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Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings accused the county’s supervisor of elections of “bad governance” and said his office will move forward with looking at legal action, including a restraining order, to keep the supervisor from spending more money.
The controversy began when it surfaced that Supervisor of Elections Glen Gilzean, who was appointed to the job by Gov. Ron DeSantis, had created a scholarship using $2.1 million of taxpayer money. The scholarship would have helped students at Jones and Evans high schools pay for tuition at Valencia College.
Gilzean has said the funding for that scholarship came from excess money left over from conducting elections, but the mayor says any leftover cash should have been returned to the county’s general fund.
>> MORE: Orange County mayor questions use of taxpayer money in new elections supervisor scholarship fund
At a meeting of Orange County commissioners Tuesday night, Demings said it was inappropriate for Gilzean to use county funding in his budget for the scholarships and a nearly $2 million grant for Career Source Central Florida.
“This is bad governance. This was an inexperienced individual who was appointed by the governor who had no experience to manage the office,” Demings said. “I’ve since gotten calls from the former supervisor of elections and others from that office who have been concerned,” Demings said.
Some commissioners were also alarmed by the move. Commissioner Nicole Wilson said Gilzean should have used the money to improve the election experience, including to reduce long lines at voting sites and to help people get a mail-in ballot.
“When you look at where these cost savings came from, it was at the cost of democracy. It was at the cost of the voter being able to access the polls,” Wilson said. “Never once did the extra sites that popped up show up on the website, so people in District 1 couldn’t find them.”
Gilzean released a statement this week saying the spending was legal and his office would “vigorously” defend it. Valencia College has also said it would return the scholarship money, if the county asks for it.
Demings told commissioners the county’s legal staff is looking at whether to file a lawsuit against Gilzean over the money, and possibly trying to get a restraining order to stop him from spending any more taxpayer money before he leaves office in January.
Supervisor-elect Karen Castor Dentel told WESH 2 Investigates that she has “asked the comptroller to begin a comprehensive audit of the SOE office upon taking office, which will include a close look at contracts, finances and internal controls to ensure the proper oversight of taxpayer dollars.”
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