Jax public service grants process under scrutiny

Last week during the Jacksonville City Council Finance Committee budget review process, the public service grants process was described as a “broken system.” The grants committee, which has 13 slots, has seven mayoral vacancies.

Vacancies are not the only problem. Questions were raised during a Monday public notice meeting to examine the PSG process about the diligence of the grants committee itself.

One application for a $60,000 grant, said Councilmen Matt Schellenberg and John Crescimbeni, was rejected because there was a line on the application that wasn’t filled out. Rather than attempt to rectify the situation, the application was simply disqualified.

Schellenberg believed that this demonstrated the “arrogance of the board” and that it was “inappropriate on so many levels.”

As Councilwoman Lori Boyer said, the committee faces many issues. One is that their focus is so broad that many groups fall under preliminary criteria and apply. The sheer “breadth of mission” of the committee leads them to deal with 60 applications.

Other recurrent impacts that are noted throughout the non-profit sector range from arbitary scoring (without fixed parameters, subjective, et al) to a sheer lack of bodies who are willing to do this work on a volunteer basis.

Crescimbeni mentioned that the process is smoother than it was previously. However, starting Wednesday, special subcommittee chairwoman Anna Brosche will be the latest council member charged with fixing a system that is clearly in disrepair.

There will be a series of subcommittee meetings over the next couple of weeks, designed to provide immediate redress to the current grants in the budget, and also tailored toward long-range reform.