In dead of night, City Council quietly approves money for colleagues' nonprofits

[pierre]

From the excellent Nate Monroe.

Maybe I am wrong. But I feel like this is a big story. This is corruption.

COMMENTARY | The Jacksonville City Council late Tuesday night approved a last-minute request to provide $500,000 to a nonprofit with a spotty history run by one of its own members, Reginald Gaffney, for pandemic-related economic harm.

Minutes before that, the council approved three other funding requests of $100,000 each for nonprofits run by three other council members: Ju'Coby Pittman, Terrance Freeman and Kevin Carrico. None of the nonprofits had to compete for the grants, which is what the city ordinarily requires; the council explicitly agreed to waive those rules for the three $100,000 grants.

The votes took place after 11 p.m. and largely in silence: Council members asked virtually no questions and made few comments while approving the money unanimously, minus the four council members who recused themselves from the votes involving their respective nonprofits.

(link for more)

https://www.jacksonville.com/story/news/columns/nate-monroe/2021/09/29/nate-monroe-city-council-approves-money-colleagues-nonprofits-pittman-freeman-carrico-gaffney/5906641001/

[Captain Zissou]

Pretty bold of Pittman to pull this right after her whole board up and left because of her questionable business practices.  Maybe she and Katrina Brown can share a cell or she can get Corrine Brown's old bunk at Coleman Federal Correction Institution.

[Snaketoz]

This is incredible.  Also, they need to rethink the sheriff's budget.  Huge budget with little improvement in crime rate.

[jaxlongtimer]

^ By "last minute" does that mean it wasn't even on the agenda?  I thought unless it was emergency legislation, that these votes could only take place after a reading/discussion x 2 meetings before a vote in the 3rd.  Is that correct?  If so, where was the emergency here?  Are these funds enabling the nonprofits to be able to pay current or increased salaries to the council members that head them?  If so, that's is basically additional compensation by the City to them.  Definitely due an investigation.

Very suspicious.  By the way, they aren't the only council members running nonprofits.  Will any others be at the trough soon?

[jaxlongtimer]

Nate Monroe takes it to the next level.  Lots of favoritism and issues with millions doled out by Council members.  One didn't even go to a nonprofit!  At least one "grant" went to a "charity" whose budget for a whole year was less than the grant and had 3 family members on the dole who also donated to the campaign of the granting Council member. 

At best, this process is a train wreck, at its worst it is outright corruption.

COMMENTARY | By mid-October, Jacksonville City Hall will have distributed more than $6.5 million in American Rescue Plan funding to outside organizations to help them recover financial losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic. A review of those grant recipients, city legislation, interviews and other documents suggests the process city officials used to distribute that money guaranteed influence — an organization's connection to a city official — rather than need played an outsized and often decisive role in determining who got a piece of that money and why.

In many cases, that process still benefitted good causes that are well-known and well-regarded. But it also meant scores of Jacksonville's less well-connected nonprofits with genuine need received little or no slice of that money.

Instead, some of the money is set to go to more obscure organizations with a less clear public record of delivering on good causes and no backup documentation demonstrating their need. But they had a key advantage: For one reason or another, getting the attention of a City Council member....

....To the extent there was competition for a slice of this money, the competition was to curry favor with a council member or to win their sympathy — the only eligibility requirement necessary to land on the list of potential grant recipients. It's perfectly possible individual council members carefully reviewed all the funding requests and strived to find the neediest among them; the reality is there was no process to guarantee that.

This was a major departure from the way the city has distributed public funding to nonprofits and good causes in the past: With a detailed and competitive application process vetted and scored by professionals....

....Adding to the oddity was how unusually easy it was to apply: All it took was filling out a request form. No financial paperwork was required; no demonstration of need necessary; no detailed plans for how the money would be spent.

But there was that catch: To get any money, the nonprofits would have to lobby individual members of the Jacksonville City Council. Get on their list, and get funding. Fail to do so, and get nothing. There was no standardized scoring matrix or eligibility requirements — or, rather, winning a council member's favor was the minimum eligibility requirement....

....The four organizations that employ City Council members in top positions won significant money while escaping the kind of intense competition and lobbying the vast majority of even well-regarded nonprofits often have to navigate.

And it sends a powerful message: People and groups in power are treated differently in Jacksonville....

https://www.jacksonville.com/story/news/columns/nate-monroe/2021/10/01/jacksonville-influence-dictated-who-got-covid-relief-cash-not-need/5937113001/

[vicupstate]

And it sends a powerful message: People and groups in power are treated differently in Jacksonville....

Same as it ever was.

When it comes to corruption, Jacksonville is the Chicago of the South.

[Charles Hunter]

This article lists who got how much money, and from which Councilmembers.
https://www.jacksonville.com/story/news/2021/10/01/jacksonville-city-council-sent-6-5-million-covid-19-relief-these-groups/5952322001/

Between the two grant programs, $6.5 million is available. Three Councilmembers gave money from both grants to the same organization - Carlucci to Jacksonville Legal Aid, Becton to the Jacksonville School for Autism, and Diamond to Mission House.  Six other organizations got money from two Members, and one from three.

The top funding recipients are, pulling in $1.7 million, or just over a quarter of the funds:
$263,158  Angelwood - Diamond and Freeman
$250,000  Jacksonville Area Legal Aid - Carlucci from both grants
$242,106  Edward Waters University - Dennis and Jackson
$242,106  The Church International - Gaffney and Newby
$242,105  Florida Theater Performing Arts Center - Hazouri
$242,105  Jacksonville Gullah Geechee Nation CDC - Ferraro
$242,105  Mental Health Resource Center - Salem

[pierre]

$242,106  The Church International - Gaffney and Newby

In one case, two council members doubled down on a lesser-known organization: Gaffney and Council President Sam Newby both proposed separate $121,000 grants to The Church International Inc., which lists an Argyle Forest address that is home to The Church 3:20. The church's lead pastor, Stanley Williams, is also listed as an officer on The Church International's corporate papers, along with Stanley Williams Jr. and Eunice Williams.

Three people of the same names — Williams, Williams Jr. and Eunice — contributed $1,000 each to Gaffney's state Senate campaign Aug. 29.

They are not even trying to hide it.