The Juvenile Welfare Board\u2019s search for a new CEO remains unresolved after members split evenly between interim CEO Michael Mikurak and challenger Glenton \u201cGlen\u201d Gilzean Jr., delaying a final vote until April.<\/p>\n
Both candidates enter the final stretch under scrutiny.<\/p>\n
Mikurak has denied allegations from the board\u2019s former chief financial officer accusing him of misusing public funds and retaliating against him.<\/p>\n
Gilzean has faced questions tied to nearly $10 million in spending over a two-month period during his tenure as Orange County\u2019s supervisor of elections. County officials said the expenditures lacked required approval. Gilzean disputes that characterization and has denied wrongdoing.<\/p>\n
In an interview, Gilzean framed the Orange County episode as political fallout from reform efforts.<\/p>\n
\u201cPublic leadership always brings scrutiny,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He maintains that operational savings generated under new procurement controls were redirected into scholarships for low-income students.<\/p>\n
\u201cI stand by my decision because 1,000 kids from low-income communities received a scholarship to go to school for free,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Beyond that dispute, Gilzean points to a career centered on education policy, nonprofit leadership and public governance to support his bid for CEO of JWB.<\/p>\n
He most recently served as Administrator of the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District, overseeing the transition from the former Reedy Creek Improvement District and managing a complex public entity responsible for infrastructure and services surrounding Walt Disney World.<\/p>\n
Prior to that, he was Chairman of the Florida Commission on Ethics and President and CEO of the Central Florida Urban League, where he focused on education access, workforce development and community investment. Earlier in his career, he served as vice president at Step Up For Students, a scholarship-granting organization, and as a regional field director for the Florida Department of Education.<\/p>\n
He also previously served on the Pinellas County School Board and on the Florida A&M University Board of Trustees.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy entire career has intersected with children and families,\u201d he said. \u201cI serve at the pleasure of the board.\u201d<\/p>\n
The JWB distributes roughly $132 million annually in property tax revenue to programs serving children and families across Pinellas County. Gilzean said his background restructuring organizations, strengthening procurement policies and leading nonprofits prepares him for that responsibility.<\/p>\n
\u201cHaving someone who has run a nonprofit and understands those experiences is key,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
In contrast to Mikurak\u2019s decade inside JWB and long business consulting career, Gilzean positions himself as a new-generation leader.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m a young, vibrant leader,\u201d he said. \u201cI have the energy to bring this organization into the future.\u201d<\/p>\n
With the board evenly divided and the allegations under review, a final decision is expected in April.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Juvenile Welfare Board\u2019s search for a new CEO remains unresolved after members split evenly between interim CEO…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":176884,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[202,204,203,199,201,200],"class_list":["post-176883","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-st-petersburg","tag-st-pete","tag-st-pete-headlines","tag-st-pete-news","tag-st-petersburg","tag-st-petersburg-headlines","tag-st-petersburg-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176883","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=176883"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176883\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/176884"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=176883"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=176883"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=176883"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}