Orange County gets more money back — but not all — after Glen Gilzean spending scandal

In the wake of former Orange County Elections Supervisor Glen Gilzean’s spending scandal, his successor has gotten nearly $3 million back — a significant sum, though not the full amount Gilzean gave away.

“It is a relief,” said Elections Supervisor Karen Castor Dentel, who called it one of her top priorities when she took office in January. “We’re still behind where we need to be, so getting these taxpayer dollars back into operation is really going to help us move forward.”

The money comes as Castor Dentel’s Office is getting hit with unpaid election bills from Gilzean’s tenure and battling what’s become a multimillion-dollar deficit. The full extent of Gilzean’s misspending is still unknown two months after Castor Dentel took office, according to comments she made during a Wednesday interview with Florida Politics.

Valencia College agreed this week to return $2.1 million for scholarships and is in the process of wiring it back to Castor Dentel’s Office.

The other major gift involves $1.137 million to the Central Florida Foundation that Gilzean wanted to be used to oversee voter engagement initiatives. Castor Dentel’s Office canceled the contract and the foundation returned $864,500 — or 76% of the money.

However, the foundation kept the $137,000 administrative fee meant to cover a two-year period, while the rest of the money had already been spent on voter engagement efforts. The contract stated the administrative fee was not refundable while the rest of the contract could be canceled at any time.

Meanwhile, Gilzean defended his voter engagement initiatives and accused Castor Dentel for being political in a statement Wednesday.

“My commitment to my community is unwavering. Everything we did was rooted in increasing voter education and turnout,” Gilzean said.

Castor Dentel said she is still negotiating with the foundation over the $137,000.

“It is a significant amount,” she said. “It’s a contract, and we’re looking at it with a legal lens.”

Complicating the issue is that the foundation brokered into contracts with other groups.

“It’s really kind of tricky to unwind everything,” Castor Dentel said. “It’s not as easy as it seems to just get it back.”

Foundation spokeswoman Laurie Crocker said a dozen community groups received grants ranging between $1,000 and $75,000. The list of groups includes the League of Women Voters, the United Foundation of Central Florida and other groups that focused on Hispanic and Black outreach.

The community groups are required to use social media and to do education outreach to let the public know about voting dates, polling locations and other information.

Castor Dentel praised the foundation and Valencia College, calling them “pillars of the community.”

“I really appreciate their willingness to cooperate, and I think they entered into these agreements without fully knowing the financial straits that our Office was in,” she said, blaming Gilzean for falsely claiming he had a budget surplus. “They didn’t understand that this money that they were given was not really excess funds.”

As she cleans up the financial mess, Castor Dentel said all spending decisions now come to her desk. She has deferred maintenance and purchases and made partial payments for bills.

“Our vendors — the people who print the ballots, people who have the software for administering the elections — I’ve had to reach out to them and ask them to be patient,” Castor Dentel said. “Luckily, they understand, and they’re continuing to work with us. It’s like you’re living paycheck to paycheck, and every week, you have to sit down and figure out which bills to pay.”

Gilzean, who was appointed to a partial term by Gov. Ron DeSantis in March 2024, angered Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings and other officials when they discovered he was giving millions to outside groups. Later, Gilzean was accused of running his office in the red and not paying bills.

It sparked a dramatic back-and-forth of tense press releases and County Commission debates, as well as a lawsuit in Orange Circuit Court that ran out of steam in the final days of Gilzean’s term. The lawsuit cost at least $41,500 in legal expenses for the Elections Office after Gilzean sued Orange County government and Comptroller Phil Diamond. After taking over following her election in November, Castor Dentel fired several of Gilzean’s hires and top brass.

Reacting to the news the majority of the money has been returned, Demings said in a statement Wednesday, “I am pleased to learn that the Valencia College Foundation has returned the $2.1 million in taxpayer funds that former Supervisor of Elections Glen Gilzean donated for scholarships in his name. He did this without seeking approval from the Orange County Board of County Commissioners.”

Demings added, “Ensuring that taxpayer funds are used appropriately and transparently is essential for maintaining the trust of our community, and I believe this action reflects a commitment to accountability and fiscal responsibility.”

Meanwhile, Gilzean, a Black Republican, attacked Democrats in control of Orange County government. Both Demings and Castor Dentel are Democrats.

“Democrats choosing to keep kids from better opportunities, hindering our community’s progress, and suppressing voter engagement are the reasons Republicans are dominating across the country. This is why communities of color are leaving the Democratic Party in droves. Mayor Demings and Supervisor Castor Dentel’s actions are shameful and purely political.”