ORLANDO, Fla. — Orange County commissioners passed two motions on Tuesday, aimed at addressing what the county comptroller says is persistent overspending by elections supervisor Glen Gilzean.

What You Need To Know

  • Orange County officials aimed to address what a report calls overspending by the Supervisor of Elections Office 

  • Commissioners voted on two motions — ensuring SOE employees are paid and directing the SOE to cancel a contract with a nonprofit and return the funds

  • Elections supervisor Glen Gilzean denies wrongdoing, saying his office was put in this position due to "lies told by the Mayor and an astonishing misunderstanding of elections by the Comptroller"

The first would authorize the county mayor and comptroller to take necessary steps to ensure Supervisor of Elections employees are paid. The second directs the elections office to cancel a $1.1 million contract with the nonprofit Central Florida Foundation and return the funds.

During a financial review of the Supervisor of Elections Office’s spending, county officials found the office’s checking account is overdrawn due to alleged mismanagement of funds.

County Comptroller Phil Diamond called the situation unprecedented and says it’s unclear how much money needs to be recovered.

“This has been something of a moving target with this elections supervisor and until everything settles down, it’s kind of hard to say here’s how exactly it needs to be fixed,” said Diamond. “Obviously the most important thing is what do we need to do to get these employees paid.”

Among the proposed solutions is paying employees directly through the county’s payroll service instead of sending funds to the Supervisor of Elections account.

Diamond expressed concerns about funds being misdirected if send to the overdrawn account.

“That would be my recommendation on the issue,” he said.

An investigative report published Monday revealed that between October and Dec. 12, the Supervisor of Elections Office spent 51% of its annual budget.

Gilzean denies wrongdoing, saying in a statement to Spectrum News:

 “I will always fight for my staff and appreciate the county ensuring payroll is made over the holidays. Unfortunately, our office was put in this position due to lies told by the Mayor and an astonishing misunderstanding of elections by the Comptroller. We will continue to make our case in court and shine a light on the laws the Mayor and Comptroller broke.”

A hearing regarding Gilzean’s lawsuit against the county is scheduled for Wednesday morning.

He claims the county illegally withheld funds.