of the year for incoming Elections Supervisor Karen Castor Dentel, who is sworn in Jan. 7, officials said.
“Unfortunately, what we have seen is very disrespectful to the taxpayers, and I think it’s wrong,” Comptroller Phil Diamond said Tuesday during his discussion with County Commissioners. “The biggest issue was, No. 1, he spent so much so early. No. 2, he spent a lot of money.”
Meanwhile, Gilzean has continued to spend, writing 224 checks for $4.3 million in one recent weekend, Diamond said. Diamond’s investigation said the money included $45,000 for the Orlando Regional Realtors Association and $1.1 million for the Central Florida Foundation.
With Gilzean’s checking account in the red for nearly $800,000, the Orange County Commission voted Tuesday to cover the Dec. 26 payroll for Gilzean’s 55 full-time employees.
The County Commission isn’t giving the money to Gilzean but agreed to pay the $250,000 cost directly to ADP, a payroll management company.
“Obviously, we are in a holiday season, We are a compassionate body,” Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings said before the vote. “We want to make certain that persons who deserve to get paid will get paid.”
Gilzean called Tuesday’s vote a victory for his Office and blamed Demings and Diamond for cutting off his funds.
“Unfortunately, our office was put in this position due to lies told by the Mayor & an astonishing misunderstanding of elections by the Comptroller. We will continue to fight in court and shine a light on the laws the county broke to score cheap political points using taxpayer dollars,” Gilzean wrote on X.
Gilzean, who was appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis in a blue county, is in charge of a $19 million annual budget and spent $1.1 million to the Central Florida Foundation days after his new fiscal year began Oct. 1. In the prior fiscal year, he spent $2.1 million on student scholarships at Valencia College and $1.9 million on a career center’s job training (which was later returned to Orange County) that sparked Demings and Diamond’s public outrage.
Gilzean has defended his spending, saying he is an independent constitutional officer with innovative ideas for tackling deeper problems, like low voter engagement.
