Greg Fox, Reporter
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ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. —
Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings announced he'll schedule a full commission review of the Guardian program to try and resolve a dispute between county comptroller Phil Diamond Clerk of Courts, Tiffany Moore Russell.
Moore Russell oversees guardians, who manage the financial and medical affairs of the incapacitated.
It concluded the Clerk's Office was not adequately supervising the program.
According to the audit, it reviewed 3,300 cases, many of them mishandled, by former professional guardian Rebecca Fierle who will head to trial for felony abuse and neglect of one of her wards.
In just 14 cases involving Fierle and others, the audit uncovered unsupported expenses of $1.25 million for living facilities, medical expenses and other unexplained expenses.
"Who is going to improve it? Who is going to be accountable and who are we going to make answer to this and make a change," Uribe asked.
Commissioner Emily Bonilla sent her own memo expressing disappointment in the county's Commission on Aging, writing that on the "county government's guide to senior services, there are no resources available for those who have been victimized by guardianship programs."
She found the audit shocking.
"I was really surprised by the amount of work that was not being done by the Clerk's Office that should have been done," Bonilla said.
In a memo to the county, the clerk wrote that program "improvements were being implemented during the audit period" including "adding more deputy clerks to the guardianship team."
Even before Demings sets a time and a date for a discussion of how the Guardian program works, Uribe has an appointment next week with Moore Russell to get a first-hand look at how it operates.
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