Records reveal that Orlando City Commissioner Regina Hill was arrested last summer on misdemeanor charges of public intoxication and disturbing the peace.
The city council member was arrested in Birmingham, Alabama, on June 19, 2022. She posted a $800 bond shortly after. Hill spoke to the Orlando Sentinel earlier this week, sharing that the charges had been dropped. “It was an unfortunate incident, which I’ve been exonerated from, and all charges have been cleared. There’s no need to go any further into that,” she said.
Controversy has followed Hill throughout her time in office. She was first elected to Orlando’s city council in 2014 to represent District 5. Earlier that same year, Beverly Burgess, an Orange County resident, filed an elections fraud complaint against Hill, accusing the candidate of bullying.
The alleged incident occurred after Burgess commented on Facebook, questioning Hill’s leadership capabilities. “My comment simply was if you can’t lead, get out of the way and make way for someone who can lead in the Parramore community,” Burgess told WESH 2 News.
Burgess claims that Hill, whom she has known for years, then accosted her at her home. “She said that I don’t have a right to give an opinion, that I need to sit down and shut up,” she said. Burgess also claimed that Hill told her that if she did not receive Burgess’ vote, she would make her and her family’s lives miserable and threatened to cast absentee ballots on their behalf. Hill vehemently denied the accusations and said that she would be willing to address the situation through the proper channels.
In 2017, Click Orlando reported that a complaint had been leveled against Hill, alleging that she resided in a low-income Florida apartment building despite making more than $60,000 as councilwoman. The situation arose after a political opponent’s family member uncovered documents listing Hill’s home address as Timberleaf Boulevard inside Landing at Timberleaf Apartment. To qualify for living in the complex, a resident must make a maximum salary of $39,000 a year for a four-bedroom unit.
The lease that Hill submitted when completing the necessary election paperwork showed her salary as almost $650 a month. However, her name is noticeably absent from the actual lease. Rather, a notarized letter along with the lease showed that Hill had been residing in the unit with an unnamed woman since December 2015 following her daughter’s death. Though Hill provided a year’s worth of electric bills in her name, the inquiry sparked curiosity regarding her living situation.
In response to the complaint, Hill dismissed the claims as a “smear campaign” ahead of the fast-approaching election day. “I am working for the residents of Orlando, and that’s all I have to say about this,” she told Click Orlando.
