Kissimmee commission rejects articles of impeachment against mayor
Kissimmee commissioners vote against impeaching mayor
Kissimmee city commissioners voted Tuesday against moving forward with articles of impeachment against Mayor Jackie Espinosa.
KISSIMMEE, Fla. - Kissimmee city commissioners voted Tuesday against advancing articles of impeachment against Mayor Jackie Espinosa following a special prosecutor's ethics investigation.
Tensions flared inside the Kissimmee City Council chambers as audience members held signs showing both support and opposition for Mayor Jackie Espinosa.
It was standing room only at the Tuesday meeting where commissioners ultimately decided not to follow through with impeachment proceedings.
A court-appointed special prosecutor recommended impeachment after investigating potential ethics violations related to the city's BOOST 2.0 COVID-19 relief program.
The investigative report alleged that over $50,000 in public relief funds went to businesses linked to Espinosa and her family without proper disclosure of conflicts of interest.
Espinosa expressed gratitude after the vote.
"The only thing I feel is gratitude, gratitude to first of all God and second of all to my amazing legal team, and, of course, gratitude towards a community that has shown support since day one," she said.
The other side:
Commissioner Janette Martinez was one of two commissioners who voted to move the articles of impeachment forward.
Martinez voiced strong disappointment with the final decision made by the commission.
"I am extremely disappointed," Martinez said. "The lack of transparency, I mean this is not about a buddy system this is not about friendship and you know it’s clearly evident even before they hear what is going on they already decided what they were going to move forward with their vote."
What we don't know:
It remains unclear if any additional local actions will be taken regarding the special prosecutor's findings following Tuesday's commission vote.
The full scope of potential state-level findings is also still pending.
What's next:
Commissioner Noel Ortiz voted against moving the impeachment articles forward, pointing to upcoming state proceedings. Ortiz noted that the local decision does not end the review process.
"The commission of ethics is going to make a decision on the 28th of this month no matter about the decision we made today," Ortiz said.
The Source: The information in this story was gathered from a FOX 35 News broadcast report by Laryssa Leone, who attended the Kissimmee City Commissioners meeting and interviewed Mayor Jackie Espinosa and City Commissioners Janette Martinez and Noel Ortiz.