ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Orange County Supervisor of Elections Karen Castor Dentel took to her podium, smiling, mid-Wednesday afternoon.
“I’m thrilled to announce today a huge victory for taxpayers,” she said.
Castor Dentel explained that as of noon that day, Valencia College had deposited $2.1 million into her office’s bank account.
The cash infusion was a lifeline to the struggling office – and a return of taxpayer funds that should never have gone out the door to begin with.
The Valencia money had been a gift from Castor Dentel’s predecessor, Glen Gilzean, who funneled cash that was meant to secure and prepare for the November 2024 election into scholarships named after himself.
It was in addition to $1.9 million sent to CareerSource and $1 million given to local nonprofits for voter outreach grants.
None of the spending had been authorized by county commissioners, who cut off the office’s funding until Gilzean departed in January.
Castor Dentel said she had recovered all but $140,000 that was sent to a dozen local nonprofits, which will be used to pay for staff and run the office through the end of the fiscal year.
“Just like a family sits around the dining room table when they’re living paycheck to paycheck, and they have to figure out which one did they pay first, that’s what it’s been like every week,” she said, reminding the audience that Gilzean spent half the office’s annual budget in just three months.
However, Castor Dentel said her office was still facing a $1 million shortfall. She said her team identified additional misspending on self-promotion and advertising that she would be unable to recover.
“We’re being very fiscally conservative,” she said. “We’ve put in some more controls. All the financial decisions come through me and the CFO, and we’re just really trying to slow everything down.”
Neither Gilzean nor Valencia responded to requests for comment Wednesday.
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