>>This week on NewsNight, deportations begin from Alligator Alcatraz as the federal government starts sending flights out of the Florida facility.

Plus, the state is set to probe Orange County's finances as governor DeSantis promises more DOGE audits.

NewsNight starts now.

[MUSIC] Hello, I'm Steve Mort, welcome to NewsNight, where we take an in-depth look at the top stories and issues in Central Florida and how they shape our community.

First, tonight we're checking back in on the situation at the state's immigration detention facility known as Alligator Alcatraz.

>>Alligator Alcatraz, we say?

>>Never.

>>Despite protests and legal challenges, Governor DeSantis says deportation flights have begun from the site, which was stood up by the state in just a matter of days using emergency powers.

But lawyers report being unable to communicate with their clients who are being held at the facility.

Civil rights attorneys alleged detainees are being held without charges and denied access to legal counsel while being held at Alligator Alcatraz.

But Florida officials sa steps have been taken to improve access, including video conferencing with attorneys.

A federal judge has set a date of August 18th for civil rights attorneys request for an injunction against operations at Alligator Alcatraz, and the release of agreements between the state and federal governments detailing who has authority over the facility.

Environmental groups, who say they fear the impacts that Alligator Alcatraz might have on the surrounding Everglades are also suing both the DeSantis and Trump administrations.

They allege state and federal environmental laws were not followed in the construction of the facility.

Governor DeSantis visited Alligator Alcatraz last week and urged undocumented migrant to voluntarily leave the U.S..

He said he expected the number of deportation flights to increase.

>>We've got these, these four years under the Trump administratio to really get the job done.

So my hope is tha we have a very strong cadence coming out of here.

If the cadence is strong and i justifies us going up northeast Florida and establishing a foot print at Camp Blanding.

We will do that.

Meanwhile, polling on Alligator Alcatraz shows strong support among Republicans 65% view the center positively, while 21% have a negative opinion, 7% say they're unfamiliar with the site.

Michael Binder is from UNF's Public Opinion Research Lab.

>>It's more than 3 to 1 support across Republicans for this whole Alligato Alcatraz concept.

There are some interestin variations across age.

Whereas older folks say 55 and plus are three quarters supportive of it, 75%.

The, younger folks tend to be a little less so.

Right.

So the 18 to 34 is they're only at 33%, 35 to 54s are down and at 66%.

So the younger folks have more concerns about it, more opposed to it.

Less uncertain about it, mor of them haven't heard about it.

But again, the key voting demo demographic for Republicans tend to be older folks.

So those are the ones that are particularly supportive.

>>Michael Binder fro the University of North Florida.

Well, let's bring in our panel now to break it all down.

Joining us in the studio this week, Managing Editor of The Community Paper here in Orlando, Nick Georgoudiou.

Thanks so much for coming in.

>>Thank for having me.

>>Appreciate it.

Skyler Swisher, reporter for the Orlando Sentinel.

Good to see you as well today, Skyler.

>>Thanks for having me.

>>Thanks so much for coming in and afternoon anchor at Spectrum News 13, Curtis McCloud.

Good to see you, Curtis.

>>All right.

Always a pleasure Steve.

>>Appreciate you all coming in today.

Let me start with you on this one.

What do we know about where these flights are going from Alligator Alcatraz?

>>We only have a few details right now.

And that's mainly from Governor Ron DeSanti and other state officials.

They spoke last wee and talked about about 100 of the, individual that were at the facility were deported out of the country.

A few hundred others is what they describe as, taken to other deportation facilities around the US.

And that seems to include Florida.

The Miami Herald was looking into it, but they don't have, recent numbers to really dig into it.

>>The Sentinel's continue to to get details on some of those detained in Central Florida, right, that have been sent to to Alligator Alcatraz, including some new reporting this week.

>>Yeah.

So we had a story about, two brothers from Mexico.

The younger brother was pulled over for having overly tinted windows.

He was on a valid tourist visa.

His older brother, was here.

On had overstayed a tourist visa.

And both of them ended up in, Alligator Alcatraz.

And that kind of fits in with some broader reporting that we've done.

We took a look at, who are the people that are being held on immigration detainers in Lake, Osceola, and Seminole counties?

And what we found is that 55%, were picked up on, on, you know, pretty minor traffic violations, a broken tail light, tinted windows.

Only about, you know, 20 were accused of violent crimes.

So in terms of the the reporting that we've done so far, we're not saying that it's necessarily matching up with the administration's, rhetoric, essentially, that it's, you know, the worst of the worst and it's all violent offenders.

