ORLANDO, Fla. – A judge next week could determine if Orange County must lift a freeze on funds placed on the county’s supervisor of elections.
A hearing has been set in the case between Elections Supervisor Glen Gilzean and Comptroller Phil Diamond for 10 a.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 18 at the Orange County Courthouse.
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Gilzean filed the lawsuit and requested the hearing after the county commission voted to freeze the monthly budget allocation of nearly a million dollars to Gilzean’s office for December.
Comptroller Phil Diamond requested the freeze, saying he had concerns about how Gilzean was spending the money.
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The budget battle stems from concerns over how Gilzean spent millions in surplus dollars back in October from the previous budget, as well as how Gilzean is spending money allocated from the current annual budget.
Gilzean spent some $4 million of the previous budget to establish a scholarship at Valencia College and to fund programs at CareerSource Central Florida.
Gilzean’s office says the surplus came from cost savings tied to the presidential and August primaries. Gilzean says that, as a constitutional officer, once a budget is set the county doesn’t have the right to tell him how to spend the money.
However, Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings said surplus funds should have been returned to the county and questioned why they weren’t used to shore up operations for the November general election.
Diamond, meanwhile, says Gilzean has spent nearly 50% of the 2024-2025 annual budget since October, including more than $4 million spread out over 224 checks written last weekend.
Diamond said a confidential informant came to his office in November and made several concerning allegations regarding spending, including a $1.1 million transfer to a nonprofit. Diamond said his audit team was stonewalled when they requested documents.
Gilzean said he mailed and emailed the requested documents. Diamond said the attachments were too large and the email bounced back.
Gilzean has accused Diamond and Demings of misrepresenting the financial situation at the supervisor of elections office and how Gilzean can spend money. Gilzean said he had to pay vendor bills for the November election that came due at the beginning of December.
Gilzean says if he does not get the December budget allocation that was frozen, he will not be able to pay employees for the rest of the month.
In an order released Thursday, Judge Luis Calderon appeared sympathetic to Gilzean’s point of view, telling the supervisor to serve a writ of mandamus to the county regarding getting the money released and requiring the county to show cause for why it disagrees with the writ.
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