ORLANDO, Fla. — Orlando’s mayor is defending the city’s spending after Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia criticized expenses on items like a poet laureate, hot yoga classes, and tree counting.
Ingoglia, as part of Governor DeSantis’ Florida DOGE effort, pointed out that Orlando spends $6,000 yearly on a poet laureate, nearly $70,000 on hot yoga classes, and has allocated almost $500,000 for counting trees.
“Do you feel picked on? Not more than anybody else. It’s just kind of a show that they’re going around,” Mayor Dyer said in response to the criticism.
Mayor Dyer defended the city’s financial choices, stressing that the millage rate hasn’t been increased in over 10 years.
He also noted that the state initially approved some of the spending criticized by Ingoglia, such as the crosswalks.
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