Local and state lawmakers renewed calls this week for an audit of the onePulse Foundation, demanding an accounting of public money the not-for-profit group received to build a memorial to victims of the LGBTQ nightclub massacre.
“Knowing the dollars did not lead to a memorial or a museum, I want to see what options we have as the state of Florida to reallocate the dollars, possibly to the city of Orlando,” said state Rep. Anna Eskamani, D-Orlando, whose district includes the site of the June 12, 2016 massacre, where 49 people were murdered by a lone gunman. “A forensic audit would offer some deeper perspective but I also am looking to the state for some answers.”
She said she has contacted the Florida Department of State.
Orlando City Commissioners voted last month to buy the former Pulse nightclub on South Orange Avenue from owners Barbara and Rosario Poma and Michael Panaggio for $2 million. Mayor Buddy Dyer said the city intends to build a permanent memorial through a process he promised would be “inclusive to the families of the victims and inclusive of the survivors.”
Orlando approves purchase of Pulse nightclub, where it intends to build memorial
Created by Barbara Poma seven years ago in the wake of the massacre, onePulse informed county leaders last month that it was abandoning plans for a museum to honor the lives lost in what was at the time the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history. She resigned from the foundation in April.
Since onePulse no longer plans to do build the museum, it had to surrender title to a 1.7-acre parcel at West Kaley and Division streets, which the foundation had bought in September 2019 for $3.5 million with Tourist Development Tax revenue, also known as TDT, according to its contract with Orange County.
In 2018, Orange County commissioners pledged $10 million for the museum in tourist-tax revenue believing it would attract visitors. The foundation had, as of last month, received about $6.5 million, county officials say. The total included $3 million spent on design costs for the future museum.
County commissioners are scheduled to discuss onePulse and related issues at the board’s meeting Nov. 28.
onePulse Foundation says it’s abandoning museum plan, returning land to the Orange County
Former state legislator, Carlos Guillermo Smith, the first openly gay Latino lawmaker in Florida, was among leaders who called for an audit of onePulse as long ago as 2019 to address concerns by grieving family members who said the charity was profiting from the deaths. He said then and repeated Friday he wasn’t alleging wrongdoing.
“But when you receive public dollars, there’s a higher level of scrutiny and accountability that’s expected,” he said. “The Foundation received state taxpayer money for a memorial and museum, which they failed to produce. So the public has legitimate questions about how their money was spent: ‘Where did the money go? Was it spent appropriately? Can unused dollars be refunded or redirected to the city for the memorial?’ These are all legitimate concerns.”
The foundation’s tax records show it took in $19.9 million from 2016 through 2022, including private donations.
Facing setbacks and survivors’ frustrations, Pulse foundation leaders boosted pay with tax credit
Orlando has deal to purchase Pulse nightclub, Mayor Dyer says
The need for a permanent memorial should remain a top priority, said Orange County commissioner Mayra Uribe, whose district includes the former nightclub grounds.
“We’ve got to do something. We’ve got to kind of get in front of this. It’s been over seven years,” she said. “I think we should have a memorial for the victims and for those families. We can’t keep just pushing it down and expecting things to happen.”
shudak@orlandosentinel.com
![National Weather Service experts warned Wednesday that the rise of a potent, global climate bully has set the stage for violent weather and killer tornadoes in Central Florida from now until spring. With one occurring every few to seven years at varying strengths, an El Niño climate phase is taking shape as among the stronger on record and is forecast to have a high probability of ushering powerful storm systems across the Gulf of Mexico into the Orlando region and other parts of Florida through March. National Weather Service officials said conditions in place put Central Florida at a comparable […]](https://www.orlandosentinel.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/FLORIDA-TORNADOES.jpg?w=534 "National Weather Service experts warned Wednesday that the rise of a potent, global climate bully has set the stage for violent weather and killer tornadoes in Central Florida from now until spring. With one occurring every few to seven years at varying strengths, an El Niño climate phase is taking shape as among the stronger on record and is forecast to have a high probability of ushering powerful storm systems across the Gulf of Mexico into the Orlando region and other parts of Florida through March. National Weather Service officials said conditions in place put Central Florida at a comparable […]")
