A.G. Gancarski
The Jacksonville City Council Finance Committee resumed Monday after its “fifth week” break, considering contract disparity and pension fund issues, along with a surprisingly controversial bill on human trafficking signs that was deferred after some discussion.
• A presentation on investment management expenses of pension funds, including the Police and Fire Pension Fund and the General Employees Fund, occurred. For those wanting a continuation of the pyrotechnics of the forensic PFPF audit from the fall, there was initial disappointment, as the discussion was calm and de-politicized for the most part. If the fund had performed at an average level over the last five years, there would have been $20 million more per year in the fund. Finance Chairman Bill Gulliford said the audit corroborated that. Gulliford said, “It doesn’t do any good to beat up on past sins,” saying instead the desire is to “improve.” Both funds have 80 percent of their assets in an active strategy. PFPF executive director Beth McCague noted that there were increased administrative expenses in recent years, due to litigation, pension reform, and fund underperformance.
• A Joint Agency Task Force disparity study was discussed from the city’s independent authorities, encompassing issues such as the “supplier diversity” program in the Jacksonville Small and Emerging Business program. A five-year survey a few years back, unsurprisingly, revealed that women- and minority-owned businesses were underutilized by city procurement. Remedies discussed included old solutions, such as unbundling contracts so smaller firms could get a piece. Also suggested was JEA and the Jacksonville Transportation Authority to set an example by offering a monthly seminar for small and emerging businesses to help them negotiate the complicated chess board of securing city contracts. Councilman Reggie Gaffney wanted specifics on how much money, in terms of real dollars, go to minority businesses, many of whom say that while they bid, they don’t get a “piece of the pie.” Gaffney also urged that the city take similar steps to protect the interests of minority-owned businesses.
• Discussed before deferral: Tommy Hazouri‘s anti-human trafficking bill, 2016-130, would require posting “public awareness signs” regarding human trafficking in strip clubs (“adult entertainment facilities”) and the seedier “bodywork” parlors. Questions emerged in Finance regarding the financial impact of this legislation, including a registry and database of businesses, which would require dedicated staff resources that Council Vice President Lori Boyer observed would occasion a “bureaucracy.” Pinellas County has similar legislation, and its department of consumer protection enforces it. John Crescimbeni, saying that he supported the bill, noted that the legislation is more limited than state requirements, adding that if the legislation would be extended to all industries with human trafficking issues, enforcement would be more of an issue. After the 40-minute discussion, a frustrated Hazouri said that the deferral was “disappointing to people who have been pushing on this.”
• Finance OK’d an additional appropriation of $400,000 from the Office of General Counsel’s retained earnings to pay expert witnesses and their travel costs. The cost for expert witnesses, committee discussion revealed, can go into the hundreds of thousands of dollars per capita. Specific information was elusive on advance budgeting: the representative from the OGC noted that “our needs are constantly in flux” and that the amount is “speculative,” and that she preferred that the public not be privy to who the expert witnesses are for the city before litigation.
