ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – Orange County leaders welcomed the new supervisor of elections on Tuesday. Karen Castor Dentel takes over from Glen Gilzean.
There is still unfinished business from the former Orange County supervisor of elections, who is accused of overspending the office’s budget dollars.
At Tuesday morning’s Orange County Board of Commissioners meeting, Comptroller Phil Diamond discussed the work he was doing to ensure finances are in order as Dentel takes office.
“The supervisor had told us there were no outstanding checks, no more outstanding bills but I think there were outstanding bills,” Diamond said at the meeting.
Commissioners restored funding to the office after they stopped paying Gilzean.
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They claimed he was overspending and did not get authorization to spend money on scholarships to Valencia College and new voting sites.
County leaders were unwilling to give Gilzean the funding to fix his accounts, except for payments made directly to the election office’s payroll company. Mayor Demings fully supported the transition.
“So we don’t know what we don’t know. the only thing I can say is that we remain optimistic that we will find the office and proper order. And if it’s not, then someone’s going to be held accountable for that — whether that is in the court of public opinion or in the court of law,” he told News 6 reporter Laverne McGee.
Incoming Supervisor of Elections Karen Castor Dentel said she intends to get the scholarship money back that originally started the disagreement between the county and Gilzean.
The controversy began last October when Gilzean used approximately $2 million to fund scholarships at Valencia College and about another $2 million to support CareerSource.
In a press conference, Dental said she intends to take back the scholarship money.
“I have instructed my counsel to work with our partners at Orange County, at The Valencia College Foundation and the Central Florida Foundation to recover taxpayer funds. And while these organizations are, they’re pillars of our community, have been drawn into this situation through no fault of their own, it is vital that funds are returned to ensure the integrity of our election,” she said.
News 6 spoke with Gilzean after Castor Dentel’s press conference, and he maintained he did not do anything wrong and checked with his attorneys on all matters before spending money.
He said he does not have any regrets and that he stands by the work he and his staff did.
“It was a political witch hunt from day one, and it’s all because I was appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis,” he said. “...I am proud of the work we did, and honestly, I hope that the new supervisor sees that work and maintains some of it because at the end of the day, we want her to succeed. Because if she succeeds, Orange County voters succeed.”
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