Municipalities Hiring Temps to Meet Elections Demands Raise Concerns About Security, Irregularities

Municipalities across the country trying to meet the demands of collecting and tabulating election ballots with their set workforce have resorted to hiring temporary workers, which has contributed to election irregularities and security concerns.

Such issues surfaced last month in Arizona’s Maricopa County and have been seen in other county or city governments including Detroit, Florida’s Orange County and Georgia’s Fulton County over the prior two election cycles.

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Orlando-Area High School Launching Magnet Culinary School

As the political left continues to advocate against parents who want a say in their children’s education, alternative options to traditional public schools are exploding, including a new culinary magnet program at an Orlando area high school. 

“Our operational mission is for Culinary Arts students to successfully run an internal restaurant, create, prepare, and market unique products, explore food science, as well as cater on- and off-campus banquets and special events,” says Wekiva Culinary’s website. 

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Florida Mayor Threatening Reprimands for Unvaccinated Employees

Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings is threatening reprimands for unvaccinated workers. Demings said he has not wanted to fire anyone over vaccination status saying the county is a “caring” employer.

“It was never my intention to terminate anyone from our employment,” Demings said. “We’re a compassionate and caring employer, but we also must balance that with protecting our employees and the public.”

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Gov. DeSantis to Levy Fines on Florida Cities that Implement Vaccine Mandates

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced this week the state will be imposing $5,000 fines per violation toward cities and local municipalities that implement vaccine mandates for their employers.

“People that have put in 10, 15, 20 years, and now they’re just going to get cast aside by some onerous mandate? That is wrong, and so we let it be known today, we’re going to be enforcing Florida law against that,” DeSantis said.

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Florida Local Officials Mandate COVID-19 Vaccination for Government Employees

Amid the rise in COVID-19 cases in Florida, government officials for Leon and Orange counties have decided to make the COVID-19 vaccination a condition for employment for their workers. 

On Wednesday, Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings signed an executive order for the requirement while Leon County Administrator Vince Long notified employees through email.

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Orange County Seeks to Relax Mask Mandate by June

Jerry Demings

Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings said the municipality is putting together a plan to relax its mask mandate by as early as June.
“We are working with the department of health on a plan to phase reducing requirements of wearing facial coverings and social distancing,” Demings said. “We are reviewing how CDC requirements are evolving along with COVID infection data and a plan will be announced soon.”

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