I mean, we're finding tha there are people who are just, you know, being picked up on, you know, pretty minor, traffic violations.

And it's ending.

They're ending up being detained.

>>And at the same time, there is concern over the legal representation that some of those, detainees are getting.

There's going to be a court hearing next month, as I mentioned just now on demands from civil rights attorneys.

I mean, what are the complaints, what are they asking for?

>>Yeah.

So the attorneys are saying that they're not able to meet with their clients at the detention facility in the Everglades.

That there's no secure, like video conferencing where they're able to meet with their clients.

And also what what they're requesting is they want to go to an immigration court and, request a bond hearing so that their clients can be released on bond while their immigration case is pending.

And what they're finding is is that they're almost in this their clients are almost in this kind of legal limbo, where the, you know, the courts are saying like, well, this is we don't necessarily have jurisdiction over this.

So they're seeking essentially due process for the people who are there.

>>Spectrum News has covered the state's response to these concerns.

In fact, you were at Alligator Alcatraz, just, on Friday.

What did we hear from the governor and other officials this week about that?

>>You know, they're saying you know, hey, we are taking car of these individuals.

You know, there have been call and complaints saying that about condition inside the facility from people there saying that, hey, this is not the Ritz, but, you know, people are being tended to.

They are getting th medical services that they need.

They are getting medications.

And also when it comes to them, getting, you know, visits the legal representation.

The governor said that they were working with the Justice Department on that, and they were trying to make that happen, but they were adding rooms so that they could make those calls, those virtual calls, or have those meetings and in-person meetings with their attorneys.

Should they come down there.

They are working on that regard to make that happen.

Now, one of the things that I found interesting that the governor sai and I didn't realize is that he said, once you are sent to the so-called Alligator Alcatraz, you are pretty much marked for deportation.

There is no turning back here.

So it seems to me that, you know, hey, you talk about having due process.

If they're already saying that you're marked for deportation once you go there.

Where did where does due process fall in there?

>>Well, of course, some lawyers dispute that.

Some say that some of these people at least have valid, asylum claims in process.

So some might dispute that.

Miami Dade County is sort of asking for more oversight, of this site.

They demanded more access last week, what are the county leaders calling for?

>>Yeah.

So they actually own the property.

They still consider themselves the owners of the property.

It was originally the Training and transition airport.

>>It's in Collier County, but it's owned by Miami Dade.

>>It is.

Yeah.

And so was by executiv order of Governor Ron DeSantis that it was taken over for this, specific application.

They're asking for more oversight because they've heard of the conditions that aren't great.

They are also concerne about what happens in the case of a hurricane or other natural disaster.

They're also looking about the, or concerne about the environmental impact.

This site was never intended to have this many people live there.

Up to thousands of people live there at the same time, plus a number of flights regularly scheduled, if that's the case.

>>At the same time.

The Orange County Commission earlier this month voted to reject the proposal, right, for its its corrections officers, to transport immigrants on behalf of Ice and expand Ice agreements, if you like.

On top of that, 287 G. Agreement.

The Florida attorney general's threatening the mayor and commissioners with removal.

Now, what do we know about that clash?

>>So, it's definitely heating up.

Yeah.

And essentially the attorney general saying Orange County, needs to support our mission here.

And, and essentiall they're threatening to remove, the county mayor, the county commissioners, the county mayor is saying, no, this is an unfunded mandate.

It's the federal government's response, abilit to transport these, detainees.

And, I mean, the war of words is really heated up.

I mean, you had the county mayor essentially saying that, you know, who is a, former police chie and, sheriff saying, you know, I've been on the streets of Florida longer than you've been alive to the attorney general who's, James Uthmeier who's 37 years old.

>>Yeah.

Pretty strong words for for Jerry Demings.

I mean, I guess the state is saying, what's the state's argument?

They're saying that that Orange County is therefore a sanctuary jurisdiction.

If they don't do everything that's necessary to help Ice.

>>That's the attorney general's argument.

Yes.

That that you need to, support, the state and the federal governmen in transporting these detainees.

>>I mean, there are broader concerns, though, right?

Throughout the state, from some sheriffs who say that they worry about Florida's capacity, for holding immigrants on on behalf of Ice, you know, with under these cooperation agreements, what are we hearing locally you guys have been covering?

>>Yeah, we have.

And one of the things that you hear is that it's about capacity.

It's about manpower.

And also you have a lot of people who, when you take away from, resources, it's like, okay, hey, we have other things that people need to get to.

We don't have the manpower.

We don't have the resources to, act, be so inclined to acquiesce to the request of the state.

So that's wha these sheriffs are saying, that, you know, if we can.

