A Kissimmee mayor impeachment push ended in a dramatic 2-2 deadlock Tuesday night, leaving Florida Mayor Jackie Espinosa in office after months of controversy over $50,000 in city grant money awarded to businesses connected to her and her family.
The tie vote meant commissioners did not advance articles of impeachment against Espinosa to a public trial. The measure needed three votes to move forward.
Espinosa did not vote on the proceedings involving her.
The vote followed a packed special meeting at Kissimmee City Hall where people carried signs both supporting and opposing the mayor. After the decision, shouting broke out in the chamber as Espinosa’s defense team embraced her and security escorted the mayor through the crowd, according to ClickOrlando.
But the deadlock was not a ruling that Espinosa had been cleared of the allegations.
Commissioners were deciding whether to send the case to an impeachment trial after court-appointed Special Prosecutor Mayanne Downs found probable cause on three of seven ethics allegations.
Those allegations centered on the city’s Business Boost 2.0 grant program.
$50,000 in grants became the center of the fight
Kissimmee launched Business Boost 2.0 with federal American Rescue Plan funding to provide relief to small businesses still dealing with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to the City of Kissimmee’s description of the program, eligible businesses could receive grants ranging from $5,000 to $20,000 depending on their size.
Three businesses owned by Espinosa or members of her family received a combined $50,000, according to the special prosecutor’s findings.
ClickOrlando reported that records cited in Downs’ report identified Espinosa as the sole owner of Adanse LLC, which received $20,000, and as vice president with more than a 5% interest in Kissimmee Diner Inc., which received $15,000. A third family-connected business received another $15,000.
Downs argued that Espinosa participated in commission actions funding and expanding the program without disclosing her financial interests.
In the prosecutor’s report, Downs wrote that the program was created to help Kissimmee businesses survive the pandemic, “not to enrich the official who controlled it.”
Downs also wrote that “the oath of office is warning enough” while arguing Kissimmee residents were entitled to an accounting of the money.
The special prosecutor ultimately found probable cause to pursue impeachment on three allegations while recommending no further action on four others.
A probable-cause finding is not a criminal conviction or a final determination that Espinosa violated the law.
Espinosa’s attorney says impeachment was not justified
Espinosa and her attorney have disputed the special prosecutor’s conclusions.
Attorney Migdalia Perez argued during Tuesday’s meeting that the city lacked a clearly established impeachment process and that the evidence did not show Espinosa manipulated the grant-selection process, pressured city employees or used her office to obtain preferential treatment.
Perez also argued that the businesses had not yet received the grants when Espinosa participated in earlier commission votes involving the program and that city staff later evaluated the applications.
Even if Espinosa should have disclosed her interests, Perez argued, that alone did not establish corruption or justify removing an elected mayor.
Those arguments and the prosecutor’s response were detailed in ClickOrlando’s coverage of Tuesday’s hearing.
The city’s online eligibility requirements did not specifically bar elected officials from applying for the grant program, Spectrum News 13 previously reported.
A tie vote ends the city impeachment push
Commissioners ultimately split 2-2 on whether to advance the impeachment proceedings.
Because three votes were required, the impeachment effort failed and Espinosa will not face a city trial under those articles.
The decision leaves Espinosa in office. According to her official City of Kissimmee biography, she has served as mayor since November 2024 and her term runs through 2028.
The failed impeachment vote does not necessarily end all outside scrutiny connected to the grant controversy.
In June, Florida Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia’s office said auditors had found what it called “troubling irregularities” involving the Kissimmee mayor and a grant program and referred the matter to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement’s Public Corruption Unit.
FDLE told Spectrum News 13 that it does not confirm, deny or comment on investigative referrals involving elected officials.
For Kissimmee City Hall, however, the immediate impeachment question is settled: the articles did not receive enough votes to advance, there will be no city impeachment trial under them, and Espinosa remains mayor.
