Less than 24 hours after receiving a sharp rebuke by Florida’s chief financial officer, Orange County commissioners Tuesday slammed the state official’s allegations of “wasteful spending” by in part defending the programs the county is funding to address issues such as homelessness.
“The fact that the state is criticizing how Orange County uses its revenue to help give people like veterans and families hope and dignity, and to call it wasteful, not only lacks morals,” argued county commissioner Dr. Kelly Semrad, “it lacks what is the most fiscally responsible choice that we could give to our taxpayers, which is to get people off of the streets, get them into housing, [and] provide solutions so that they can re-enter the workforce in a stable way.”
Semrad, a community advocate and professor of hospitality management elected to County Commissioner last year, has been unabashed in her own criticism of the state’s initiatives on homelessness and immigration, vocally opposing efforts by the state to all but criminalize the act of being homeless…