So somehow have a reserve bank or have more people on the on the, on the, on the ground to help, alleviate the the backlog that we already are trying to deal with.

Let alone trying to now, go and be so inclined to agree with what, what what is being asked of them by the state.

>>Yeah.

I want to talk a little bit about what might happen.

As you mentioned before in the event that a hurricane, takes aim at Alligator Alcatraz, the state says the facilit is built to withstand a category two storm.

Here's Florida emergency management director Kevin Guthrie last week.

>>Category three, fou and five is greater than and not equal to a category two.

When we have that situation, we will have t do an evacuation.

And it's incumbent upon the Florida Division of Emergency Management with our law enforcement partner to be able to take care of that.

So yes, we're constantly looking at what we can do based on need.

When we get to a certain level where we're going to go.

And I promise you that the hurricane guys have got the hurricane stuff covered.

I promise you that.

>>Kevi Guthrie last week at Alligator Alcatraz, the Sentinel has don some reporting, on this issue.

What have you guys been learning?

>>Yeah.

So when I started doing these initial stories on Alligator Alcatraz, I mean, I got kind of flooded with with emails of people wondering like, well, what's going to happen in the event of a hurricane?

I mean, you have this essentially temporary facility with tents in the Everglades.

And the response from, the state officials is, trust us, like we have it.

We're pros.

We know how to manage hurricanes.

But we did file a public records request on July 7t asking for the hurricane plan.

>>Yeah.

>>And then of Monday of this week.

We got a response tha there was no responsive records.

To our request.

You know, so I sent an email, and asked for clarification.

Well, how would you evacuate the facility if there's no written plan?

Then they sent us a draft, disaster plan.

They kind of is heavily redacted.

I mean but we do know that they have, you know, kind of identified some alternate facilities that they could transport the, the, detainees to, you know, we did some reporting that the, the emergency management director had kind of toured some facilities, in the state that-- >>He mentioned that himself.

Yeah.

>>But yeah, in terms of the public being able to really kind of read through the plan, they're not able to because that information is redacted because there's exemptions in the public record law for, state emergency plans.

>>We certainly hope that it doesn't come to that, that a hurricane does threaten that facility, but certainly something that, state official need to be keeping their eye on.

>>You'll find a link to the latest polling from UNF's public opinion research lab that we mentioned at the top of the program.

It's on our website, wucf.org/newsnight.

Okay.

Next tonight, Florida's DOG efforts in local governments, the state's Department of Governmental Efficienc Task Force has sent letters to several countie in municipalities notifying them of impending audits.

They include Orange County, which is expected to receive a visit from DOGE staff this coming Tuesday and Wednesday.

Mayor Demings says the county will fully cooperate, but he says rapid population growth in recent years has strained resources.

However, Florida's new CFO Blaise Ingoglia says rising property values have pushed tax bills higher and local government budgets have far exceeded inflation or population needs.

He says cities and county should cut property tax rates to give relief to homeowners.

>>Over the last five years a lot of local governments, their budgets have gone u anywhere between 80 to 120%.

They basically doubled.

And you have to as yourself, are the taxpayers getting the most bang for their buck?

Are local governments actually spending frugally fiscally as if it was their money?

Now, the sad state of the sad state of affairs is that most government, most elected officials they view it as not their money.

We need to remind them that it's your money.

It's not theirs.

So governments really should not be increasing their budgets more then population growth and inflation growth.

Anything over and above that should be looked at.

And that is the effort of these audits.

That is the efforts of Florida DOGE.

That is what we're trying to do.

We're trying to shine a ligh on excessive, wasteful spending.

>>Florida CFO Blaise Ingoglia there.

Skyler before we get to the DOGE work, just give us some background on Blaise Ingoglia who I think you've written about.

He's a key ally, right, of governor DeSantis.

What should people know about him?

>>Yeah, Blaise Ingoglia, he's very close to the governor.

He was a state senator, and he really cut his teeth in politics in terms of in going after, you know, what he thinks is wasteful spending and local government and, you know, his, kind of remarks when he was appointed to this post of CFO is that he's going to be very aggressive when it comes to, you know, auditing local government, property taxe is an important issue for him.

He feels like they need to be, essentially eliminate it for homestead of properties-- >>Very much on the same page as the governor-- >>Very much o the same page as the governor.

Yeah.

>>On the DOGE efforts, Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings received a letter last week.

Nick, what does the DOGE task forc say about the county's finances?

And what's it asking for?

>>Yeah.

So as he mentioned they're in the spot we just ran.

He thinks that there's more money coming in, and there is from property taxes, but it' because of the values going up.

