Key Takeaways:
- Former Orange County Elections Supervisor Glen Gilzean is accused of improperly spending $9.3 million in taxpayer funds.
- Officials have recovered $3.2 million, but millions remain unaccounted for.
- Gilzean, appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, spent half of his office’s annual budget in just three months.
- The county froze his spending after discovering questionable payments, but Gilzean ignored the freeze.
- A new supervisor is now working to recover the missing money.
A Spending Spree Raises Red Flags
In Orange County, Florida, a financial scandal is unfolding. Glen Gilzean, the former Elections Supervisor, is at the center of it. Officials say he improperly spent $9.3 million in county funds during his time in office. While $3.2 million has been recovered, a significant amount is still missing.
Gilzean’s spending first came under scrutiny in December when county leaders froze his spending after Comptroller Phil Diamond uncovered $5 million in payments that didn’t seem right. These payments included $2.1 million to Valencia College for scholarships, which Diamond argued had nothing to do with election work and should have been returned to the county.
Instead of obeying the spending freeze, Gilzean sped up his spending. In just one week, he wrote over 200 checks totaling $4.3 million. He claimed these were for “legitimate election expenses,” but officials are skeptical. By the end of three months, Gilzean had spent half of his office’s annual budget, leaving the elections office so strapped for cash that it had to use money from other county funds just to pay employees.
Diamond also accused Gilzean of breaking a state law that limits how much non-reelection-seeking officials can spend in a month without county approval.
Gilzean Fights Back with a Lawsuit
Gilzean didn’t go down without a fight. He sued the county to lift the spending freeze, spending $41,500 in taxpayer money on attorneys’ fees in the process. However, the lawsuit wasn’t resolved before Gilzean’s term ended in January.
New Leadership Works to Recover the Money
Karen Castor Dentel, the new Elections Supervisor, has made it a priority to get the county’s money back. So far, Valencia College has returned its $2.1 million scholarship funding. The Central Florida Foundation also gave back $864,500 of the $1.1 million it received for voter engagement efforts.
But there’s still a long way to go. Millions of dollars remain unaccounted for, and it’s unclear if all of it will ever be recovered.
Gilzean Claims Innocence
Gilzean denies any wrongdoing. In an interview with Spectrum News 13, he said, “They illegally withheld funds from an independent constitutional office for some politically motivated witch-hunt.” He argues that he was simply doing his job and carrying out the mission of the elections office.
The Debate Continues
The case highlights a bigger issue: how to protect taxpayer money from being misused. While Gilzean insists he acted within his authority, county leaders say his actions crossed the line. The court of public opinion will ultimately decide whether Gilzean overstepped his bounds.
In the meantime, the scandal serves as a reminder of the importance of transparency and accountability in government spending. As one watchdog group noted, the easiest way to protect taxpayer money is to spend less of it.