KISSIMMEE, Fla. - Kissimmee city commissioners will decide Tuesday whether to move forward with articles of impeachment against Mayor Jackie Espinosa.
The city commission is expected to vote during a special meeting at city hall at 5 p.m.
The backstory:
The meeting comes after a special prosecutor recommended the commission pursue impeachment after an investigation into possible ethics violations related to a COVID-19 relief program.
Court-appointed special prosecutor Maryanne Downs' investigation alleges Espinosa took public money without disclosing conflicts of interest.
The report said that over $50,000 in relief grants went to businesses linked to Espinosa and her family.
The grants came from the city's Business Boost 2.0, a program that used federal funding to help small businesses trying to recover from the pandemic.
"Public office is a trust, not a trough," Downs wrote in her report. "The Boost 2.0 program was created to help Kissimmee's small businesses survive the pandemic, not to enrich the official who controlled it."
According to the report, Espinosa told Downs during the investigation that she was not warned until after receiving the funds that she should not take them.
The Source: The story was written with information released in a special prosecutor's report and from previous FOX 35 reporting.