The city will also establish a new memorial fund that individuals, businesses and community organizations can donate to in support of the Pulse memorial project, which OnePulse was formed to do seven years ago. With little progress made, and following accusations of profiteering, OnePulse announced plans to dissolve the nonprofit in November.
“Since the onePULSE Foundation Board of Directors has voted to dissolve their organization, this will be the final email sent from the foundation and future emails will come from the city of Orlando,” a final email from OnePulse sent Monday evening read.“Looking forward, Mayor Dyer believes the best approach to creating a memorial at the Pulse site is for the City of Orlando to lead the process,” the email continued.
Orlando city leaders unanimously approved a $2 million purchase of the Pulse nightclub property in October, after former Pulse club property owners Barbara and Rosario Poma and their partner, Michael Panaggio, declined to donate their property to OnePulse for the memorial project — forcing OnePulse to reconfigure plans.
OnePulse was founded by Barbara Poma less than one month after the mass shooting at Pulse nightclub on June 12, 2016, which killed 49 people and left dozens injured and traumatized. The expressed intent of the organization, when initially formed, was to build a permanent memorial on the existing Pulse nightclub site.
Poma headed the OnePulse organization as executive director until last summer (paying herself a six-figure salary from 2018 onward), and departed the organization entirely in April of this year.
The final email from OnePulse shared that the organization’s board met with Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer — who was just re-elected to his sixth consecutive term in office — “to understand the impacts of the organization’s dissolution and learn more about the work done to date on the memorial.”
A city spokesperson confirmed in an email sent to media publications Tuesday morning that the city would be establishing an Orlando United Pulse Memorial Fund, utilizing its existing 501(c)3.
The city is also working on finalizing a process for communicating with shooting survivors and family members of victims to get their input on the memorial project. Pulse Families and Survivors for Justice — a group of survivors, family members and former Pulse patrons — have criticized the city for only engaging with a select group of survivors and families.
They have also accused the city of trying to cover up code violations at the Pulse nightclub that the city was aware of prior to the devastating massacre in 2016, such as an unpermitted, eight-foot-tall fence that survivors say hindered escape during the shooting.
The city previously told Orlando Weekly that records show “the Pulse facility was safe, that it met occupancy, fire and related requirements.” Survivors have pointed to records, however, that show that during a property inspection in May 2016 — just one month before the massacre — the city’s fire safety department noted “Exit Door or Hardware Inoperable,” without providing further explanation.
Ahead of its announced dissolution, OnePulse came under fire for wasting millions of dollars in public money on a Pulse museum project and memorial that never came to be. The Orange County government agreed to give OnePulse $10 million for the museum project — using tourist tax development funds — in 2018. More than half of that — $6.5 million — has been spent, with $3 million spent on design services apparently unrecoverable. The other $3.5 million was spent on a parcel of land the organization plans to return to the county.
The state of Florida also dedicated hundreds of thousands of dollars in state funds for the Pulse memorial project in 2019 and 2020 — at least some of which OnePulse is now on the hook to pay back. State Rep. Anna Eskamani, D-Orlando, told Orlando Weekly she's been in communication with the state about the issue.
"My goal is to ensure that all public monies intended to go towards a Pulse memorial will go towards a Pulse memorial," Eskamani previously shared in a statement. "This is not only important for the healing of our community but it is the fiscally responsible thing to do. I will continue to work with the Department of State and others to make this goal a reality so that we may honor the lives lost at Pulse in a meaningful and impactful way."
Jorshua Hernández, a survivor of the shooting who now lives in Puerto Rico, told Orlando Weekly in a text that he wants to see transparency in the city's process. At this point, "I don't trust the city," he shared Tuesday morning. Hernández, who suffered multiple gun wounds the night of the massacre, has publicly criticized OnePulse's handling of the memorial project and what he sees as complicity on the part of local elected leaders, who've worked with various stakeholders over the years — including OnePulse — on projects to honor those directly affected by the tragedy.
Hernández added over text that he believes it's "disrespectful" that communications he's seen from the city of Orlando with updates on the Pulse memorial are largely just in English, not Spanish, even though a majority of the Pulse victims were Latinos and people of color. "Mothers [of victims] feel discriminated against because English is not their first language."
The city said it plans to set up a website for feedback and input on how to move forward with a memorial that honors Pulse survivors and victims. More details on the city of Orlando's memorial fund are also expected to be shared soon.
This post has been updated with comment from Pulse survivor Jorshua Hernández.
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