It's not just really becaus property tax rates have gone up.

>>They've remained the same in Orange County.

>>In many places.

They've remained the same because of the increase in value.

They haven't had to increase it.

So he's looking a different ways that, to audit, that process.

And what he's looking at for Orange County specificall is things like transportation, any kind of renewable energy, DEI and staff salaries.

>>What's been the response, I guess, from from Orange County officials?

>>Well the response from Orange County officials is we've seen a tremendous, you know, amount of growth over the past five years.

>>Yeah.

>>So, you know, that that requires more spending.

I mean, there's more calls of service, to the sheriff's office.

And also you know, you've had inflation, you have rising costs that they have to absorb as well.

>>How are other local governments responding to these state audit demands?

But beyond Orange County, is that similar to the response you're seeing elsewhere?

>>You know?

Yeah.

So it's kind of a most ar saying, you know, bring it on.

We'll open our books because we have confidence in our books, in their in their budget sheets and saying, hey there, we will open them up for yo to inspect, for you to look and and you're in compliance for what the DOGE this Florida DOGE effort is looking to do.

>>What about the the core of these DOGE claims that the governor and his team say local governments budgets have ballooned, as we mentioned, skyrocketing property tax revenues.

The Sentinel's actually looked at the finances in in Orange County.

Does the criticism from the state seem accurate?

>>In terms of them taking in more of revenue?

>>Yeah.

>>Yeah it does appear to be accurate.

But what's happening is they're not necessarily raising the tax rate.

They're keeping the tax rate the same.

But because those property values are going up, they're collecting more revenue.

So the taxpayers are paying more.

And under state law that is a tax increase.

I think it's important to note, though, there is some context that needs to be added, which is, you know, you've seen the growth, you've seen inflation, you've seen the cos for local government increase.

Another point they make is oftentimes we're getting unfunded mandates, suc as having to transport detainees to a detention facility, you know, 200 plus miles away from- >>Which is a cost to the county.

Yeah, for sure.

Task force says is a $330 million increase in property tax takings in Orange County.

Nick some counties and municipalities in Central Florida actually say that they want to increase millage rates.

Many of them are keeping it, the same.

What are those counties saying?

Counties and municipalities saying about their reasoning for doing that?

Is this just about the strain on services?

>>To a certain extent, yeah.

So staff salaries also going up.

So for example, in Seminole County, hasn't increased their millag rate in about 16 years.

Is behind the eight bal when it comes to stuff like, the sheriff's office, they have, they want to spend or need to spend $16.2 million more than they did last year.

One of the reasons the sheriff's office says that is because they can't keep up with starting salaries for their rookie deputies.

So, deputies potential employees are going to other places in Florida because they can't afford to hire them there.

>>I mean, this issue of property taxes has been a hot one, especially in the last legislative session.

We've heard from the governor talking about how he wants to eliminate property taxes before the end of his term.

This is going to be pretty important, isn't it as an issue, particularly as we head into the next election?

>>Yes, it will, with the governor wanting to make sure it, it is an amendment on the ballot and, basically saying, let's take it to the voter here.

Let's let them decide.

You know, he tried to do what he di with the balancing the budget and making sur it was try to get-- >>He wants the property tax relief right.

>>He wanted the relief of it, but didn't get it.

It didn't happen.

And, you know, we know about that squabble with the budget and everything.

But now he's saying, let's just go directly t the people and let them decide and see what they can come up with.

>>And it's worth noting, right, that Ingogli could face a challenge for CFO at the election, from fello Republican Senator Joe Gruters.

He's a DeSantis foe, a Trump ally.

In fact, the president's endorsed Gruters right for RNC chair.

That could that get politically tricky for the governor?

>>Yeah, absolutely.

I mean, this definitely has kind of set off some political intrigue because, yeah, I mean, Trump endorsed, Senator Joe Gruters, for the position of CFO.

And instead of naming Gruter to that post, DeSantis, you know, appointed his ally Senator Blaise Ingoglia.

And he even said when asked about it, you know, if George Washington, came, you know, rose from the dead and tapped him on the shoulder and said, you need to appoint Joe Gruters, to CFO, that he still wouldn't do it, you know, because he just felt like he would be betraying the voters who supported him to lead the state in a conservative direction.

And so after that happened, Trump endorsed, Gruters to be the chair of the RNC.

And, you know from some reporting that CNN did this totally, you know, caught the governor and his, political inner circle kind of off guard.

And it's not necessarily a situation you want to have if you're thinking about running for president and a potential political, foe or enemy is in that position as RNC chair.

