ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – Last week, Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings said he was exploring all options, including a lawsuit against Orange County Supervisor of Elections Glen Gilzean, after Gilzean gave $4 million in surplus budget money to Valencia College and CareerSource Central Florida.
At a commission meeting, Demings said, “When we say litigation, that is one option that we have, to get the results that we are looking for, and that is the return of the money.”
The money he is trying to get for the county is from two contracts for jobs and scholarships from Orange County Supervisor of Elections Glen Gilzean’s office.
Mayor Demings said it’s an improper use of taxpayer dollars and that the surplus money should be returned to the county government general fund. News 6 reached out to the mayor’s office for an interview on Monday but was told, “The Mayor is out of the office tomorrow and not available.”
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News 6 did speak with Gilzean, though, who said that as a constitutional officer, he is by law able to make spending decisions.
“While he’s out there playing politics‚ where he thinks he’s hurting me, he’s in fact, that hurting the very same people, our taxpayers, our community, who this program would have benefited...” Gilzean explained. “You now have a legal memo from Gunster, one of the most renowned legal firms in the state of Florida that clearly states that. And again, they’re doing all this posturing because they have no basis.”
Gilzean signed a $1.9 million contract with CareerSource to retrain temporary election workers for other related jobs. He said it would have helped more than 2,000 poll workers. He also signed a contract with Valencia College to establish a $2.1 million scholarship for students and voter education.
But Gilzean said that opportunity is now gone after Mayor Demings — who is also chair of CareerSource’s board — returned the money to Orange County. Gilzean also signed a contract with Valencia College to establish a $2.1 million scholarship for students and voter education.
The Supervisor of Elections office has not asked them for the money back, and the contract is still valid. Part of that contract states that any of their campuses can be used as voting sites.
Gilzean said this situation affects more than just his office. He told News 6, " There’s a reason why these offices are independently constitutional officers. And if the mayor gets his way, this would be catastrophic to the entire state of Florida. The statute is very clear, that once the county appropriates the funds, it’s up to the individual independent constitutional officers to invest those dollars, those taxpayer dollars as it relates to the mission of the office.”
At this point, it will be up to Mayor Demings and the commission to decide the next step to recover the money from Valencia College.
On Friday, News 6 reported that CareerSource Central Florida returned $1.9 to the Orange County government.
In a statement, CareerSource said that, after consulting legal council, its executive committee voted to terminate the funding agreement and turn the money over to the Orange County comptroller, who is adding the money to the county’s general fund.
“CareerSource Central Florida is grateful for community partners who contribute to the mission of helping residents explore and obtain meaningful careers. CareerSource Central Florida is always willing and eager to expand the ways it serves our youth and career-seekers in Central Florida,” said Pamela Nabors, president and CEO of CareerSource, in a letter to Gilzean.
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