Kissimmee's mayor kept her seat after $50,000 in COVID relief went to family businesses
Three businesses tied to Kissimmee Mayor Jackie Espinosa and her family received a combined $50,000 from the city's BOOST 2.0 grant program, funded with federal COVID-19 relief money. A city-hired special prosecutor, Mayanne Downs, found probable cause in July 2026 that Espinosa voted on three commission actions that funded or expanded the program without disclosing her interests, after the city attorney had warned her in December 2025. On Aug. 18 the City Commission deadlocked 2-2 and no impeachment trial was held. The Florida Commission on Ethics found probable cause on Aug. 28; on Oct. 23 it approved a stipulation in which she admitted the businesses benefited, with a public censure and a $2,000 fine. She was arrested Oct. 21 on grand theft and organized-scheme-to-defraud charges, which she disputes. She remains mayor.
Under the statute, the governor has every right to suspend her at this point. That hasn't happened, but I anticipate it will.
The failed vote leaves Espinosa in office and ends the immediate effort to hold a city impeachment trial.
A censure is a formal reprimand. It does not remove an elected official from office, suspend the official or constitute a criminal conviction.
The Commission found probable cause to believe that JACKIE ESPINOSA, Mayor of Kissimmee, had an employment or contractual relationship with an entity doing business with her agency when her business accepted grant money that was administered by her agency.
Says the ethics matter is 'completely administrative', the businesses 'were entitled to this money', and denies criminal conduct.
No outcome recorded yet.