Kissimmee’s two newly-elected commissioners, including its second consecutive alcaldesa— a female mayor, the first time back-to-back ladies have held the gavel in city history—have been sworn in.
They, along with another reelected board members and two other sitting commissioners, now inherit a problem with the Kissimmee Police Department. It led to the police chief ’s resignation, and has city officials looking at use-of-force cases going back to the administrations of the two prior chiefs, and the interim chief taking a hard look at KPD’s internal structure and policies.
As part of their first Commission meeting, Commissioner Noel Ortiz and Mayor Jackie Espinosa joined with sitting Commissioners Janette Martinez and Carlos Alvarez, who was sworn in for his second term after a Nov. 5 election victory, in an agreement to reinstitute the city’s Citizen’s Police Review Board. Commissioner Angela Eady was not present at the meeting.
With the discovery of 11 cases of “excessive or unnecessary force” not properly reported to FDLE or the State Attorney’s Office—going back nine years across police chief administrations— commissioners agreed a level of transparency will be necessary for KPD to go forward.
“I want the public to feel like they have that oversight to be the eyes for the community,” Martinez said. “I think it would be amazing in the Board approves this; it will get more transparency moving forward.”
“I want the public to trust that KPD is working for all of our safety,” Alvarez said.
Espinosa said giving residents that transparency would “uplift the morale again of our city.”
“We do have a lot of wonderful law enforcement officers, let’s not lose sight of that,” she said. “We do this oversight board of citizens so we can assure communicating is a priority and being proactive. This is one of the actions of rising from the ashes of this.
“This won’t be an easy task, but I thank (City Manager) Mike Steigerwald for acting so quickly.”
Interim Police Chief Major. Robert Anzueto, who said he’s already been making changes to KPD processes, like re-shaping the Internal Affairs division, said he welcomed a citizen’s oversight board.
“If we can do something to help with transparency and get the community involved, I welcome that,” he said. “Yes, there are limitations, but I’m working to serve our community the best way we can.”
City staff will draw up an ordinance to recreate the oversight board. It will come back to the Commission for two hearings before a final vote.
Kissimmee disbanded its oversight board in June, ahead of a new state law that went into effect July 1 that prevented such citizen boards from investigating police misconduct incidents, allowing them only to review operating procedures and policies.
In October, Chief Betty Holland abruptly resigned after a grand jury report named her among 11 KPD officers who reportedly failed to classify the actions of Officer Andrew Bassegio as excessive force, and shared with him the criminal findings.
The action may have overshadowed a night where the chambers could not handle the crowd that turned out for the swearing in, Espinosa, who ran for mayor in 2020 and County Commission in 2022, thanked her supporters for keeping her going through the process.
“We’ve all held together as I look forward to serving this term as mayor, and I will rely and depend on you. Don’t stop praying for me.
“I want you all to feel like this is your Commission room, with anything you want to bring to us. We don’t have to always think alike and be alike, but that’s the beauty of Kissimmee— diversity. Together we can do so much for this city, and I’m honored to be the voice for so many.”
At the meeting, outgoing commissioners Olga Castano, who ran for mayor this year, and Olga Gonzalez, who sat in Castano’s seat for a term before winning election as mayor in 2020 were honored.
“It was the honor of my life to serve Kissimmee as its first Hispanic female mayor, and filling the role with pride,” Gonzalez said. “It gave me the opportunity to be part of some truly transformative projects in the city that made lasting impacts. They show the hard work that has gone into making Kissimmee a city that thrives today and will continue to do so. I’m so proud of the progress we’ve made. I step aside with a whole heart.”
