Gilzean stays mum as he starts Orange elections chief job

Glen Gilzean started his job as Orange County elections supervisor on Tuesday with a full day of staff meetings, stepping into a role overseeing voting in one of Florida’s most Democratic counties.

Gilzean, a close ally of Gov. Ron DeSantis, declined to take questions from a reporter who went to the elections office Tuesday morning seeking to meet him.

“The supervisor’s schedule is jam-packed,” said D’Anne Mica, a spokeswoman for the elections office.

DeSantis appointed Gilzean to the post on Monday, filling a vacancy created when longtime Democratic elections chief Bill Cowles retired in January. Gilzean, a Republican, serves as the administrator of the tourism oversight district at the center of DeSantis’ feud with Disney.

Gilzean’s appointment as elections supervisor will be in effect until the election winner in November takes office in January 2025. Gilzean, 41, who has no experience running elections, is not listed as a candidate.

It remained unclear Tuesday whether Gilzean has or intends to resign from the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District or take a leave of absence. A district spokesman and its board chairman have not answered the question. Mica also did not provide an answer. Gilzean has not returned an email or text message from the Orlando Sentinel.

Gilzean’s background has prompted criticism from local Democrats who branded him in a joint statement as a “loyalist” whose “top priority seems to be making Ron DeSantis happy.”

“Ron DeSantis continues to abuse the power of his office to appoint his friends and allies to elected positions that they are not qualified for, all so he can control every part of our state and local governments and warp our democracy to his will,” the group of nine lawmakers said, which included U.S. Rep. Maxwell Frost and state Rep. Anna Eskamani.

In May, the tourism oversight board hired Gilzean to serve as its administrator, a job that pays $400,000 a year. The Orange County elections position pays $205,000.

In a Facebook post, Gilzean wrote that Paula Hoisington, deputy district administrator, would serve as acting district administrator at the tourism oversight district during his “unavailability.”

Under Gilzean’s employment agreement, he can resign with 30 days of written notice. During that notice period, the administrator must continue to “report to work each day and fully perform his duties” and “is not permitted to take vacation or other time off … unless permitted by the board,” according to the agreement.

The district can relieve the administrator of his duties immediately upon receiving the resignation notice.

The agreement also includes an “exclusive services” stipulation that the administrator “perform all duties … on a full-time basis” and “devote his full efforts and attention to his duties and responsibilities at the district.”

During employment, the administrator “shall not participate in, render services to, become employed by, or otherwise receive remuneration for any services rendered from any business or entity, unless specifically approved in writing by the Board Chair,” the agreement states.

District officials have not responded to questions about whether they have received written notice of resignation or provided written authorization for outside employment.

As for state law, potential “wiggle room” exists in the section of the Florida Constitution that bars dual office-holding, said Bob Jarvis, a law professor at Nova Southeastern University. An administrative position chosen by a board may not be considered an “officer” under state law.

“There certainly is an argument to be made … that this situation does not fall under any of the prohibitions on dual-office holding,” Jarvis said. “Ultimately, it’s going to be up to a court to decide what is an office and which offices are subject to the rules.”

In the end, Jarvis said, “It really comes down to how much public blowback there is.”

DeSantis appointed Gilzean to an unpaid seat on the Florida Commission on Ethics in 2019. He resigned as chairman of that board in 2023, months after taking the tourism district position after a report revealed it was against state law for a public employee to serve on the ethics board.

Before joining the tourism district, Gilzean was CEO of the Central Florida Urban League, a civil rights advocacy organization. He’s held various roles in education, including a stint as an executive for Step Up For Students, an organization that administers school vouchers in Florida.

Former Gov. Rick Scott appointed Gilzean to fill a vacancy on the Pinellas County School Board in 2012.

He’s held other appointed roles, including on the Reopen Florida task force overseeing the state’s emergence from COVID shutdowns in 2020 and the state’s African American History Task Force.