>>As always, there's, political intrigue when it comes to dealings between, the state, and the White House.

Be sure to find us o social media, we're at WUCF TV on Facebook and Instagram.

You'll also find us on X @NewsNightWUCF.

Okay, finally tonight, Orlando is getting closer to having a permanent Pulse memorial.

The city is in contract negotiations with Gomez Constructio to design and build a memorial based on a conceptual design from the Pulse Memorial Advisory Committee.

The city is also purchasing the property immediately behind the Pulse site, which will also be used for the memorial.

>>These two steps are significant as we move toward the construction of that permanent memorial.

Of course that was one of the darkest days in the history of our community.

But as always, Orlando has responded with love and compassion and unity.

And today we take two more steps and recognizing what happened that day.

>>Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer.

Nick, let me start with you, because you've covered a lot of these machinations on Pulse.

What do we know about that company that's negotiating with the city for the Pulse Memorial construction?

>>Yeah, it was short listed.

There were three Florid companies that were shortlisted, and Gomez was ultimately picked by an advisory board.

They've been in Florida for around 50 years.

They started in Miami, but they opened their Winter Park office in 1991.

So they've been in or in and around Orlando for quite a long time, and they've done work on the Orlando International Airport, high rises here and in Miami and other facilities.

>>So this was a process where they would put in a bid along with other companies.

>>Correct.

They put out a call for an RFP after the Pulse Advisory Committee came up with some initial designs.

So those might change in terms of now that we have a budget and we know approximately the space that, the memorial is going to go into, but they have an outline of what it should look like.

>>So what happens, now with a sort of the sequence of events, I guess going forward, when can people expect to see construction start taking place?

>>Construction expected to start sometime next year.

And of course, there are some things they have to talk through here and get to.

The designs may change, development processes may change, but now it's just about getting those permits that they need to go forward.

They're still the talk of how what part, what pieces of we know it's going to be th the old club likely demolished.

So all of that has to take place.

But we do know construction is expected to start in 2026, with the building the memorial being ready by 2027.

>>So towards the end of 2027, I think the mayor has sai he'd like to see that.

>>Yeah.

He said he'd like to see.

Yeah, definitely.

They want to have a lot.

So that's so sure a lot of people would say they would love to have this thing ready for the 10th anniversary or, marking ten years since it had the tragedy happened.

But that's just not likely, as they'll just be starting construction.

>>It's been a it's been a long road.

The city also agreed, as I mentioned, to purchase that land adjacent to, Pulse from a GOP donor for $1 million so that land can also be included in the memorial.

But that's a controversial move there.

What's the criticism?

>>Yes.

And the criticism there is.

The city agreed to purchase this land for $1 million.

And what happened was Craig Mattera, kind of a local businessman who's very, you know, politically plugged in, purchased the land and kind of held it as a placeholder.

You know, he didn't sell it for more than wha he purchased it for to the city.

But the criticism and this is kind of been going on for some time is that the city is overpaying for this, the property, you know, they they're spending $1 million on this adjacent property.

I believe they spent abou $2 million on the club itself.

So that's kind of been the criticism that the city's been facing.

>>Before we wrap this up, Nick, just walk us through that design.

That that the city and Gome construction are talking about for the Pulse memorial.

The Pulse Memorial Advisory Committee came up with that.

>>Yeah.

So earlier this year, the finally came up with a design for it that everyone agreed on.

They talked through with many of the survivors, the families of the deceased, what it would take to create this.

And they all came back with sort of these, pieces and parts they wanted to see in it.

And a local group came up with and volunteered to create the renderings.

And as you've seen them now online, so there is a memorial pool where the dance floor used to be.

There are, there's a survivor wall as well now.

So, but the place honoring not only the deceased, but the survivors, too.

And then, you know, conceptually, there's an area of the wall that's going to be kept, whether that's a conceptual piece or it's a literal piece of the wall where survivors were taken out and evacuated.

So that was a big piec that they wanted to keep somehow in the design as well.

>>As I mentioned, it's been a long road.

A lot of people will be, looking forward to seeing, what the final, memorial looks like.

A reminder you can find much more NewsNigh content on our website, including every episod of the program.

It's all at wucf.org/newsnight, but that is all the time we hav for this week.

My thanks to Nick Georgoudiou for the Community Paper Skyler Swisher from the Orlando Sentinel, Curtis McCloud from Spectrum News 13.

Thanks so much for coming in, guys.

Really appreciate your time today.

Good to see you.

We'll see you next Friday night at 8:30 here on WUCF.

In the meantime, from all of us here at NewsNight, take care and have a great week.