According to Channel 9 Eyewitness News, the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District hired ethics board members for a 911 service contract.
What’s Happening:
- Glen Gilzean, who had resigned from the Florida Commission on Ethics to keep his $400,000-a-year job as the head of the new Central Florida Tourism Oversight District overseeing Disney, discussed a system that will help improve 911 calls and response times.
- “The district is investing a million dollars for a new communication network and completely separating from the Walt Disney World system,” Gilzean said.
- A million-dollar investment will go to Freddie Figgers, who is an ethics commission member where Gilzean worked just two months ago.
- Earlier, it was shared that Gilzean resigned from the Commission on Ethics since it was illegal for him to hold both jobs. Then Figgers was appointed to the ethics commission in July.
- Channel 9 stated: “According to emails, district employees reached out to Figgers as the CEO of Figgers communication consulting firm for his services in early August. Then, less than a week later, a contract was sent over for approval, and the deal was done without open bids from other companies. The district said that’s because Figgers communication was able to commit within the compressed timeframe for this important migration of 911 wireless calls.”
- Figgers media team provided a statement that read in part: “This new architecture will enable all wireless emergency calls to be directly routed to the district’s 911 system, significantly reducing response times and potentially saving lives.”
- His people have said the contract will be less than a million dollars but have not given an exact amount.