The Pinellas Juvenile Welfare Board Meets Thursday. Is a CEO Vote on the Agenda?

For months, the Juvenile Welfare Board of Pinellas County has been embroiled in a CEO search that has drawn accusations of political pressure and threats of legal action.

Glen Gilzean, a popular appointee of Gov. Ron DeSantis who was accused of misspending millions in his last role, is the front-runner. The board voted 6-5 last month to hire him as CEO, but a second vote is required to make it official.

On Thursday, the process could come to an end.

A lawyer for Michael Mikurak, the board’s interim CEO, has introduced a proposal that would install Mikurak as CEO for another year while the board starts a new search from scratch.

If the board accepts the proposal, Gilzean will not get the second vote he needs to secure the job. If the board rejects the proposal, it could pave the way for Gilzean to be appointed.

So how did the board get here, and what comes next?

Where the Search Stands

The Juvenile Welfare Board, funded by taxpayer dollars, was created nearly 80 years ago under Florida law to support the county’s children and families. It funds roughly 50 child welfare organizations, including early learning centers, hunger initiatives and behavioral health services.

A board of 11 county officials and gubernatorial appointees are responsible for deciding how to allocate the $100 million annual budget.

The months-long search for a CEO began in the fall, and the board selected three finalists in January. Mikurak and Gilzean became the front-runners after an informal straw poll in February.

The job application lists the CEO’s salary range between $200,000 and $245,000.

On April 6, the board voted 6-5 to hire Gilzean. Public Defender Sara Mollo was the tiebreaker.

Meanwhile, Mikurak’s lawyer, Shane Vogt, alleged that gubernatorial appointee Renee Chiea defamed Mikurak at February’s meeting when she said he wasn’t right for the job and the board misspent money years ago when he was a board member.

Vogt threatened to sue over her comments and, more broadly, over how the CEO search was conducted.

He sent a demand letter to the board in late March seeking records from board members’ phones.

Those records revealed that Brian Aungst Jr., a gubernatorial appointee, had texted several prominent Republicans around the state about how votes for Gilzean were “gettable” from county officials and that he would “get it done.”

Aungst told the Tampa Bay Times in a text message last month that he “was simply letting others who know Glen well and have supported him in the past know about the opportunity to support him.”

How the Search Could End

On April 29, Mikurak’s lawyer sent a settlement proposal to the board that would entail calling off the CEO search and starting over. If the board rejects the proposal, Vogt said he will move forward with filing the lawsuit.

A draft of the settlement obtained by the Times lays out three primary requests.

First, the “immediate retention of a reputable national search firm to identify qualified JWB CEO candidates.”

Then, Mikurak would be instated as CEO until June 2027 while the national search is underway. Mikurak would retire after the term concludes and would not be a candidate in the new search, according to the offer.

Finally, the offer asks that Mikurak be compensated $50,000 to resolve the civil claims against Chiea. It also asks for $50,000 in attorneys’ fees.

Reached by phone Friday, Mikurak said he wants the proposal to speak for itself.

The settlement would act as a “compromise of disputed claims” and would not be considered an admission of liability or wrongdoing, the draft states.

Vogt wrote that the settlement was proposed to resolve the claims, and “more importantly, try to mitigate the substantial harm JWB and its reputation are suffering because of the manner in which the CEO selection process has been conducted.”

If the offer is accepted, the second vote to appoint Gilzean as CEO will not move forward.

If the offer is rejected, the board can call another vote for Gilzean, and a simple majority of 6-5 would secure his appointment. The board could also postpone or discontinue the CEO search for any reason.

Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney Bruce Bartlett, who voted for Mikurak last month and was critical of how the search has been conducted, will be out of town during the meeting. If a vote moves forward, he has the opportunity to weigh in over the phone, but his vote is not guaranteed.

Also at Thursday’s meeting, former chief financial officer Laura Krueger Brock will present her review of the board’s policies and finances. The board sought the review in response to Chiea’s allegations that the board misspent money, according to chairperson Jim Millican.

The public meeting will take place at 9 a.m. Thursday at 14155 58th St. N. in Clearwater.

Read the article as originally published at https://www.tampabay.com/news/pinellas/2026/05/18/juvenile-welfare-board-glen-gilzean-mike-mikurak-ceo/.