Commissioners approve use of federal money

BRADENTON – A grant from federal stimulus funds triggered a half-hour debate Thursday over the money, its use and the efficacy of having items added to the agenda at the last minute.

At the end of the Land Use meeting, County Commissioners debated the use of $236,885 funded through the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant, and coming from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

Eventually, they voted 6-0 to accept the grant.

Commissioner Carol Whitmore said she wanted the staff to explain in depth what this grant was.

”I just don't feel comfortable without even a two-minute explanation,“ she said.

Commissioner Ron Getman said it was from the Public Safety Coordinating Council, an it's for screening juveniles who come into the system.

”They didn't have enough staff to screen all of the kids coming in, and if they didn't do that, it created a backlog in another area for law enforcement,“ he said. This grant would allow them to screen juveniles to be processed, and the police could go back on the street instead of waiting six or seven hours.

Whitmore wanted to know what would happen when the grant goes away, and Getman said all those questions were answered at the meeting. ”We can table it and bring the presentation back to you,“ he said.

For Commissioner Donna Hayes, it was an issue of timing.

”This is a good example of an add-on that should not be added on,“ she said. ”We do not have enough information. I'm glad Commissioner Getman mentioned the word tabling. This is something that I think we should have been briefed on so that we could understand what's happening here and at least have time to read this. I never saw this until I arrived this morning. I just don't feel comfortable moving forward. Not that I'm against it, it's just that I need more information on it, and I don't think this is the place. I think we need to study it.“

Whitmore said she agreed.

Commissioner Larry Bustle questioned the use of the money for juvenile detention and how it's taking money from the Children's Services Advisory Board.

”I suspect maybe our priorities are wrong. I am very concerned about the fact that if there's a needy family in this community today that needs a shot in the arm for rent or food, there isn't any money for it“ he said. ”We need to do better. We need to figure out how to solve that problem, and we need to do it now, we can't wait until next month or next year, because the people may not be here by that time.“

County Commissioner Joe McClash said he agreed with Bustle.

”From what I understand, there's some federal dollars being held up since June or July that could be on the streets right now, to the tune of about a million dollars. It shocks me that we have people in need, but we have money that's been processed,“ he said. ”We have people that can't eat tonight because they don't have money, and yet we have money tied up in bureaucracy.“

Getman said the money is for staff and the use Bustle proposed is not one of the allowable uses of the grant funding. We spent a lot of time on the presentations for the grants, Getman said. ”The purpose is to save the board from having to do all that.“

Everyone involved said they felt this was the appropriate use.

”It's a decision for the commission to agree with or disagree with, but it saves the commission all this work,“ Getman said. ”If the commission wants more presentation, it's going to bog you down. These things come in fast and furious, they come in with a very short deadline, and we have to get them done and get them out and they have to be signed by this board, and we don't have time for setting them up for presentation.“

”It's just the add-on that's bothered us,“ Whitmore said.

Fred Loveland of the Community Services Department said it's the second time this grant has been to the board and the board approved the grant in June.

”This is simply executing the agreement now,“ he said. ”So in staff's mind the board had already made the hard decision to use the funds for this purpose.“

Oh, Whitmore said, then that clarifies it.

Hayes said it should have been on the consent agenda so they could review it. ”I would have felt much better if it had been on consent because it would have been in our package,“ she said.

McClash made a motion to ask staff to bring back dollars that are stuck in a bureaucracy, and that motion carried 6-0.