ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Frustrations are growing among Orange County commissioners as they continue to receive a steady drip of revelations about spending at the Supervisor of Elections office.
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The alarm bells in the county began ringing Friday when WFTV unearthed a contract between the office and Valencia College, allocating $2.1 million for scholarships for Jones and Evans High School students.
On Wednesday, Mayor Jerry Demings discovered the office signed a deal with CareerSource that gave the job seeking nonprofit $1.9 million.
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Thursday, commissioners and the county took another look at a $1 million grant program Gilzean set up with regional nonprofits, including the YMCA, Goodwill and a diabetes organization.
The grants, which were previously announced, were for voter outreach and education. Depending on the amount received, organizations are required to hold events, record videos, post on social media and – for the biggest grants – adopt a precinct.
Gilzean asked commissioners for the grant program in his annual budget request. Commissioners turned him down.
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In a press conference Thursday, Demings said commissioners had not signed off on any of the spending programs and Gilzean should have returned the funds to Orange County instead.
He warned about setting a precedent with other constitutional offices.
“If we allow the constitutionals 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,” he said.
Throughout the process, Gilzean and his staff have maintained they had a right to spend the budget they were allocated as they saw fit. Since Demings began floating the possibility of a lawsuit, which will be discussed at Tuesday’s commission meeting. Multiple commissioners told WFTV they’d be in favor of proceeding or taking other aggressive measures to get the money back.
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Gilzean and his office have declined to comment ever since the lawsuit threat was made.
Incoming supervisor Karen Castor Dentel also refused to comment on the lawsuit possibility, adding that she would focus on a positive relationship between her office and the county. Any lawsuit would carry over after she takes office in January.
Commissioners could also order Comptroller Phil Diamond to investigate Gilzean’s office. Diamond deferred all his comments about the possibility to the county’s attorney Thursday, but said he would follow the attorney’s guidance.
“If the county attorney says that it’s legal… whether or not you like it I think that’s the bottom line,” he said. “If the county attorney says it’s not, then it’s a different story. We’re not going to go and do an audit and interfere with whatever kind of review the county attorney is doing. I think that’s something that that needs to be answered first.”
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