FTA:
Greenberg, 36, rose to prominence in Central Florida politics in 2016 when he upset Ray Valdes, who was Seminole County’s tax collector for nearly three decades.
Much of his tenure was embroiled in controversy: Months after taking office, he began allowing employees to carry guns, and then in December 2017, while wearing a tax collector badge that looked like a law enforcement shield, he pulled over and confronted a driver for speeding. Officials with the Seminole State Attorney’s Office declined to press charges.
About a month following that incident, Greenberg himself asked for “professional courtesy” after he was pulled over for speeding.
“If there’s any way on earth — I’m just trying to stay off the front page of the damn newspaper: ‘Tax collector gets ticket.’ This is the kind of political crap I have to deal with,” he said, according to the Lake Mary police officer’s body-worn camera.
A 2019 Orlando Sentinel investigation revealed Greenberg had spent $3.5 million in consultant contracts, salaries to friends and associates, including giving a combined $644,000 to three of his groomsmen and another $677,000 to a campaign adviser. An audit released last December showed Greenberg wasted about $1 million in taxpayer funds, including buying body armor, weapons, ammunition and a drone.
From another article about Greenberg:
Greenberg, 36, rose to prominence in Central Florida politics in 2016 when he upset Ray Valdes, who was Seminole County’s tax collector for nearly three decades.
Much of his tenure was embroiled in controversy: Months after taking office, he began allowing employees to carry guns, and then in December 2017, while wearing a tax collector badge that looked like a law enforcement shield, he pulled over and confronted a driver for speeding. Officials with the Seminole State Attorney’s Office declined to press charges.
About a month following that incident, Greenberg himself asked for “professional courtesy” after he was pulled over for speeding.
“If there’s any way on earth — I’m just trying to stay off the front page of the damn newspaper: ‘Tax collector gets ticket.’ This is the kind of political crap I have to deal with,” he said, according to the Lake Mary police officer’s body-worn camera.
A 2019 Orlando Sentinel investigation revealed Greenberg had spent $3.5 million in consultant contracts, salaries to friends and associates, including giving a combined $644,000 to three of his groomsmen and another $677,000 to a campaign adviser. An audit released last December showed Greenberg wasted about $1 million in taxpayer funds, including buying body armor, weapons, ammunition and a drone.